The Supreme Court Says Unanimously Your Boss Can Make You Work For Free

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week that your boss does not have to pay you for all the time they force you to spend at work. At issue was a lawsuit filed by Amazon warehouse workers suing for wages they were not paid while they were forced to wait in long lines for post-shift security searches. Workers report that sometimes they can be waiting in line for as long as 25 minutes.

bluenationreview.com...

I think this stinks ! Should workers be required to submit to security searches once their shift has ended ? If these searches are required and your not able to leave work until you complete them daily is that not a part of your work day? 25 min. a day is adding an additional 2 hours and 5 min. to their work week......

This last line in the news article sums it up pretty good I think.....what does ATS think ?

Warehouse workers are actually paying Amazon for the pleasure of being treated like thieves every day after work. How charming.

a reply to: MountainLaurel

Well I guess if it bothers them that much..
find another job..unless of course they are of the uneducated
group and have no skills.. then bummer for them

a reply to: Lil Drummerboy

You illustrate perfectly the true source of our world's problems.

a reply to: Lil Drummerboy

Well, SCOTUS seems to agree with you. Kinda a shame how many people seem to feel unskilled workers should be subjected to unfair working conditions....I guess those dummies are lucky to have a job !

a reply to: MountainLaurel

The ruling from SCOTUS hinges on the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as a 1947 statute known as the “Portal-to-Portal Act.” Under the FLSA, workers have a right to compensation for their “principal activities.” But the Portal-to-Portal Act allows certain pre- and post-shift activities to be exempt. A typical example of this is that most places of employment will not allow you to clock in before you put on your uniform

makes sense.

there are other jobs out there. they dont have to work at the amazon warehouse.

originally posted by: MountainLaurel

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week that your boss does not have to pay you for all the time they force you to spend at work. At issue was a lawsuit filed by Amazon warehouse workers suing for wages they were not paid while they were forced to wait in long lines for post-shift security searches. Workers report that sometimes they can be waiting in line for as long as 25 minutes.

bluenationreview.com...

I think this stinks ! Should workers be required to submit to security searches once their shift has ended ? If these searches are required and your not able to leave work until you complete them daily is that not a part of your work day? 25 min. a day is adding an additional 2 hours and 5 min. to their work week......

This last line in the news article sums it up pretty good I think.....what does ATS think ?

Warehouse workers are actually paying Amazon for the pleasure of being treated like thieves every day after work. How charming.

Well - it was hard to expect anything else from the uber-pro-big (not small) business Roberts court. The only citizens that exist in the eyes of the majority of the court are the inhuman big business ones.

The only recource we have is to boycott Amazon and other big-box stores that have these policies in their 'business model'.

Buy from small private places - you'll pay more - but your dollars will actually count for good. Use Amazon to find vendors (the ones that don't use Amazon fullfillment or checked prime) then once you've found the company name search them out online and buy direct).

I love my kindle --- sigh......

Was the policy in place bofore the ones complaining about it started employment or after? If it was in place before the start of employment, they knew the job bid when they signed it.

a reply to: MountainLaurel

now its an unfair working condition?
should the company pay them for the time it takes then to drive to and from as well?

a reply to: Lil Drummerboy

Well you said it champ. Do me a favour when your ego finally grows that big your head explodes. Send the pieces around the world so they're never assembled again.

Such a cold hearted and callous comment.

"Bummer for them", yeah imagine that, some people (not all are uneducated louts as you NO DOUBT think they are) just can't get a job elsewhere. They've been chewed up and spit out; so they take a job in desperate need of cash only to be told "you're going to work for free" putting them ever further into the mire. Adding to the debt, adding to the crime rates, adding to the homeless population and adding, no doubt, to the level of overall stress and cynicism we see these days (because there's just not enough of that). It may only be a short addition to their shift but it's a lot out of THEIR time.

Any time spent in work unpaid is a massive chore (to most) and would put many many people off.


I know this comment appears hyperbolic but I'm SO tired of this seemingly resentful attitude toward the common working man.

originally posted by: Lil Drummerboy
a reply to: MountainLaurel

Well I guess if it bothers them that much..
find another job..unless of course they are of the uneducated
group and have no skills.. then bummer for them

So, if I read your response correctly, you approve and endorse of un-paid seritude for unskilled people?

Slavery - is another term for it.

www.alternet.org...

originally posted by: Nechash
a reply to: Lil Drummerboy

You illustrate perfectly the true source of our world's problems.

BTW as an aside - Awesome avatar!!!!

originally posted by: Grovit
a reply to: MountainLaurel

now its an unfair working condition?
should the company pay them for the time it takes then to drive to and from as well?

No but if they are on company property then they should get paid unless agreed beforehand.

originally posted by: Nechash
a reply to: Lil Drummerboy

You illustrate perfectly the true source of our world's problems.

It is sad the contempt many people seem to have for people doing good, honest work !

So they were working while standing in line?
They can always quit, nobody is forcing them to keep their jobs.
What's next, asking to get paid while waiting in freeway traffic jams on the way home?

a reply to: Nechash

Well I guess if it bothers them that much..
find another job..unless of course they are of the uneducated
group and have no skills.. then bummer for them

Yep. Boss mentality or a mind-numbing case of contrarianism.

a reply to: MountainLaurel

unfair working conditions..

How is it unfair? Should a employer pay for the time it takes for someone to put on a uniform or to clock in or sign out of work Or to travel from home to job site. Besides that employees are made policy before starting so........ They knew this well before hand and now they think as with you its "unfair".

nope no way negatory.
It's time to exchange recipe Ideas for roasted
Judge and CEO stew .

It's a Supreme Judge, so you''ll need a good wine.
If you said anything but fine Red or Port ,
I will have to graciously disagree.
.
CEO stew on the other hand
is decidedly more of a run of the mill fare,
and my thoughts are Amazon CEO stew will go perfectly
on a cold day with a spiced cider. But make it your own
and remember to have fun with it.

This is the way I'm going to respond to every gross overreach that
our corporate overlords and their government minions attempt.

originally posted by: Joneselius
so they take a job in desperate need of cash only to be told "you're going to work for free" .

hmmm.
i didnt know standing in a line and walking through a check was work.
news to me

ewok, i dont agree with that either.
people are supposed to be paid any time they are on company property? why

i used to get to work sometimes an hour before my shift started. i just dont sleep much.
i would clock in but would not be paid. i would be on the clock for insurance reasons only. if i were to get hurt while on the property...that type of deal

sometimes when i had a lot to do i would start as much as 3 hours before my shift. when my boss came in i told him and he fixed it manually so i would be paid.
that seems fair
being paid to be on the property, not so much.

we also had showers at work a lot of people used. you could shower after your shift but before you punched out.'
the company should pay for shower time according to you?

hahaha

I used to work at the Amazon warehouse in Fernley, Nevada.

Those security measures are there for a reason. Theft is rampant. It is also covered in the employee orientation BEFORE you are allowed to work there. It is literally something you sign up for and give Amazon permission to do as a condition or your employment. It is in your contract.

a reply to: hillbilly4rent

people often agree to a job knowing they will be doing certain things. this is one.
had another thread about someone complaining about working the holidays.
on the application and in the interview though, the availability is wide open. any shift, any days.
then, little by little it starts to become a problem...

this is along those same lines.

they did not have to take the job and they can always look for another.