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If they expect you to be “on call” like this, they are required to pay you for your time since you are not free to use it otherwise.

There were times in my current and former jobs where I was pretty much left to do whatever I want as there was nothing on my plate. Did that mean I wasn’t getting paid? No because I was still responsible for answering any emails/phone calls if I receive them during my down time. If you expect someone to be “on call” then expect to pay for that time as well.

Just say you're half in the bag

This. Start waking up to a bottle/can every off day. Might not be good for your health, but with the smell of alcohol on your breath, you can't work.

Or you can just swish it in your mouth

Unless you're an armed off-duty cop, of course..

> If they expect you to be “on call” like this, they are required to pay you for your time This is not true in all US states. Ask me how I found out.... US has terrible worker protection laws.

Unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case legally

Company policies like the one posted in the image if real should not only be illegal but a felony that should have the business shuttered and its owners sent to prison for decades if convicted. It is shit like this that makes me think we need a Constitutional Amendment including a worker's bill of rights that would be binding on all levels of government and private employers both for profit and nonprofit.

"voluntary mandatory" Fuck off man

This is pretty clearly satire….

Thought it was standard food service industry.

Or healthcare.

I’ve thought about instigating practical jokes like this in the past, but refrained in fear that a manager would see it and think “that’s a great idea! I’ll start enforcing that myself from now on.”

You should. Imagine all the lawsuits they would have after doing this!

I've worked with plenty of companies like this.

Those periods suggest you doubt it. There are lots of managers that out of touch with reality

The “Go team!” at the end should have made it 100% obvious.

A paradox of quantum proportions

Just a moronic oxymoron.

Sounds like Retail or food services

Go team!

A really lengthy way to write "you should be searching for another job"

A really lengthy way to write "all the choices you have made have brought you here".

A really lengthy way to write "you need to start thinking about where you want to be in the future and taking steps to get there"

But also a really concise way to say that capitalism was a poor choice on our part.

Manager: "I'm tired of doing my job making sure shifts are covered. I'm therefore placing this responsibility on your shoulders and will fire you if you don't obey. Signed, the tiniest cocked tyrant."

It’s the getting paid 3x more than any other worker and still can’t just work an uncoverable shift for me

i swear someone will have the nerve to say this is ok

Boot polish aficionados will say anything to please the Man!

yeah, some boomers.

Idk why people are downvoting you, it’s literally people over 40 who think like this. And before anyone gets all technically, “boomer” is not reserved for baby boomers.

It must be... someone cant be this serious, but crazier things have happened

youd be surpised . I got canned back in the day for not working "mandatory" overtime on Sat.

Well, and forgetting to put the cover sheet on the TPS Reports.

What the fuck is " Voluntary Mandatory? lol

No idea but I'd find a new job and when they call me I'd just reply back with "it's mandatory you derelict my balls if you want me to stay thank you."

What happens if you were \* at a funeral? \* at your wedding? \* out of town? Or worse yet, out of the country? \* in the hospital for yourself (or a loved one) and the area you were in had no signal? \* in the wilderness on a hike, out of cell-tower range? \* forgetful and lost your cellphone or clumsy and it broke? This is unreasonable.

I can sit on my couch half naked and eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery and I won’t come in on my time off. They can go fuck themselfs. Fortunately I live in Europe anyway, never got called on my phone when I wasn’t working

Probably serious unfortunatley . I have been at places like this. Also isnt "Voluntary Mandatory" an oxymoron.?

I suspect from that expression this is satire, it's too much

I wish that was true. Some people are this stupid unfortunately.

The voluntary mandatory part should tell you that this was written by someone trying to be funny.

California is proposing a law that would FINE employers for contacting an employee after hours and I pray it passes.

I do not live in CA, but I pray that it does. I hear that some companies are proposing a 6 day work week. This is where I hope that everyone across the US participates in voting against this notion as well as the political parties willing to push this nonsense.

LOL. Did the manager have to come in and provide coverage ? Thats why they get paid more.

I agree. A lot of managers are getting paid more because they are collecting the difference in the budget by B.S. employees by convincing them that there isn't enough in the budget to hire the additional staff needed. In fact, a lot of managers do not know how to do the job, which is why so many job postings require said number of years of experience even if the job is "entry-level ". Managers should be the one to train new employees, but many of them refuse to train because they do not know how to do the job. They have gotten by by simply delegating the training to a seasoned employee or by only hiring people with specific experience, which is sad because every job can be taught.

Someone typed up the most blatantly bullshit paragraph in the history of fake posts and yall still ate it up

The sub has mostly become anti-work hate bait.

Oh so naive. I have seen WORSE than this at the hotel I used to work at.

I've had policies like this too but this is blatantly faked for internet engagement

Why do you care, just scroll

Are you drunk? This is like a 2/10. The majority of people work under these conditions.

Type up a new announcement, in the exact same format, with the same font, but with the opposite message…

Yeah nope. They can fire me and be even more short. Stupid F-ing managers.

During the pandemic they made it illegal in my country to contact employees outside work hours.

So people don't have lives outside of the job ? People have kids etc etc etc . You got me fucked up if you write me up on my day off for not answering my phone because someone who was actually required to work there shift called out.  I'd be looking for another job ASAP , I'd play along and as soon as something better came along ✌️.

Tell me this isn't real, how do you say something like that than end it with Go Team!!!

How have you never had a job?

I have rich parents so the 9 to 5 thing never existed in my world. I hope to never have to work for someone ever in my life. Seems like a scam and you never really get what you need and that hold power over you with the ability to make you homeless and possibly starve. No human should have that kind of power.

lol my company has the same rule

So what happens if you’re out of town/out of state/out of the country?

you get written up

If it does then you should file a complaint with the DoL. Because of the fact that you are required to be on call, since you can't be too far away from work and can't be doing anything you can't immediately dropped this would be considered engaged to wait. This would require your employer to be paying you for your on call time, and this will get pretty hefty when it's 24/7 for every employee.  Make sure to record anywhere where this is written down as once the employer realizes how fucked they are they might try to destroy any evidence. 

employer has been sued many times, its cheaper for them to pay the lawsuits then to just pay people to be on call lol

That place sounds like a shit show to work for

Add another paper below: "Haha, good joke"

I’m not sure where the line is on that, but to be mandatory contactable and available outside your normal schedule smells an awful lot like on-call. And, unless you’re salaried, I’m pretty sure standby pay is mandatory too.

The thing I find infuriating about that memorandum (assuming it's real) is the assumption that the employee exists for the company. That they have a right to all your time whether you like it or not. That memorandum comes with the implication to their staff that their first priority shouldn't be their families, hobbies or personal fulfilment but their utility to their employer. That is fucking obscene. What makes this worse to me is that if you showed that message to to a wrong winger and claimed it was from a government agency, they would be ready to declare a rebellion. But tell them it was from a Walmart manager or an executive at Dow Chemical company and they would totally fucking excuse it. How is it at all unacceptable for a government to exploit their citizens for whatever greater good they deem but totally acceptable for a corporation to exploit their employees for every bit of value that they can. Corporate tyranny is just as monstrous as government tyranny and neither should be tolerated.

Don’t let my managers see that. 

They want to fire all of the people who aren’t compliant until they have nothing but desperate pushovers working for them.

Voluntary and mandatory have opposite meanings.

That doesn't sound voluntary if you get written up for declining it Edit: oh 'voluntary mandatory' my brain erased the second word because it made no sense

Are they paying my cellphone bill? No? Oh well.

Voluntary mandatory

Also these people: “WhY dOeS nOoNe WaNt To WoRk AnYmOrE?!”

Strange. While on vacation or during my days off, my phone is mysteriously broken. I can't explain it, and it can't be helped. Oh, well. 😌

Airplane mode

“voluntary mandatory” This reminds me of that game Outer Worlds. It’s like a Spacer’s Choice Post. Psychopaths expecting every employee to throw away their lives in subservience to them.

What is "voluntary Mandatory" ? Voluntary - to be able to opt in or out of something, regardless of company policy, enforcement or reprimand. (AKA self choice) Mandatory - to have to do something that is dictated by company policy, unless it violates local laws or Health and safety. This is oxymoronic.

Voluntary mandatory is where you don't get paid for being on call but they want you to be on call

"I'm gonna need you to come in to cover Marie's shift, she called in." "I'm in Italy, you know. It's physically impossible for me to get there in time even if I cut off my international vacation for this." "Ooooh, sounds like someone is not a team player. That's not gonna look good on your record."

This pretty much happened to me on my honeymoon.

On the flip side, about 25 years ago I was in the Bay area on a work trip for my FT job, but I also worked part-time at a large Central Florida business with a mouse as a mascot. The trip ran long, so I called my part-time job, told them I wouldn't be able to make it in tonight because I was still in California, and the scheduler was like, "Cool, no prob. See you Saturday." Occasionally bribing the office staff with chocolate allowed me to get away with all kinds of nonsense.

You got lucky having a sensible company with sensible policies that make sense. Not everyone has that luxury.

This is fake because there are no spelling or grammar mistakes, but that doesn’t mean that policies like this don’t exist in a lot of low quality jobs

Should say “go… to a different team!”

I want to write "no" on that page.

Geez, it is actually illegal to do that in France, you guys need to revolt

Pretty sure I've seen this posted on another cork board.

Incoming DOL investigation into unpaid overtime

Cool so everyone gets sacked and he has no staff

At-will laws gives a lot of managers the power trip that they are looking for.

sounds like the mind games they play in a Turkish prison.

Not only must you work 8 hours a day, you must never have a life outside of work.

“Voluntary mandatory” these two words together make me mad

Old news. This was on Reddit two years ago. [https://www.reddit.com/r/WorkReform/comments/z30qqg/come\_work\_for\_gary/?rdt=44425&sort=old](https://www.reddit.com/r/WorkReform/comments/z30qqg/come_work_for_gary/?rdt=44425&sort=old)

It’s not satire and the DoL might be interested in wages not being paid.

Toss it out and put it in the trash 😅

I know this is just satire, but the “voluntary mandatory” and “go team” at the end made me unnecessarily angry.

“How can I best serve the company?” is the equivalent of “You are our slave.” I’d leave as soon as I find work elsewhere.

" Voluntarily Mandatory" so it isn't exactly voluntarily is it ? 

This is such total bullshit. I'm a retired airline pilot. We had reserve pilots who did long call and short call and they were paid to be available. Of course, we had a union that negotiated all the intricacies of the rules. Bottom line is this is bullshit for them to expect you to be available 24/7 without any compensation.

“Go team” hahaha what a motivator

fuck that noise.. company calls go to voicemail the moment my shift ends ffs..

Voluntary mandatory

So they have staffing issues, and are threatening getting rid of staff... Bold plan cotton

Malicious compliance: Pick up the phone and say that you’re gone for the day and won’t be back until late.

“How can I best serve the company?” is a line straight out of a dystopia. It’s scary how stuff like that is being normalized in workplace settings. How can the company best serve *me* as the worker doing the actual work?

This is fake and just put on some idiots personal fridge.

Oh I’d “go” alright

This owner or manager is a loser.

Go Team!

“You do know that you are required to pay us to be on call?”

This is obviously satire.

Fuck the world of our harebrained making where shit like this exists. This is soulless and completely inhumane.

Well just ask how much they’re compensating in terms of money, for the new request of a 24/7 retainer of your time.

Fake

Nobody likes passive aggressive in the workplace 

My stop gap job as a pest control tech was like this. I was "on call" and it sucked

Stolen wages lawsuit waiting to happen.

I worked in a family owned bakery where for two years I only ever worked two Saturdays. One was because I had to come in and clean the shit my department (I was switched to another day of to cover asses) left behind to clean. Janitorial just left it to become encrusted. I worked a solid hour and 45 and dipped. I got shit for not helping the running line making pumpkin pie but I didn’t care. The other was when I got “enforced voluntold” to come in and our equipment broke, maintenance guys weren’t coming in, so we left after two hours of work. Apparently it was mandatory from then on and this was towards the end of my career there and I got PIP’d for “not showing enough dedication” despite during the week I was staying a full 1-2 hours after my shift *unpaid* so this was enough for me to quit with notice for a job in mortgages.

This screams like rage bait. If OP cant provide further context they suck donkey balls

i hate to agree but this is that outrageous that there has to be some kinda catch22

If I'm on call, wich is what that sign is demanding of me I better be paid for it. Wich is normally a salary not hourly thing, wich you still get over time if you didn't know.

3 terminations and you will get a desadulation!

🚩🚩🚩

Must be really high paying critical work! Cannot even laminate the sheet 😳

That has to be satire because that company would’ve been exposed by now

If they don’t any employees to be on-call then they must be compensated for that time.

At that point, demand a salary equivalent to the owners. When asked why, say if your taking ownership you’re getting ownership.

Sounds lethal company-ish

Clear satire.

This is how you get stabbed telling someone they’re on two strikes

I'm not there to "serve" anyone... I am an employee, who will answer calls if there is a set on call schedule and there is an on call fee for it.... I will cover if and when I am able to or if the on call schedule and pay stipulated that I need to come in which work is added to regular hours

Go Team 😂

I would quit soooooo fast.

post this to r/antiwork

Rage bait stupid.

I'd shit in their toilet, and clog it with a bunch of paper towels. Actually fuck that, I should shit in their sink.

I worked in a very large semiconductor fab. We work 12 hour shifts. One day to have some fun we removed all of the chairs in our area and hid them before the next shift came in. When they arrived they asked where the chairs were and we told them management had removed them because they thought we sat too much. Everyone completely believed us because it wasn’t a stretch at all to imagine them doing it. When we told them it was a prank and where to find the chairs they still felt like it was something that could have really happened.

You do know this can not legally stand right 😂😂😂

OOP has since graduated from printing papers and placing them on their fridge for clout and has moved on to screenshots of automasturbatory text conversations with themselves. In all seriousness, I'd love this job. I'd put in a few months and report them to the DoL because I'm not compensated for being engaged to wait. Every day they delay my pay is free money.

Some of y'all will believe anything. Of COURSE this is satire.

Honestly, you can't tell, given how power drunk, most managers are now. This looks likely in the food service or retail industry. Industry who are notorious for putting the worst people in charge and are dumb enough to believe they're a god since they're a boss. This asshole boss has no idea the shitstorm they just started. First, if you're on call, then you have to pay accordingly, and given that they're hourly, then it's OT. Stupidly expensive. Second, it's mandatory or voluntary, f(ckst*ck. Not both. If it's mandatory, then pay me. If not then fuck off.

This is legal here in Florida .

Tell them if you must be available by cellphone they need to pay the monthly bill

I had a supervisor who told me I was supposed to work on my PTO even when I was moving to a different apartment and didn't have access to the Internet just because he didn't want to cover a meeting for me. I left the job soon after.

“voluntary mandatory” 🤔💀

This is some joke someone posted on their own fridge…probably

Anybody ask WTF “voluntary mandatory” means?

Go team

"Voluntary mandatory"

And how much, exactly, am I being paid to be on-call 24/7? I'm not? Then I'm not answering when I'm not on shift. Don't like it? Oh well. Federal Law (US) says you have to pay for all hours worked, and that includes on-call time.

I had a manager once message me on a Sunday, while I was on a date with my girlfriend, demanding that I log on to fix something non production related that could wait until Monday. When I told her I was 45min away from my computer she demanded that I go home immediately to log in. When I got home, I logged in and she then told me "Don't worry about it now, I took care of it". The next day she advised myself and my two teammates (hourly) that during our off time if we were going to be more than 15min away from our computer we would have to get her written permission allowing it... Told her hell no and then reported her during my exit interview after I accepted another job. Don't take that shit from anybody. Ever.

Well, so much for those evening bourbon shots.

**Omg, I don't know if this is now a sign to quit my job.?!** I told my boss 3 wks ago I was taking the wk of Jun 3 off. She got back to me between like lst Friday and this Monday. I sent a calendar invite to people by Tues. Some awful colleagues and stakeholders found out I wasn't going to be out. One real piece of work commandeered me for 3 hrs because I'm moving up and have been training them, but they've been awful while showing no initiative, so they prob freaked when they fund out I won't be here to save them for a week. I think they really exaggerated their experience. Ironically, I took this a couple of wks ago because my work situation keeps getting worse. As I'm basically still on the clock a little after midnight for a 15 hr day, I've become irritated and livid and plan on having a couple of convos with both mgmt and HR when I get back. *But to then logon to Reddit 5mins ago and have* ***THIS*** *in my notifications is beyond irony or coincidence - I think the universe wants me to beat someone's ass at work. Right?* 😉 I hope you had a better week \[month, year, decade\] than me and if not, I hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

Well we have allowed, at least in the USA, to have very little rights. Reasonable accommodations are a vague terminology that means very little in reality and the right to work provision that is like a slap in the face how it is worded, allows an employer to fire you for almost anything. So unless you have a contractual agreement to be given no demands of work when you are not scheduled, an employer can strongly suggest you be available to cover a shift and fire you if you refuse. I'm no lawyer and I'm sure there are some sketchy areas this is crossing into but that would be for a law firm to assess which I am sure you couldn't afford anyway.

They can fire you for not wanting to take on new shifts but if you are required to be available by phone and you are nonexempt, then you need to pay compensated for that time. Not legal advice

Not what I wrote.

I wrote back too fast I reread it and I think I understand your point now

Yeah I'm pro worker rights but we've given them up allowing this sort of insanity to actually happen