Employer TIME THEFT Caribbean Employment
EMPLOYER TIME THEFT Caribbean Employment Journal | Time Theft, Part 1 of 2 “Can you Come in fifteen minutes early to set up?” “Can you please Clock out first, then finish packing up?” “Can you Keep an eye on the front desk while you eat lunch?” Each instruction sounds small, But when those minutes relate to instructions the employee is expected to comply with, but which are left off the timeshe...
EMPLOYER TIME THEFT Caribbean Employment Journal | Time Theft, Part 1 of 2 “Can you Come in fifteen minutes early to set up?” “Can you please Clock out first, then finish packing up?” “Can you Keep an eye on the front desk while you eat lunch?” Each instruction sounds small, But when those minutes relate to instructions the employee is expected to comply with, but which are left off the timesheet.
The employer gets the benefit of labour but the employee may never be paid. We hear plenty about employees stealing company time (which we will discuss in Part 2 on this subject), but What happens when the company takes the employee’s time without paying? Off the clock work: A restaurant worker must prep the tables and work station before clocking in.
A cashier is told to clock out before they count the cash in the till. A hotel employee must stay behind for a required handover. Each time, the roster may show exactly eight hours or the shift hours, but the employer has required work on either side of those hours. Fifteen unpaid minutes a day can add up to an hour and fifteen minutes over a five-day week.
For an hourly worker, that is time that should be recorded and paid. Under the BVI Labour Code, employer-requested work beyond the applicable daily or weekly threshold can also attract overtime pay. “Our policy does not make provision for overtime”: The supervisor asks you to stay until the work is finished.
When payday comes and you ask about the extra hours, management points to the handbook. Then, at Christmas, the company hands you a modest bonus and calls it a reward for going the extra mile, you know you’ve already worked for every cent of the bonus and more. You appreciate the gesture, but the question is still there.
What about the hours you were asked to work? A discretionary Christmas bonus and statutory overtime pay serve different purposes. When overtime pay is due, the employer still owes it. An employer can require advance approval for overtime and manage schedules to avoid it, BUT A COMPANY’S POLICY CANNOT OVERRIDE STATUTORY OVERTIME PAY when it is due.
Where the BVI Labour Code’s overtime rule applies, employer-requested work beyond eight hours in a workday, beyond 40 hours in a week, or on a rest day must be paid at at least one and a half times the employee’s basic rate. The daily threshold can trigger overtime even in a week under 40 hours.
The Code provides an exception for ADEQUATELY COMPENSATED salaried employees, including qualifying supervisors and managers. The employee’s actual duties and compensation matter when determining whether the exception applies. Requiring employees to work during breaks: The receptionist is answering calls between bites, the shop assistant is serving customers, and the cook has been called back to the kitchen.
By payday, five uninterrupted breaks are recorded that nobody actually took. The BVI Labour Code prohibits an employer from requiring or allowing an employee to work during their meal interval. It generally requires a meal break of at least one hour after no more than five continuous hours of work.
The employer and employee may agree to shorten it to a minimum of 30 minutes. An employee is finished for the day or on sick leave or on a day off, but WhatsApps, telephone calls and emails keep rolling in: Employer says a customer needs a reply, or tomorrow’s roster needs revising, or the report has to go out tonight.
Each request comes with a “quick favour,” but responding to customers, updating the roster and sending the report are all work, but the timesheet always only shows standard time. ‘“It’s Saturday or Your Day Off, but Training Is Mandatory”: You’ve already made plans for your day off when management schedules a compulsory training session.
Attendance is taken, and anyone who misses it has to explain why. You give up part of your rest day to attend, but the hours never make it onto your payslip. Just the same when a hurricane happens to show up while you’re on vacation, SMH. What unpaid time costs employees When a supervisor says, “I need you to stay another half hour,” a parent may have to call the babysitter and pay for extra time.
Primary source: The Real BVI Community Board (Facebook)