'We don’t get paid past 11': Retail employer wants workers to clock out at closing, ignoring all tasks that need to be completed after close, sparks online discussion

Get ready for the oldest trick in the retail handbook: First, insist workers close and lock the doors precisely at closing—not a moment sooner, so that you don't miss any sales. Next, schedule workers' shifts to end precisely at closing time and make it as hard as possible for the workers to claim the inevitable overtime they accrue while trying to complete basic closing tasks that need to be completed after the doors are locked. If they try to claim five or ten minutes daily, just tell them that the payroll system won't accept entries under a quarter of an hour… This saves your company from having to pay each worker around a week's worth of pay every year!

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Posted by Brad Dickson

This fool-proof plan is an industry standard and something that retail workers will come across time and time again—except, well, it's completely illegal.

This worker, u/BittaThisBittaThat, took to Reddit's popular r/antiwork subreddit to share their experience with one such policy, explaining a scenario of the classic scheme described above. Their employer had recently instated a firm policy that the doors weren't to be locked until a precise closing time—which also happened to be when shifts ended. The worker posed a question to readers, asking if there was anything their employer could do to them if they simply refused and continued to lock the doors early.

My advice in this situation would be to lock the doors at 11 as requested and then continue completing the typical closing tasks as required by the business. This ensures that the employer can't fire them under the pretense of not carrying out their job. Then the worker needs to continue claiming any time worked as overage despite how much the employer pushes back, getting everything documented and in writing. The employer will usually relent and allow the worker to lock up early and leave at 11 as they did previously or accept the need for overtime.

Read on to see selections of the original thread below. After, check out this recent thread where a worker lamented the end of their company's remote working policy.