Unfair treatment at work

bdrury_96

So guys, I'm currently working in a local bar where the hours are late and the pay isn't great but it helps me get by and I don't really have any other options right now. On an average nights work in this bar I may not finish till 5:30-6:00 in the morning. But recently I've discovered somthing that I was not informed about by my management. When I asked if I could view my hours for the week worked (due to issues on my pay slip for this week) I discovered that my pay gets cut off at 4:30 every night, no matter how late I'm working until. I'm pretty sure there is somthing wrong with this, especially since I was never informed when I started working here. Obviously I need to say somthing to the management and the other members of staff need to know, but I've never had to deal with anything like this, which is why I'm posting here looking for advice. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Diziet

You should start by politely asking your manager, and then aim to leave on time.

bdrury_96

Diziet wrote: »

You should start by politely asking your manager, and then aim to leave on time.

It's impossible to leave on time because there is always so much to clean. Along with the fact there is customers in the building until 3:30 makes it difficult.

notharrypotter

bdrury_96 wrote: »

So guys, I'm currently working in a local bar where the hours are late and the pay isn't great but it helps me get by and I don't really have any other options right now. On an average nights work in this bar I may not finish till 5:30-6:00 in the morning. But recently I've discovered somthing that I was not informed about by my management. When I asked if I could view my hours for the week worked (due to issues on my pay slip for this week) I discovered that my pay gets cut off at 4:30 every night, no matter how late I'm working until. I'm pretty sure there is somthing wrong with this, especially since I was never informed when I started working here. Obviously I need to say somthing to the management and the other members of staff need to know, but I've never had to deal with anything like this, which is why I'm posting here looking for advice. Any help is greatly appreciated!

What is the "official" closing time?
This often happens in smaller retail where the staff are only paid until when the doors close.
Not when tidying/cleaning is finished or even when the last customer leaves.

bdrury_96

notharrypotter wrote: »

What is the "official" closing time?
This often happens in smaller retail where the staff are only paid until when the doors close.
Not when tidying/cleaning is finished or even when the last customer leaves.

We serve customers most nights until 2:30 (2:45/3:00 on busier nights). We then get a 15 min break which also gets deducted then we've got about an hour to have everything cleaned (bar, toilets, dance floor ect.)

SusieBlue

I have worked in several clubs and this is neither the norm nor fair.
On our rosters, it used to say our start time, but there was never a finish time. Because we finished when everything was clean (therefore the time changed on a nightly basis) and not at a specific time.
I would start by asking politely if your payslip is mistaken, and you weren't paid in error, so that management can rectify the issue. It could be a payroll error.

Do you have a clock in/sign in/sign out operation? If so, you have proof of the hours you are working.
What does your roster say? If it says a time ie. 9pm - 4:30am I would go to a manager and say you are leaving because your shift is over. If they ask you to stay to finish clean up, I would say no as you aren't being paid for it.
If it doesn't say a time, I would organise a meeting with management and ask why you aren't being paid for work you are completing.

Honestly, this kind of thing really annoys me. Time is money and its very unfair to expect that kind of work without pay. We used to get paid to the nearest quarter of an hour where I was, so if we finished at 4:05am we'd get paid till 4 but if it was 4:11am we'd get paid till quarter past etc.
If the issue doesn't resolve itself I would leave if I were you. The work is hard enough and the hours are tough enough that you are worth more than that kind of shoddy treatment.

bdrury_96

WhiteRoses wrote: »

I have worked in several clubs and this is neither the norm nor fair.
On our rosters, it used to say our start time, but there was never a finish time. Because we finished when everything was clean (therefore the time changed on a nightly basis) and not at a specific time.
I would start by asking politely if your payslip is mistaken, and you weren't paid in error, so that management can rectify the issue. It could be a payroll error.

Do you have a clock in/sign in/sign out operation? If so, you have proof of the hours you are working.
What does your roster say? If it says a time ie. 9pm - 4:30am I would go to a manager and say you are leaving because your shift is over. If they ask you to stay to finish clean up, I would say no as you aren't being paid for it.
If it doesn't say a time, I would organise a meeting with management and ask why you aren't being paid for work you are completing.

Honestly, this kind of thing really annoys me. Time is money and its very unfair to expect that kind of work without pay. We used to get paid to the nearest quarter of an hour where I was, so if we finished at 4:05am we'd get paid till 4 but if it was 4:11am we'd get paid till quarter past etc.
If the issue doesn't resolve itself I would leave if I were you. The work is hard enough and the hours are tough enough that you are worth more than that kind of shoddy treatment.

I asked the management when i seen my hours worked and that's when they decided to tell me about it. We do have a clock in operation but I doesn't make a difference. The hours are sent from the clock in machine to a spread sheet on a computer in their office which they then send to their accountant to work out how much they have to pay out for that week. But before this spreadsheet is sent off they delete the true clock out time and put in 4:30. Essentialy anytime I spend working after 4:30 is free labour and I'm pretty sure that's not right.

SusieBlue

bdrury_96 wrote: »

I asked the management when i seen my hours worked and that's when they decided to tell me about it. We do have a clock in operation but I doesn't make a difference. The hours are sent from the clock in machine to a spread sheet on a computer in their office which they then send to their accountant to work out how much they have to pay out for that week. But before this spreadsheet is sent off they delete the true clock out time and put in 4:30. Essentialy anytime I spend working after 4:30 is free labour and I'm pretty sure that's not right.

I would leave at 4:30am in that case. If you finish before that time, say, 3:30am, do you get paid till 4:30 even so? Just as a matter of interest.

They can't make you stay and they technically can't reprimand you for it, though they'll probably let you go and blame it on another reason.
They honestly don't sound worth working for and I would most definitely be looking for another job.

Something to consider - we are approaching Christmas, or as we used to call it, silly season.
The customers will be messier than ever, harder to get out at the end of the night and the clean up will take longer. If you are in college you will also have your Christmas exams to be worrying about.
In other words, you are going to be working much longer hours, and most likely, Christmas Eve/St Stephens Day/New Years, which you won't get pay and a half/double time for. Standard pay for these nights is the norm.

Working these extra hours will be crap enough without doing the last 2-3 hours of your shift for free to boot. I would get out of there if you can. Take if from someone with industry experience - you will pick up another similar job now that you have experience no problem by a company who will pay you properly.

bdrury_96

WhiteRoses wrote: »

I would leave at 4:30am in that case. If you finish before that time, say, 3:30am, do you get paid till 4:30 even so? Just as a matter of interest.

They can't make you stay and they technically can't reprimand you for it, though they'll probably let you go and blame it on another reason.
They honestly don't sound worth working for and I would most definitely be looking for another job.

Something to consider - we are approaching Christmas, or as we used to call it, silly season.
The customers will be messier than ever, harder to get out at the end of the night and the clean up will take longer. If you are in college you will also have your Christmas exams to be worrying about.
In other words, you are going to be working much longer hours, and most likely, Christmas Eve/St Stephens Day/New Years, which you won't get pay and a half/double time for. Standard pay for these nights is the norm.

Working these extra hours will be crap enough without doing the last 2-3 hours of your shift for free to boot. I would get out of there if you can. Take if from someone with industry experience - you will pick up another similar job now that you have experience no problem by a company who will pay you properly.

No, whatever time we get sent home at before 4:30 Is the time we get paid up until.

Yeah it's no harm to go looking for another job, I'm sure there's better out there for me. I just feel it's unfair to the senior staff that have been there longer than I have without being told this and the fact we can doing nothing about it other than leave when pay stops is quite ****. But I guess I have to look after myself first and worry about others later.

Thanks for all your help😀😀