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Today my husband was scheduled off. He turned off the ringer on his phone, which he always does on his day off. His boss called my parents and then my cell phone, claiming that he was a no call, no show. He woke all of us up. My father has dementia and he thought my husband was missing and was very difficult to calm down. When my husband called back, the boss told him he was scheduled to work that day and that he had to come in. My husband told him that he was scheduled off and that he's never been a no call, no show. The boss put the phone down for a couple of minutes, then came back and complained that one of his emergency contact numbers went to someone who made no sense at all (my father, who didn't have dementia years ago when hubby filled out the sheet). My husband asked if he had checked the schedule, and he said yes, that my husband was not on it.
My husband talked to coworkers, and they said that the boss knew he was scheduled off, but they were short one person so he decided to call and see if he could get him to come in. My husband always refuses to come in on his day off, because they'll cut hours another day to make sure he doesn't have any "premium overtime" which is time over 60 hours...they pay the first 60 hours at straight pay. There's a legal loophole which they use to get away with not paying time and a half for the first 20 hours of OT. My husband works 50 or 55 hours most weeks.
My husband has spent the day furious at his boss. He thought the emergency contact list he had to fill out was in case something happened to him, not a way to call him if he has his phone ringer turned off. I'm just glad he didn't have his mother listed on it, because she's even older than my parents and more prone to worrying, and my husband works a job that she thinks is very dangerous.
I don't even know what to tell him. I really think his boss was way out of line on this one.
IMO, if he was scheduled off, he should be in the clear. However, if everyone is operating on a "gentleman's agreement" with regard to time off and there is no way to prove it, the boss may be able to reprimand him.
To me, emergency contacts should be used for just that - emergencies. The only time I believe these people should be contacted is if there is reasonable suspicion of the person's welfare being in jeopardy or if there is an absolutely show-stopping problem. The bar would be lower in occupations like law enforcement. If one person short constitutes an emergency, especially when given prior notification, the business is poorly managed. I'd be looking for another job quickly.
Last edited by Serious Conversation; 07-16-2013 at 05:38 PM..
If the boss knew he had off and was just trying to get him to come in he is a giant D bag. It is one thing to just call someone and ask them to come in. It crosses the line to start calling emergency contacts. I would be looking for a new job immediately.
IMO, if he was scheduled off, he should be in the clear. However, if everyone is operating on a "gentleman's agreement" with regard to time off and there is no way to prove it, the boss may be able to reprimand him.
To me, emergency contacts should be used for just that - emergencies. The only time I believe these people should be contacted is if there is reasonable suspicion of the person's welfare being in jeopardy or if there is an absolutely show-stopping problem. The bar would be lower in occupations like law enforcement. If one person short constitutes an emergency, especially when given prior notification, the business is poorly managed. I'd be looking for another job quickly.
The boss makes the schedule every week. He had actually scheduled my husband to work today and be off tomorrow and then he called him last Thurs and asked if he could switch with another guy who needed the day off. It was written into the posted schedule by the boss.
When they're one person short, one of the routes can't go out until they get someone to come in or they pull one of the guys who works in the vault, because they have to have two people per route. They have bank cutoffs and specific time windows to meet so when a route doesn't get out on time, it's sometimes impossible for them to get caught up that day.
My husband is starting a different job in August...he's actually about to give notice at the current job. He's been kind of on the fence about taking the new job even though it's more money, less hours, and a more comfortable work environment, but I think now he's ready to leave the old job with fewer regrets than he would have had otherwise.
Suggest he start by taking his parents off his emergency call list. If he is asked 'why', then he should take it up w/his boss. Just leave it at that. No need to muddy the waters.
Koale.
I'm not sure it makes sense to try to second-guess the boss's intentions with contacting the emergency contact, but I'm curious to know more about this "legal loophole" that allows the Company to not pay any overtime until more than 60 hours have been worked. How does that work?
My sister's boss called me once because I was on her emergency contacts list. She was incredibly rude to me too. Had SUCH an attitude and acted like I was responsible for my sister being at work! Can't remember exactly what I said because she woke me up and I was groggy, but let's just say I was very rude right back. Yeah, it's totally out of line, and the place my sister worked also violated practically every labor law you can think of.
I'm not sure it makes sense to try to second-guess the boss's intentions with contacting the emergency contact, but I'm curious to know more about this "legal loophole" that allows the Company to not pay any overtime until more than 60 hours have been worked. How does that work?
It's an armored car company, so they're considered a trucking company and subject to DOT regulations. All of the employees have to pass a DOT physical. Part of the whole DOT thing is that they don't have to pay time and a half for overtime until it exceeds 60 hours.
Part of the DOT regulations say that the vehicles have to be over a certain weight, or the company has to pay time and a half. So if someone drives the Ford Ranger at all during the week, they're supposed to get time and a half for everything over 40. Some of the armored vehicles are below the weight specified by DOT, so the company registers the trucks with the state as a heavier weight so that they fall within the DOT regulations. The state doesn't care because they charge more to register a heavier vehicle.
One thing that's weird is that they're considered truck drivers and exempt from overtime even when they're not going out on the trucks...my husband worked in the vault and he still didn't get time and a half for the hours over 40.
Suggest he start by taking his parents off his emergency call list. If he is asked 'why', then he should take it up w/his boss. Just leave it at that. No need to muddy the waters.
Koale.
They insisted he had to have two different emergency contacts, I was one and he needed to have a second one before he could start working there, so we put my parents down as the second.
One reason they want more than one is that when they have an employee steal money, they send an investigator out to make the employee return the money. So they want to have several places to look for someone.
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hmmm...
Yeah, it's totally out of line, and the place my sister worked also violated practically every labor law you can think of.
