I happen to work at a subway shop here in Suffolk Virginia. We have a store meeting tomorrow at 9:00. It is mandatory that we come, but we are not being paid to go. When i asked what the penalty was for not going, i was told i would be fired. My parents believe that this is illegal in some way, which i would i agree with in theory, but i have scoured my “Oxford Companion to American Law” and found nothing on any related subjects. Could someone please point me in the right direction here? Where can i go to find legislation regarding these circumstances?
Are your parents going to help pay for the lawyer? 
Hmmm. Personally, I think they are bluffing. If you refuse to attend the meeting, and they threaten to fire you, tell them that you intend to contact the head office of Subway. Of course, if they are going to be complete jerks about it, they could fire you on some trumped up thing like coming in 2 seconds late, or something. (And if they would do that, why would you want to work there?)
I could be wrong, but I have this feeling that this is not the “official” policy of Subway. And if it is, the news media should be informed.
no idea kniz, i was just wondering about legalities, i do that sometimes.
I’ve wondered this with my job, because the budget for the tutoring center is very tight when it comes to payroll- We can’t work beyond what we’re scheduled (they can’t afford to have us). So, we don’t get paid if we work beyond our scheduled shift. But sometimes, especially when cleaning up during closing time, our shift is up but work still has to be done. Though because my job is minimum wage and just a secondary job I’d rather not make waves by refusing to finish my work. I’ve found ways to get things done when my shift is up, so its no longer an issue.
Oh, and we DO get paid for attending our mandatory meetings 
I had a small company and every year we would shut down at lunch on the last day of Christmas for a party and lunch. Some people complained and some even didn’t come. I didn’t fire them or really hold it against them, but I’d venture to bet that there weren’t many that were still around the next Christmas. It’s called attitude.
First, don’t bother contacting the “head office” of Subway. Subway is a franchise operation, so I suspect that the main corporate offices of Subway don’t give a rat’s ass about relationships between Subway franchise holders and their employees.
IANAL, but I believe that requiring you to put in time without pay is simply a violation of the minimum wage laws. You might want to do some exploration of the Fair Labor Standards Act. (That’s also a good phrase to Google with, for lots of other sites with info about it.)
You say you don’t hold it against them, but you obviously did when you made the “attitude” comment. I don’t mean to be rude, but this is the kind of stuff that made me completely sick of working in the corporate world. Sorry, but my family comes before my workplace, especially around Christmas. Why in the world would you expect your employees to stick around for a non-paid work sponsored lunch and party at a time of year where things are traditionally family oriented and very busy?
If you really wanted to give something back to employees at the end of the year, take the money spent on lunch and parties and give 'em a day off with pay. Even half a day off would be great.
No disrespect intended and I don’t know your circumstances but a job at Subway is usually not a carear and usually you caould find work at that level fairly easily - I would encourge you to do something on your own as you could easily make as much as you do now working only 2 days a week as opposed to 5. I would just tell him that if he’s not paying, your not working and if he wants to fire you over it that’s fine with you. Also if you are elegible for unemployment benefits it could make it all the more sweeter.
I used to run a franchise video store — not exactly a similar set up, but close enough. First, I think a lot of it would depend on state employment laws, namely whether your state is a right-to-work state. If that is the case, mgmt can pretty much fire you for anything, assuming they’re not being discriminatory.
Secondly, though, I would never dream of holding a mandatory meeting without paying employees for their time. If I could not afford to do that, I would usually come in myself during different shifts to make sure I got a chance to talk to everyone. As the store mgr. it was my responsibility to make sure everyone was on the same page, not the employees.
A previous post pointed out the improbability of the corporate headquarters giving a rat’s ass. This is very much true, however usually a franchise is owned by a set of business partners, or even a small management company. This being the case, they (even if its a lone owner) really do care about the possibility of litigation even moreso than a corporate store would, as there are usually limited funds for fighting those kinds of claims.
Talk to your store mgr or MOD and ask if there is any way they can impart the vital info to you on your shift, or provide a handout w/info for you to look at later.
If they refuse to help you out, file a complaint with the BBB or somesuch. Or go work for a competitor.
Good luck!
It is illegal to make you work and not pay you. I work at a university dining hall (hence we must strictly obey state law - no if/ands/buts), specifically I mainly do payroll, we have to pay people for every piece of time they work. We’d like everyone to be out by 1:30 am on closing shifts, but often thats not the case. They get paid. We have mandatory hourlong monthly meetings that everyone must clock in for.
I wonder if in “Right to Work states” they can fire you for not working something “mandatory” where you dont get paid. If so, thats a load of bullstinky.
I would hope that, in general, an employer can’t fire you because you refuse to do something illegal or go along with something
they’re doing that’s illegal. But they could always make up some other reason for firing you and it’s your word against theirs.
Also, I don’t know if this counts, but are you a minor?
One of the hardest things to learn in life is to choose your battles carefully. From the sound of this thread, this issue is not a do or die problem.
I understand your plight, please do not get me wrong. But it doesn’t appear you need this job to pay the rent, put food on the table, yadda, yadda.
I also don’t want to give the impression you should always bend over and take it. As Guinastasia asks, you sound to be a minor living at home with the family. Learn the lesson, listen to the advice here, study up on your state’s laws, etc. Next time you will be in a better position to make that choice.
When I was in college, I worked at a restaurant. The new owner called an all-hands meeting and we were told not to punch-in. We waited two hours for him and he never showed. Another meeting was called the next week. I called the State Department of Labor and told them the details. They said that if the meeting was required, then the restaurant was required to pay us and that tipped employees had to receive minimum wage. At the next meeting, we all punched-in; the owner didn’t show again, but you can bet that he showed for the following week’s meeting.
Now, this was about 30 years ago and it was in Louisiana. I suggest you call your State Department of Labor, explain the circumstances, and ask them. I’d bet that your employer is required to pay you if attendance is required.
I think you’re right - in my jurisdiction, you could go to the meeting, and then file a wage complaint (and get all of $11.33 in damages).
A more interesting question is whether you’d have a wrongful termination claim if you were fired for refusing to work overtime without pay. That’s a little more iffy, although it’s possible.
Anyway, as somebody said earlier, you gotta pick your battles, and it’s probably best to let this one go.
Mr. S’s former employer told his department that if they wanted to be eligible for promotion to some new technical positions opening up, they would have to come in and take some tutorials provided by the company, on their own time. The tutorials were roughly 4-8 hours long, and people who wanted to take them had to reserve blocks of time. The only way you could be considered for the job was to take the tutorials, because the scores obtained determined who would get the job, and if you didn’t take them you would not be considered.
Someone called the state dept. of labor, and the company ended up shelling out a whole bunch of back pay to people who had taken the tutorials. They never knew who blew the whistle.
I am guessing that Hootnholla is an at will employee. S/He can be fired at any time for any reason or no reason. (But can’t be fired for a bad reason) At the same time, I believe they have to pay you for a mandatory meeting. If they give you shit about it, you might point out that they would not only be liable to you, but also to all of their employees who have attended such unpaid meetings in the past for lost wages. You might further point out that willfull violations of minimum wage laws can carry hefty penalties, and might subject the owner to an investigation by the State. You might point out that in the long run, paying you and being in compliance with the law is in the owner’s economic best interest. Or, you could just suck it up and go to the meeting, or if you want to have fun, don’t go, and then when they fire you sue the bastards in Federal Court. Are you a minority or a woman? That might help your case…You never know, you might be able to negotiate a settlement for $500 or something. Beats working for a living 
Perhaps I worded it wrong, since when we shut down for the lunch and party was rarely on Christmas Eve. In our industry all of our customers shut down for a week around Christmas so there was usually no problem for us to shut down at least the day before Christmas Eve. The problem really wasn’t getting time off to spend with family, but for those employees who did not have vacation time left to cover that week off (1). We gave Christmas bonuses to all employees with more than one year service and gave a $50 gift certificate from “Wally’s World” to all employees. We had family members (children and SO’s) attend the parties. The fact is that those that didn’t attend, did not fit in with the other employees, thus my comment about their attitude. I did not explain all these facts, since I didn’t know that someone was going to start making assumptions. I did this for 27 years.
[sup](1) I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something like [ul][li]My car won’t run[/li][li]They are going to turn off my electricity[/li][li]My dog tore up the A/C ducts under my trailer[/li][li]My SO is in jail and I need to bail him out[/li][li]Etc., etc., etc.[/ul][/li]so can I have my vacation check?[/sup]
For the official word in your state, you would need to contact your Department of Labor. Does your employer post the minimum wage notice in your workplace? It just might be buried somewhere in there.
Nitpick time- you don’t “loose” your job, you “lose” it. The pronoun “I” is always capitalized.