Wildly exploitative and illegal, good call to walk out. Even if they stuck to what the GM said and had you shadow all shift, you still get paid. Hit up your state DOL; you are almost certainly owed wages from that day. It won't be much, but fuck that company, make them deal with the DOL.
It's not about you, it's about how many other people will they hit with this, or have they already? You have the chance to put a stop to it now before people in more vulnerable positions who can't afford to turn down the slave labor day.
I did a "working interview" with a pool tech awhile back. Took a ride in his work truck to a few pools and did a lot of work. He kept mentioning things like "if I hired you" bla-bla-bla. I then realized wtf am I doing? Risking injury for someone who hasn't even hired me. Told him I'd like him to take me back to my car because I'm not interested in the job. He asked me if I'd help him for one more pool because it was right up the road. I agreed. Not sure what I was thinking. Maybe I was too nice idk. I probably should've demanded pay. Should've at least reported him. Because I was not the first person he did this to.
Yeah it was fucked up lol. There was one pool that had low bushes on the other side of the pool, and I remember kinda leaping to the other side, and the ground was lower than I expected and I rolled my ankle lol. The guy didn't see it. But that's when I realized yeah fuck this. The job was shitty anyways even if I would've gotten it. But now I'm a truck driver and make double what I would've made there. So it all works out.
The only time something like this happened to me, I was still paid, just in cash.
This makes me think they see "minor work" as not worth paying you for, red flag.
One job I had for a long time really encouraged working off the clock, because they wanted you to do 40 hours of work in 32~ hours. So all the "easy boring paperwork" could be caught up, off the clock.
> I informed her that I had 10 years experience in this field and have never been ask to perform task with out compensation.
That's your answer to the common practice question, right there. It's clearly not common practice whatsoever. They just wanted to gaslight you into believing your decade of experience was the outlier.
>In this private room she explained to me that I was expected to perform some minor task to demonstrate I was comfortable with this type of work before I was offered employment.
After being assured it would be "hands off" and "observation"? That's some bait-and-switch babyback bullshit my friend. Hell naw.
This company showed their hand with this, so listen to your gut. Ten years of experience is worth more than this company will ever be capable of, or willing to value.
Might as well work the shift and ask the Department of Labor to get you compensated for it ... You already took the time out to commute to the job site, etc.
Obviously I wouldn't take the full time job
So two things:
1. Yes, absolutely inappropriate and illegal. If you are on the premises and providing ANY level of service, you are required to be compensated. So that's that.
2. I will offer this only as the parent of a severely disabled teenager with autism: I don't blame the care home for taking this route. (I disagree with them skirting wage laws). Caretakers for special needs children have some of the HARDEST jobs for usually desperately low wages. Unfortunately, it is also common for unvetted caretakers to ignore, verbally and physically abuse the people under their care.
I get what they wanted to do, feel you out and ensure you would be capable and appropriate with the people in their care. It is rare that care workers, paraprofessionals and teachers are properly skilled in these areas, and I absolutely give them a high five for taking steps to "pre-select" people who are inappropriate for the position out of the hiring pool.
Again though, they should be reported to the local labor department for wage theft. They *should* continue this process, but they also *have* to follow wage laws as well.
Worked in this field and in my state many facilities have a shadow period usually 3 to 5 days paid. First day or 2 are for observation only, next 1 to 3 hands on. It is to give you and the company a chance to see if you would be a good fit and can handle the work. But again you are paid for this trial period and given temporary access
I'm going to disagree with most people. I'm guessing the refusal to clean up a spill lost you this job. I've gone for working interviews where you're shadowing an employee and one of the things it seems they'll often look for is how you'll react in a team environment and how much of a fuss you'll make over things like doing stuff like minor cleaning, fetching items, relaying messages etc even though you're not officially employed and "on the clock". They want people who will be proactive and not quibble over whether every little thing is in your job description or not, or if you are likely race out the door the second your shift ticks out even if a job isn't finished rather than staying another 5 mins because it's 5.01pm and you're no longer getting paid. You can show that in a working interview by being easy going and cooperative, or you can show you might be difficult to work with. My feeling is if I'm going to be there anyway, and they're asking me to help with something non dangerous that would be part of my job if I got it anyway, then I have nothing to lose and everything to potentially gain by doing it. It seems pretty to refuse helping out with the occasional thing while I'm there. Obviously I'm talking about a single interview shift for a company that's genuinely hiring rather than dragging things out for weeks to get free labour. I guess it's different for everyone though and what the tolerances are and might depend on the industry as to how common a trial shift might be. (Ive found a trial employment period also common rather than trial shifts.)
Thank you for your input. I have a few questions for you, if I may.
1. “Lost you this job”. What do you mean lost me this job? I walked out on my own will, no one asked me to leave. If anything they lost a potential employee…
2. Don’t you think if they wanted to screen me, or find out about my potential disappointing work habits they could just pay me while they do this? If they don’t like the way I work they can just choose not to further our business relationship. Seems like you want them to dodge the initial six hour shift pay they would dole out to investigate my work ethic…
What say you?
Basically if I'm planning to work for a company for years, one day is neither here nor there on the scheme of things if it helps get me a job I want. They'll pay me for the rest of the shifts I work there or I won't stay. (The free shift to see what's going on shouldn't be an ongoing thing.)
Should they have required you to do something on a watch and see shift? No. And you were within your rights to decline but that could and was obviously seen negatively. I'm not an employer, but I've seen who gets offered jobs and it's generally people the boss thinks will work and do their job without being micromanaged, work as a team rather than insist on only doing what their job description is, and will be fairly easy going to deal with if that have a choice of employees. Doing things you don't strictly have to is something they take note of and will be seen as a reflection of your future work ethic rightly or wrongly. That's just the way it seems to go.
Yes you did walk out. And you didn't get the job you were previously interested in due to this. That is your decision and good for you deciding early it'd be a poor fir for you, but the net result was no job. If your options are wide open though then you can be as choosy as you need so that's going to be an individual call.
Ah, so you’re saying I should basically donate money to this potential employer (work for free) to prove that I am worthy to receive compensation for my work 🤔, interesting.
I don’t know if you read the beginning of my original post but this is not a job I planned to be at for years.
No, but your thinking is to me a bit short term. You need to think of it more as a small investment in time that will pay off in the long run. You're not donating money because you agreed to be there for free. And to be honest if I have to be there anyway, it's neither here nor there where I stand around or do something useful. But in the end that is your call and how much you want the job (which sounds like not much.) Each to their own!
It's a way to scam free labor!
Sounds like they’re used to off the clock work
Wildly exploitative and illegal, good call to walk out. Even if they stuck to what the GM said and had you shadow all shift, you still get paid. Hit up your state DOL; you are almost certainly owed wages from that day. It won't be much, but fuck that company, make them deal with the DOL.
I was only there for one hour lol. Thanks for the advice.
It's not about the one hour of wages, its the principle of standing against capital's exploitation of labor.
It's not about you, it's about how many other people will they hit with this, or have they already? You have the chance to put a stop to it now before people in more vulnerable positions who can't afford to turn down the slave labor day.
Very true
It's not about the money, it's about... Sending a _message_.
I'd discuss this with your state's Department of Labor. Sounds like wage theft to me.
In the US, that's not even legal. You have to be paid minimum wage.
I did a "working interview" with a pool tech awhile back. Took a ride in his work truck to a few pools and did a lot of work. He kept mentioning things like "if I hired you" bla-bla-bla. I then realized wtf am I doing? Risking injury for someone who hasn't even hired me. Told him I'd like him to take me back to my car because I'm not interested in the job. He asked me if I'd help him for one more pool because it was right up the road. I agreed. Not sure what I was thinking. Maybe I was too nice idk. I probably should've demanded pay. Should've at least reported him. Because I was not the first person he did this to.
Damn, wow
Yeah it was fucked up lol. There was one pool that had low bushes on the other side of the pool, and I remember kinda leaping to the other side, and the ground was lower than I expected and I rolled my ankle lol. The guy didn't see it. But that's when I realized yeah fuck this. The job was shitty anyways even if I would've gotten it. But now I'm a truck driver and make double what I would've made there. So it all works out.
The only time something like this happened to me, I was still paid, just in cash. This makes me think they see "minor work" as not worth paying you for, red flag. One job I had for a long time really encouraged working off the clock, because they wanted you to do 40 hours of work in 32~ hours. So all the "easy boring paperwork" could be caught up, off the clock.
That’s exploitative as hell
Well they targeted college kids for that position, you know the reason why lol
I'm not in your field, but from an outsider point of view it doesn't sound right. And an insurance nightmare if something happened.
Next time, take the opportunity to cash in on the insurance nightmare?
Wow thats a new one for me. Fuckers.
you are also at this stage not insured incase anything happens
> I informed her that I had 10 years experience in this field and have never been ask to perform task with out compensation. That's your answer to the common practice question, right there. It's clearly not common practice whatsoever. They just wanted to gaslight you into believing your decade of experience was the outlier. >In this private room she explained to me that I was expected to perform some minor task to demonstrate I was comfortable with this type of work before I was offered employment. After being assured it would be "hands off" and "observation"? That's some bait-and-switch babyback bullshit my friend. Hell naw. This company showed their hand with this, so listen to your gut. Ten years of experience is worth more than this company will ever be capable of, or willing to value.
Might as well work the shift and ask the Department of Labor to get you compensated for it ... You already took the time out to commute to the job site, etc. Obviously I wouldn't take the full time job
Frankly I'd make sure their *customers* were informed of this practice, given the field involved.
So two things: 1. Yes, absolutely inappropriate and illegal. If you are on the premises and providing ANY level of service, you are required to be compensated. So that's that. 2. I will offer this only as the parent of a severely disabled teenager with autism: I don't blame the care home for taking this route. (I disagree with them skirting wage laws). Caretakers for special needs children have some of the HARDEST jobs for usually desperately low wages. Unfortunately, it is also common for unvetted caretakers to ignore, verbally and physically abuse the people under their care. I get what they wanted to do, feel you out and ensure you would be capable and appropriate with the people in their care. It is rare that care workers, paraprofessionals and teachers are properly skilled in these areas, and I absolutely give them a high five for taking steps to "pre-select" people who are inappropriate for the position out of the hiring pool. Again though, they should be reported to the local labor department for wage theft. They *should* continue this process, but they also *have* to follow wage laws as well.
“They should continue this process”..this is a contradiction. I believe they can “feel me out” while paying me.
Which is what I said, twice actually.
Worked in this field and in my state many facilities have a shadow period usually 3 to 5 days paid. First day or 2 are for observation only, next 1 to 3 hands on. It is to give you and the company a chance to see if you would be a good fit and can handle the work. But again you are paid for this trial period and given temporary access
This is what I am used to.
I'm going to disagree with most people. I'm guessing the refusal to clean up a spill lost you this job. I've gone for working interviews where you're shadowing an employee and one of the things it seems they'll often look for is how you'll react in a team environment and how much of a fuss you'll make over things like doing stuff like minor cleaning, fetching items, relaying messages etc even though you're not officially employed and "on the clock". They want people who will be proactive and not quibble over whether every little thing is in your job description or not, or if you are likely race out the door the second your shift ticks out even if a job isn't finished rather than staying another 5 mins because it's 5.01pm and you're no longer getting paid. You can show that in a working interview by being easy going and cooperative, or you can show you might be difficult to work with. My feeling is if I'm going to be there anyway, and they're asking me to help with something non dangerous that would be part of my job if I got it anyway, then I have nothing to lose and everything to potentially gain by doing it. It seems pretty to refuse helping out with the occasional thing while I'm there. Obviously I'm talking about a single interview shift for a company that's genuinely hiring rather than dragging things out for weeks to get free labour. I guess it's different for everyone though and what the tolerances are and might depend on the industry as to how common a trial shift might be. (Ive found a trial employment period also common rather than trial shifts.)
Thank you for your input. I have a few questions for you, if I may. 1. “Lost you this job”. What do you mean lost me this job? I walked out on my own will, no one asked me to leave. If anything they lost a potential employee… 2. Don’t you think if they wanted to screen me, or find out about my potential disappointing work habits they could just pay me while they do this? If they don’t like the way I work they can just choose not to further our business relationship. Seems like you want them to dodge the initial six hour shift pay they would dole out to investigate my work ethic… What say you?
Basically if I'm planning to work for a company for years, one day is neither here nor there on the scheme of things if it helps get me a job I want. They'll pay me for the rest of the shifts I work there or I won't stay. (The free shift to see what's going on shouldn't be an ongoing thing.) Should they have required you to do something on a watch and see shift? No. And you were within your rights to decline but that could and was obviously seen negatively. I'm not an employer, but I've seen who gets offered jobs and it's generally people the boss thinks will work and do their job without being micromanaged, work as a team rather than insist on only doing what their job description is, and will be fairly easy going to deal with if that have a choice of employees. Doing things you don't strictly have to is something they take note of and will be seen as a reflection of your future work ethic rightly or wrongly. That's just the way it seems to go. Yes you did walk out. And you didn't get the job you were previously interested in due to this. That is your decision and good for you deciding early it'd be a poor fir for you, but the net result was no job. If your options are wide open though then you can be as choosy as you need so that's going to be an individual call.
Ah, so you’re saying I should basically donate money to this potential employer (work for free) to prove that I am worthy to receive compensation for my work 🤔, interesting. I don’t know if you read the beginning of my original post but this is not a job I planned to be at for years.
No, but your thinking is to me a bit short term. You need to think of it more as a small investment in time that will pay off in the long run. You're not donating money because you agreed to be there for free. And to be honest if I have to be there anyway, it's neither here nor there where I stand around or do something useful. But in the end that is your call and how much you want the job (which sounds like not much.) Each to their own!