WAG Odd Question about Lock-In and $

[CoachMeg]

Hi everyone,

I scanned past threads but wasn't able to find anything similar to my situation.

In a few weeks, we're having our second annual team Christmas party lock-in. Where the girls exchange presents, play games, and then have a sleepover in the gym. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However, my question is: if you have one of these at your gym, do your hourly employees get paid for this?

Last year I was out of town for the holidays so I wasn't able to make it; however, this year I can and HC announced in our last meeting that we will not be getting paid for attending.

I feel this is odd because even though we won't be coaching, we are still WORKING as we're supervising a bunch of kids and organizing games and activities. HC makes it seem that this is a volunteer type thing, however, it is pretty expected that we attend. In fact, in the email sent out to us, HC said "Team coaches are free to leave after the gift exchange and holiday party (around 9:30pm); however, you are all welcome to spend the night if you choose to do so but we have several moms willing to help out and stay the night."

So it seems like we are all expected to stay at least until 9:30. I understand it would be a bit much to expect to get paid for 12+ hours if you stayed the night......I'm not saying that. But would it be appropriate to ask if we could get paid for the hours we would normally work? In other words, on the day the party is being held, I would normally work until 8:30pm. Would it be appropriate to ask if I could clock-in these hours as I will still be working as a supervisor and party organizer? Or is it custom for holiday party/lock-ins to be strictly volunteer basis----even if it's expected for you to be there?

(Side note: We have 4 team coaches. 2 are salary (HC included) and 2 are hourly (myself included)).

And just a disclaimer, I will go regardless. I want to be there for the kids and enjoy that bonding time with them outside of a practice environment.

However, would love to hear your input.

 

[1canadiangymmom]

Our gym has done this once, and the team coaches that stayed got paid above their normal pay for the overnight hours, I think it was 10pm to 8am. But, the party was organized and run by a team of volunteer parents. The coaches that attended, were there to enjoy and take part, not work or supervise.

 

[CoachMeg]

Our gym has done this once, and the team coaches that stayed got paid above their normal pay for the overnight hours, I think it was 10pm to 8am. But, the party was organized and run by a team of volunteer parents. The coaches that attended, were there to enjoy and take part, not work or supervise.

Yeah, I would totally understand if the party was parent-run! But ours is not. Coaches help set-up and organize games, the gift exchange, and are there for the open-gym supervision. We have about 2 moms who are willing to come in after the holiday party and watch the kids during the sleepover, though.

I will probably stay until 11pm or midnight.

 

[OzZee]

Ours get paid.

 

[gymdoc]

Ours got paid. The hourly ones were paid until 10 and then they went home. The salaried ones (HC and one admin) stayed overnight.

I personally am very non confrontational, so I'd wait until I got my check, and if it was short hours, I would ask then

 

[NY Dad]

I'd wait until I got my check, and if it was short hours, I would ask then

I can't add much other than I think this might be asking for problems b/c as CoachMeg stated

HC announced in our last meeting that we will not be getting paid for attending

Better to resolve this in advance. No matter how much anyone loves their job, I think they should get paid. In my opinion FWIW normal work hours is fair.

 

[LindyHopper]

Are you working the party or attending the party?

The salaried (exempt) coaches ARE getting paid. They get paid the same amount of money regardless of the number of hours worked in a week (usually with an expected minimum of 40 hours).

Legally, non-exempt or hourly employees should be paid for all hours worked. Requiring hourly employees to work off the clock is a big no-no.

So, if you are simply attending the party, relaxing, and partaking in the fun, and other people are responsible for the work, I dont think you are required to be paid (you're a guest at the party). If you are working at the party--leading activities, supervising the girls, responsible for them--especially if your boss has required you to be there, you should be paid.

 

[sce]

Yeah, I would totally understand if the party was parent-run! But ours is not. Coaches help set-up and organize games, the gift exchange, and are there for the open-gym supervision. We have about 2 moms who are willing to come in after the holiday party and watch the kids during the sleepover, though.

I will probably stay until 11pm or midnight.

That sounds like work and thus you should be paid. It would be different f it was you were just attending a party but you are running the party and supervising the open gym. Who supervises the sleepover part since the coaches can leave?

 

[LindyHopper]

BTW, I used to be responsible for payroll in a retail store. NOBODY was allowed to work off the clock. Both the hourly employee and their salaried manager would get written up if it happened. It was that big of a deal.

 

[Gymmommy71]

You should be paid. It is literally illegal for a business to require a non-exempt employee to work and not pay them.

 

[gymdog]

I think you should get paid at least your normal hours for work if you show up that day. Or, the party should be an optional event coaches choose to attend. I would assume most coaches would still show up for the duration of the party as it would be the right thing to do but shouldn't be responsible for set up or clean up.

At our gym this is basically how it works. We still have practice and classes, etc until the party so it is a normal work hours thing for hourly employees. For those not scheduled that day, they "should" attend as a show of team commitment but they basically just show up for the party and participate.

 

[Jenny]

A lot of gyms use these as a money maker and the kids pay to go. So the supervisory staff should be paid too.

 

[ascarter1]

Our coaches volunteer these sleepovers. They are often used as incentives. Ours do not get paid, they do it because they want to, not because they are asked.

 

[raenndrops]

At our gym, HC runs it all. The coaches show up to enjoy the party, but they have no actual responsibilities, so they do not get paid... Even though they may choose to do work type stuff (spotting girls, etc).
Nobody pays to attend (different from the end of year spaghetti dinner) but some bring treats to share. It is basically open gym, a small gift exchange (some years), a coach gift presentation, and pizza party. The parents often drop off and pick up, except for those that usually stay for practice.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Our coaches volunteer these sleepovers. They are often used as incentives. Ours do not get paid, they do it because they want to, not because they are asked.

If they are non-exempt hourly employees doing work at their place of employment w/o pay, the gym could get in trouble for FLSA violations. They could even be due overtime pay for the hours as well if they are going beyond a certain amount of total hours for the sleepover (this is different for certain states if OT starts after 8 hours in a 24 hr period vs after 40 in a week).

Assuming employees are doing something for free "because they want to" is how many businesses get in trouble for FLSA violations. Perhaps the coaches feel that they have to do this stuff so they don't look bad and hurt their careeers, but would rather be with their own families than in the gym watching a group of gymnasts all night.

Of course, none of this matters if they are exempt salaried employees, but it's very reckless for a business who's employees are non-exempt to not pay them when they are doing anything that could even remotely be construed as "work" - especially when it's on the gym premises.

Of course, how many posts do we see about gyms that are obviously violating 501c rules w/ their booster organizations, but they continue to do this stuff year after year. I guess until someone reports them or something happens that gets the attention of the governmental agencies they will continue to get away with it.

 

[txgymfan]

^^^^^ Agreed. Hourly employees are not so well off that they volunteer to work. They might enjoy it and volunteer for the shift but they know what they are expected to do paid or not. Especially a late weekend night.

 

[coachmolly]

If you are expected to be there for a certain period of time to perform a specific role as a team coach, you should be paid. Even if you are mostly just enjoying the party and occasionally jumping in to run an activity. If the boss doesn't want to pay you, he/she needs to come out and say, "We would love to have you there, but unfortunately we are not able to pay you."

 

[Sari]

In Germany, this would most definitely be a voluntary thing but I don't agree with the notion. Especially if it's during a time you would normally be working, you should get compensation. I would ask.

 

[CoachMeg]

Thanks all for the replies! I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them. I thought it was an odd thing for HC to say so that's why I asked. Wondering if this was a common things in other gyms or the workplace in general. I'm happy I asked as a lot of you brought up some great points.

While HC made it out to be a "volunteer" type event, it is definitely expected that we are there and it would look pretty bad if none of us showed up. And we will still be doing work related activities as I explained previously. This is not a parent-run event. Parents just drop their kids off and pick them up in the morning, except for the few parents that are coming in late and staying overnight with HC.

I bought this up to the other hourly team coach, to see if she had any issue with it. She was completely on the same page with me, but didn't want to speak up as she thought it was a standard practice. We will for sure bring this up in our meeting this week, and if all fails, bring it up to the business manager.

Our hours are already going to be short this holiday season as our gym is taking several days off for Christmas and then several more days off for the New Year...so we are already losing $. Not that we're in this job for the money, lol. But ya know, we have presents to buy, too. And taking out a whole other day of practice that we won't get paid for doesn't feel right to me.

 

[txgymfan]

Stay strong. It can be hard to stand up to yourself but you deserve it. What they are trying to do is unethical and illegal.