It appears there is a minimum wage threshold below President Obama's mandated thresholds that are "fair" and "livable." As NYPost reports, Urban Outfitters has asked workers at the company’s home office to "volunteer" for extra weekend shifts at a new fulfillment center in the town of Gap, Pennsylvania. In other words, the true minimum wage is $0 per hour.
MoreIn an email, the company asked for weekend workers to “pick, pack and prepare packages for shipment.” The three brands beneath the Urban umbrella are Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Free People.
Volunteers would work six-hour shifts in exchange for lunch and transportation, if required. The email advises participants to wear “sneakers and comfortable clothing” to prepare for this “team building activity.”
The picking, packing and preparing that’s required are jobs that normally pay wages. But this sort of request is a common occurrence in the industry when there’s a new fulfillment center, according to a spokesperson. The company sought help for next weekend, the one after, and Oct. 31.
Hourly-wage workers were excluded from the email, though the company said some of them responded.
“Many hourly employees also offered to pitch in — an offer which we appreciated, but declined in order to ensure full compliance with all applicable labor laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement.
6 comments:
Minimum wage should be $0. That way, any normal person could negotiate his or her own compensation that fit their needs against the employer's needs. Agreements are private, and everything should be negotiable.
Salaried staff are often asked to do such things in lots of businesses, especially those who have a business plan change.
They sucker the employees with sneaky key phases like "Team Building." These new employees think they are getting opportunities to suck up to the bosses in order to get a promotion. They are some sick people to pull this crap on their employees.
This is nothing new. If you are salaried, they can work you any hours they want because you are salaried and agree to this when they made you salaried.
When I worked in I.T. I was on call 24/7 and frequently worked from home serving clients in China and India after my normal work hours because that was expected for a few more dollars an hour as a salaried employee!
You never got credit for the extra hours or the use of your own computer equipment. It the mainframe failed, I would have to go to work and stay there until an IBM service Tech would have the system back up and running. You didn't get squat for this, and they would have a fit if you wanted to use your vacation or personal time to ask for a day off!
The word associate, is just a corporate term for peasant! Upper management stick their noses up at the lower management and production workers as to let us know we are better than you!
They would take credit for our hard work and ideas and enjoy large bonuses and perks, while the rest of us barely made a few dollars over the minimum wage.
Corporations by their very nature are evil. They might offer jobs, but the profits go to the corporate offices and investors, and little to nothing to the community that supports them.
"Corporations by their very nature are evil." Sorry, Scott. I was with you, right up to the 'evil' thing. As an IT worker myself, I know all too well the 24/7/365 gig. Corporations aren't evil; they are simply about the most efficient means to make a buck for their shareholders. They are agnostic, at best. On the other hand, I have met members of management who can only be described as evil.
8:15 We must have worked for the same company!
Too many years and I seen enough. From the financial reports I used to process and distribute, which was totally different than was reported publicly. Seen way too many unethical things and too many peoples lives destroyed who had given most of their time and talents as well as sacrificing family to the Corporation to only see their job and position either outsourced or eliminated as a cost saving measure.
A few in management were dead within a year of being let go after 30 plus years. Too old to find a job and too young to retire. It was like musical chairs in the end. Not knowing when your turn would come next.
I stayed because the money was higher than average for the Eastern Shore. The stress towards the end did affect my health. When my turn finally came, it was a relief! I have since found another job. I don't make as much, but the stress level is much lower and the environment is not quite as hostile!
I'm not bitter, but I also have a healthy dislike for Corporations in general! These free trade deals by our government helped to get us in the mess we are in.
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