Coworker demands employee come in unpaid on his day off to check freezer temperature: 'Yea, I ain't doing that'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Mar 6, 2024 3:00 PM EST

To work or not to work when you're not being paid? That is the million-dollar question many employees have to ask themselves daily. In my honest opinion, I think whether you can or should work off the clock depends on what kind of job you have. If you have a coffee shop MacBook gig paying a salary, checking your email on the weekend won't kill you, even if you don't plan to reply to them until Monday. But if you work at a factory and your boss wants you to come in on your day off to pull a single lever, it would be ridiculous for you to do that if you weren't at least on the clock for those 10 minutes. That is essentially what happened to one employee whose demanding coworker wanted him to come in on every single one of his days off to check the temperature of the freezer truck. 

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  • 01
    r/mildlyinfuriating u/Frankieanime158 • 14h Work wants me to come in a few minutes everyday during weekends unpaid
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 02
    UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM! My employer wants me to come to work every single day on days off, unpaid, to check and log the temperature of our freezer truck with product inside of it. I only live a few minutes away, but that still means I have to spend 30 minutes on days off coming to work for free. They don't want to spend money on a wireless transmitter for the temperature, so instead they want me to do it for free. Yea, I ain't doing that.
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 03
    JoePikesbro. 14h Never do work you're not paid to do. Reply ... 6.5k
    via u/JoePikesbro
  • 04
    oolaroux 13h ● Yup. What happens if you get injured checking the temp? Workman's comp doesn't apply if you're not working. ... 1.7k
    via u/oolaroux
  • 05
    SubtleRapscallion 12h ● Sort of...most states follow the "scope of employment" rule. So even if you're off the clock, as long as you're performing a task that is within your scope of employment, you'd be covered. But either way, the insurance company is gonna fight you. ... 496
    via u/SubtleRapscallion
  • 06
    ImaBldr 14h "Nope, sorry" would be my reply. I own 2 businesses and tell my people that their time is theirs. If I ask them to do something then I pay them for their time. Reply 4 1.7k ↓ ...
    via u/ImaBldr
  • 07
    aussie_nub 13h ● And I imagine your staff are a little more flexible because of it. 4402 ...
    via u/aussie_nub
  • 08
    ImaBldr 13h Honestly, they are. When I started my first business I promised myself that I would never ask, or expect, my people to do anything that I didn't want to, or wouldn't do. I encourage flex time, overlapping shifts, 4 day work weeks, etc. For the most part, I let them set up their schedules and responsibilities as a group and try not to dictate anything. Over the last 30 years I've found that the businesses run pretty well that way. ... 4474
    via u/ImaBldr
  • 09
    AppleParasol • 14h On call occurrence pay of $100 per day as well as hourly OT pay. And boom, all the sudden, it's automatic, they install what they need. Reply 4 761
    via u/AppleParasol
  • 10
    abysmalgolfer In a past life working in the oil fields, if you show up to work and there's absolutely nothing to do (ie. weather prohibiting work) and they send you home early, you get paid 4 hours no matter what. OP works for a bunch of clowns 13h ● ... 4257
    via u/abysmalgolfer
  • 11
    Jeffrey_Friedl • 14h A remote temp sensor is super cheap (I use this $15 one). You need a hub to go with it, but a hub and a pack of 4 sensors is still just $100. Then they can see the temp in real time, remotely, graphed all pretty. Geez. Reply 4341 ...
    via u/Jeffrey_Friedl
  • 12
    inagartendevito . 13h Don't allow them to guilt you into stealing your wages. What happens if you get hurt at the job but not on the job? Will you be covered by workers comp/ liability insurance? Reply 分 52 凸
    via u/inagartendevito
  • 13
    UPDATE! The person requesting I do this is someone from the office who is extremely condescending and acts like she's my boss. She isn't. I told the company CEO about her request and how I wasn't gonna do it, and she agreed it was ridiculous. A few hours later, another office staff came down with a new remote temperature monitor and was testing it out.
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 14
    Otherwise, this coworker is a nightmare. She works in the office, I work in shipping. She comes down to give us orders to prep and send. This should only take 5 minutes, but she comes down and gossips with her best friend (my coworker in my department), for about 30 minutes. I know it's gossip because she's always whispering an inch from her ear and shadily looking around to see if anyone's listening. Then she goes and smokes in the far back of the building on company time, then goes back upstai
    via u/Frankieanime158
  • 15
    Helpful_Plenty_9997. 14h Exactly how are they gaslighting you? Are they telling you that you agreed to do this already? Reply 46
    via u/Helpful_Plenty_9997

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terrible coworkers antiwork workplace-stories on the job employee job off the clock work coworkers mildly infuriating workplace temperature coworker unpaid money
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