# Not getting paid at work for set-up/break-down. Is this ok? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-paid-at-work-for-set-up-break-down-is-this-ok/325936 "2005-10-12T18:58:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pocelene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/0ea827/32.png) [@pocelene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pocelene)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-paid-at-work-for-set-up-break-down-is-this-ok/325936/21 "2005-10-14T23:00:32Z")
Yes, you are being cheated. But there’s nothing at all that you can do about it. Not everthing that’s illegal can be dealt with. I’ve had OSHA safety complaints I’ve submitted, where heavy machinery was stacked high in the warehouse, unsecured, directly over the lunch tables, which is an obvious earthquake hazard. Did they get the fine and 30 days jail listed in the law? No. They got a ticket, a no-fine notice, which they have never heeded. But I got fired, which is also illegal. (The OSHA guy is supposed to keep the complainer’s name out of it, and firing complainers is illegal. So they simply fired me instead for “being out of uniform” which wasn’t true but impossible for me to refute.) My advice: let it go. There’s worse waiting for you at your next job. And try for a job with a union rep to help you out. ---
**Author:** ![jacksprat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/77aa72/32.png) [@jacksprat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksprat)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-paid-at-work-for-set-up-break-down-is-this-ok/325936/22 "2005-10-14T23:27:53Z")
> [@pocelene](#): > > Yes, you are being cheated. > But there’s nothing at all that you can do about it. > Not everthing that’s illegal can be dealt with. > I’ve had OSHA safety complaints I’ve submitted, where heavy machinery was stacked high in the warehouse, unsecured, directly over the lunch tables, which is an obvious earthquake hazard. > Did they get the fine and 30 days jail listed in the law? No. > They got a ticket, a no-fine notice, which they have never heeded. > But I got fired, which is also illegal. > (The OSHA guy is supposed to keep the complainer’s name out of it, and firing complainers is illegal. So they simply fired me instead for “being out of uniform” which wasn’t true but impossible for me to refute.) > > My advice: let it go. There’s worse waiting for you at your next job. > And try for a job with a union rep to help you out. Why couldn’t you have submitted a complaint to OSHA anonymously? I’d like to know in case a similar situation occurs in future employment. Sounds like mondo corruption, to me, and it stinks. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-paid-at-work-for-set-up-break-down-is-this-ok/325936/23 "2005-11-09T22:49:54Z")
This srticle in the [NY Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/business/09bizcourt.html) says the Supreme court just decided: > [@](#): > > The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that companies must pay workers for the time it takes to change into protective clothing and safety gear and walk to their workstations. > > (…) > > In an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the court upheld a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in favor of workers at a meat processing plant in Pasco, Wash. The workers typically put on sanitary outer garments, boots, hardhats and gloves. > > The time spent donning protective gear was not the focus of the ruling, because the court held nearly 50 years ago that workers at a battery plant must be paid for time spent putting on special protective clothes. > > Instead, the dispute focused on the time employees spend walking from place to place. “The relevant walking in this case occurs after the workday begins and before it ends,” Justice Stevens wrote. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-paid-at-work-for-set-up-break-down-is-this-ok/325936/24 "2005-11-10T04:36:21Z")
> [@Bob Loblaw](#): > > You’ve described a pretty clear violation of California labor law. So you are being treated illegally if you are in California. I am not a lawyer, so you might want to double check. I can’t speak to federal law or a state I don’t live in, but I’ve worked in HR for a major California employer, and you’ve described clearly illegal practices. I used to work in an amusement park as management. Our employees were on the clock before they reported to their work stations since sometimes it took 4-5 minutes to get there from their stations (and we were a small park) The logistics of trying to clock in employees all over the park would have been a nightmare for us at the time. > [@](#): > > _by Lorinada_ > It is EXTREMELY important to note that US Labor laws allow the employer to pay its employees TO THE CLOSEST 15 MINUTES. In other words, if you clock in at 7:53 and clock out at 5:07 and take precisely an hour for lunch, you can legally get paid for 8 hours. IANAL but the way every time clock I ever had was set up, if you clocked in 4 minutes early and out 4 minutes late that was 8 minutes and rounded up to the next 15 minutes. So IIRC rounding to the nearest 15 min is for total time not for actual time of day. So 8 minutes over means an extra 15 minutes of pay, 22 minutes over = only 15 minutes of extra pay because you did not work over half of the next 15 minutes. Several employees were fired at our job because they were taking 22 minute lunches and or waiting 2-3 minutes at the time clock to exploit this for overtime. Play you cards right and you could turn 10 minutes of your day into 30 min of overtime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-paid-at-work-for-set-up-break-down-is-this-ok/325936.md?page=1)