If you're not getting properly paid during mandatory company retreats, it doesn't matter how many free meals you get during said retreat. That time is time spent away from home and instead, it's time engaging with colleagues. In other words, that is time spent working. It doesn't matter how seemingly recreational the activities may be. If the purpose is team bonding, then the purpose is work-related. This means that employees must ensure that they are compensated properly for that time. If it feels taboo to do so, then it's up to you to break that stigma and acknowledge the retreat for what it was: part of the job.
This thread was posted to Reddit by u/mikemojc, who had the guts to call his company out and to hold them accountable. When he returned from his mandatory retreat, he billed all the hours spent on the trip as overtime. His bosses initially took issue with this, as expected. However, when OP explained that according to his contract, mandatory work events are part of billable work hours, there was nothing HR could do to stop OP from getting the money he earned.
Keep scrolling below to see what happened when OP was told to keep this quiet (hint: it was too late!). For more content like this, check out this post about a job candidate who was blocked by a recruiter mere seconds into their phone interview.
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