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Speak Up! - View Question #17184 |
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Question: i am curently workin a part time job at at the local skating rink and they will schedule me for a time and i go in right on time never late and alot of times they will have me and other employees sit around and wait to get put on for hours without payin us they claim that theres nothin to do ... is it legal to make me stay around without gettin paid when im coming in on time or do they have to pay me and if they need to b payin me is there a way i can do something about this?? thanks for the help
Answer: This is a tricky question, which I can't fully answer without knowing more. If your employer requires you to come in at a certain time and will not permit you to leave until a later time, then the employer must pay you for the time you are there. If, however, you get in and the employer says "if you want to work tonight, you'll have to wait until we need you" then it's a closer question. I think if the employer is doing this every night, then probably you'd have a case because you could say that the only way you would ever be able to get work is to camp out and wait.
But if it's happened only a couple of times, then you'll have a much harder time proving that your waiting around is conditional on you getting to work. Now, if you are entitled to those hours, you could do one or all of the following three things: you could speak to a lawyer; you may visit the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) office on-line or in person at:
3300 North Central Avenue, Suite 690
Phoenix, AZ 85012-2504
Phone: 602-640-5000
Fax: 602-640-5071
TTY: 602-640-5072; or you may visit the state agency in charge of employment.
For more information, visit the EEOC’s Youth at Work website .
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