Colleague intimidates employee when he refuses to work for free by threatening to write him up and dock his future pay raises, he stands his ground: ‘Not a chance. Pay me’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Oct 16, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

Major corporations sit on massive piles of money and still can't cough up a crumb to pay their hard workers overtime. If they expect employees to complete training modules after a long day of hands-on work, they should also expect to pay their employees for the time they spend on it. No one wants to watch a training video when they're trying to spend quality time with their family, so if they have to, they should be compensated. Period. In cases where an employee is expected to do unpaid labor but is threatened when they refuse, one should consider taking that up with the larger powers that be.

The original poster (OP) of this story works for a "$7 billion major corporation" and explains that their coworker has been sending him messages that all point to threats. The threats include jabs at his job security and pay raise potential. The OP expresses that this coworker is definitely taken advantage of and is simply internalizing the corporate poison that trickles down the workplace hierarchy. The OP also refuses to work outside of normal working hours without additional pay and is intimidated by promises of demerits and even his eventual firing. Luckily, the OP knows his rights and refuses to back down. Instead, he's letting them create a paper trail that would definitely help his case.

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  • 01
    "Not a chance. Pay me."
    via Unsplash (Brad Neathery)
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    Company using my coworker to soft threaten me to work off clock
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    Absolute clownery. I took a four day weekend. Get a text on my third day from my coworker (who I like and respect and who is seriously taken advantage of) about overdue work training. The
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  • 04
    work training in question is 4 hours long. I asked how to clock in at home. I'm not going to show our text thread but I have it saved in the event I am punished for this, but quote:
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    "I would just do it. Unless you want it to mess up your merit increase."
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    HA. You know I was going to just bite my tongue about all the I've noticed going on here, but I think honesty is important. For context this is a $7 BILLION major corporation.
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    Two weeks ago we were softballed the threat of being fired if our turn around numbers did not improve. Why? Because they over-promised and under-delivered to their shareholders. When I
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    pointed out this was what they meant, my manager (who I also like) said "well, they didn't say it like that...". Now the exact wording conveyed to us was "cuts were made at the executive levels and
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    could trickle down next quarter". I'm not an idiot; cuts were NOT made at the executive level. This is all just intimidation
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    We've been asked since then to do all sorts of inane things that mean absolutely nothing in the name of "productivity". We do not have time to sit. We work nonstop from clock
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    in until lunch. The workload expectations are unacceptable personally, especially as this is not an essential service but a vanity service. Having worked jobs that are
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    actually essential such as teaching, I find this culture to be comedic. I knew it was a mistake to think returning to retail was a good idea but I also never considered it a good idea, simply a job.
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    Concerning work training, we have no work training devices. We are not provided designated time on the clock to do the training. We are expected to do the training on
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    personal devices (i.e. download 4 apps) while we are doing our regular work. Our regular work is hands on. The training is all interactive. The training I have been working on is
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    an 8 hour course, and it has been nearly impossible to tandem the training and do my work, so training has taken a backseat because Work Production is low. So no,
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    I have not completed the training and yes it's late now. I didn't refuse to do the training. I simply asked how to clock in from home to do it.
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    Obviously, the implication is that you do it on your own time. Well, I'm not a high school student with no idea what my rights. are. And I'm not oblivious to the fact that this is
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    intentional; they don't want to pay for special training hours that could be spent making them money. They would rather bully you into doing it during time off.
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    Which, my aforementioned coworker did. I'm not an . 5 minute training "click yes to confirm you saw this form"? I'll do that. 4 hours of videos, slideshows, and quizzes? Not a chance. Pay me.
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    My coworker also sent me a screenshot of our DM threatening to write us up for not completing it by end of day today in addition to docking potential raises in the future. I don't think she did
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    it to create a paper trail, but it's very helpful as I am not in the store group chat to receive these messages myself. Not by choice; I was never added.
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    And I always request demerits in writing. Half the time managers back down when I do this, because they know I've called their bluff. A written notice of demerit for not
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    working off the clock will look great framed on my office wall, and even better in the attachments section of my email to the NLRB, along with the pictures of all the health and hazardous material violations I've been sitting on.
    via out_foxed_once_again
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    When I first began working here, I told my boss I always push back on authority. He laughed, and implied I was lying because I had never challenged him. When he watches me get fired for standing my ground against unpaid labor, he'll understand I never meant him.
    via out_foxed_once_again
  • 25
    mcflame13 16h ago • • So either your bosses learn to not screw with you. Or they fire you and they quickly regret it when the labor board and OSHA start snooping around and suing the company. I would suggest getting the personal emails of all your coworkers that you know the company is trying to exploit so you can get them to do the same thing when it comes to them trying to force work off the clock as well as any other labor laws they are breaking. That way the company will have to pay everyone
    via mcflame13
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    out_foxed_once_again OP. 16h ago • Even if they elect not to fire me I won't be sticking around, I can't rectify the customer and employee extortion with my moral compass anymore. This company has a history of legal trouble already. I personally believe the only way to protect employees from the company's shady practices is a union, but the long time workers here are completely cowed by threats of taking away insurance, PTO, bonuses, etc... mind you those "bonuses" should just be money they alre
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terrible coworkers toxic job antiwork corporate workplace-stories toxic-workplace work coworkers askreddit reddit story horrible-management corporations entitled people karma workplace Horrible Bosses karen karma reddit thread red flag entitled people toxic-work-environment
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