There’s a big meeting at work. It’s some big push about timekeeping. People haven’t been showing up to work on time in the morning or back from breaks; this adds up as a whole line of people are waiting for them, and then suddenly they get hit by a load of work as the first two have to rush to catch up.

I never realised it was an issue, but it makes sense as we get a load of repair work around these times and they look like rushed and bad work. They say that parts cost three times as much after you work out the cost of paying everyone to stand around and then a whole team to repair what should have been right in the first place.

It all kicks off in the break room as I enter.

Worker #1: “So what if I’m a minute late? Who cares?”

Worker #2: “To be fair, you’re always late and it isn’t a minute.”

Worker #1: “Whatever, a minute, four minutes. Why should I lose money?”

Worker #3: “Why are you always late, anyway? You live around the corner.”

Worker #1: “Because that’s what I’m telling you. It doesn’t matter!”

He seems to think a while and then stands up, clearly angry.

Worker #1: “Well, I’m not changing for them. I’m not coming in any earlier. What about you?”

Worker #2: “Nah, you’re on your own.”

Worker #1: “You?”

Worker #3: “No, what they said was fair. I’m going to come in on time.”

Worker #1: “Screw you guys. I’ll do it alone, then.”

Later in the week, I saw him led upstairs twice — I can only assume about his time. He looked so smug, like he was some hero of the people. But the following week, he was there before I was. So much for showing them!

Earlier this summer, I temporarily took a job as a roofing salesperson for a construction company. The job description said I was managing a book of insurance agents and realtors, working referrals. In the interview, the boss was adamant that there was no door-knocking —just working relationships and referrals. I took the job and came to learn about week into my hire that they expected five or more hours a day of door-knocking. I could’ve quit right away but I figured I’d give it a go for a bit and just see how things went.

The job was full commission with a small weekly vehicle allowance, and I wasn’t responsible for working a regular schedule. But eventually, my boss started expecting everyone to work a regular schedule and report “at least forty hours” on our timecard app.

I fought with him about it because, as a non-hourly or non-salary employee, there was nothing to report. I got paid only for the work I brought in. Whether I worked eighty or five hours, the pay was the same and there was no contractual obligation to my time.

He got upset that I didn’t just give in and he told me that, because I hadn’t filled out a timecard, they wouldn’t give me my weekly vehicle allowance. It wasn’t a huge amount of money, but it was a matter of principle; I don’t get paid for time worked, so why do they need to know my hours?

My best friend is a labor attorney, and I asked him what I could do. He said I should just threaten to call the department of labor for withholding wages. So, I told my boss I’d call the department of labor. At this point, I was already in the process of getting hired for a job I really wanted, so I was planning on quitting soon anyway; I figured the company had it coming for all their lies and deceitful nature.

They agreed to give me the allowance. But then, later that day, Human Resources rolled out a policy that said that they would now be paying out the allowance based on hours logged on our timecard app. It was the expectation that we’d log forty hours, and if you didn’t meet forty hours, they would deduct a prorated amount from the vehicle allowance. The policy also said it was retroactive for the previous week. Therefore, I didn’t get my allowance for that week’s pay, as I continued to not log everything. I was a little pissed off about it.

That week, our boss made us work a great many more hours than usual, commuting several hours a day, each way, to a town he wanted us to get some work in. I went into our timecard app and logged my hours for the week — *a lot* more than forty. When the pay came that week, I only got the regular allowance — for “forty” hours. I asked my boss where the rest was, and he said it was a flat rate. I cited the new policy and said he owed me based on the “hours worked” and that I’d be calling the department of labor if I didn’t get it.

They ended up giving me the allowance based on my full logged hours. Later that week, Human Resources emailed the department saying that full commission people were exempt from logging hours and would be receiving the flat pay.

I won. I ended up quitting a short time later, followed by pretty much the whole sales staff.

I’m working at an insurance office. Most of the time, customers come into the office in person or call if they need insurance questions answered. There is also a service hotline that they can call that is not directly connected to the office where I work.

When I get to work one day, around half past eight, there is a drunk customer waiting in front of the office already. He immediately starts berating me.

Customer: “Why are you still closed?! You’re supposed to be open at 8:20!”

I point at the door where the hours are printed.

Me: “We open at 9:00.”

Customer: *Angry* “I have a letter that states you open at 8:20!”

I’ve worked at this office for about two years and we have never opened before nine. The customer drunkenly starts ruffling through the letter of proof from a bag to show me. He takes several minutes to find the information and then points to it, shouting:

Customer: “See, it’s 8:20!”

He pointed at the service hours of the hotline, which were 8:00 to 20:00. I pointed this out to him, and he was NOT happy.

Naturally, I did not let him enter before 9:00. I already knew what he wanted, so I prepared everything for him to give a signature only. His stay lasted under three minutes, but regardless, the offices reeked of alcohol afterward and I had to struggle not to vomit.

We rent out our chapel for funerals with a slight discount if they’re using the crematorium, as well. One family requested a three-hour service using both but started to balk at the price, so they chopped the first hour off the service and seemed happier with the price.

Fast forward to the day of the service. I’m doing some other work when I see that the family has arrived an hour early to start. I pop my head into our office to see if they’d changed their minds about paying the larger price and it hadn’t gotten to me. Immediately, our administrator stalks off to find the family.

After some discussion with them, it turned out they’d just figured it would be fine if they came early. They were quite unhappy when they found out that they would have to pay the three-hour fee if they wanted in our chapel early. We’ve allowed leeway before with other families, but never by that much, and certainly not when it comes across as skirting our fees. 

Related:
A Fee-ble Attempt At Avoiding The Fees

My store manager opens the store while I man the registers. A few customers enter straight away. I am serving a customer who is almost finished, literally about to pay, when two more customers queue up. I can see that my next customer only has three items, so I know that this will be a fast transaction.

Me: *To my current customer* “Here’s your receipt and have a nice day!” *To the queue* “Next, please!”

The third customer in line suddenly speaks up.

Customer #3: “Oh, my God, isn’t there anyone else in this d*** store that can help serve? I’m in a rush and I’ve been waiting forever!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but the only other person in the store is my store manager, and he’s on the phone right now.”

That’s not technically a lie; he did mention having to make a phone call after opening the store.

Customer #3: “This is ridiculous! I’m in a rush to get to work, and I have been waiting for ten minutes!”

Me: “Ma’am, it is currently 8:37 am. We have only been open for seven minutes.”

Customer #3: “Oh.”

The customer is quiet during her whole transaction and practically snatches the receipt out of my hand when I offer it to her. As she rushes out, I put on my fakest polite voice I can muster.

Me: “You have a lovely day!”