Bloomberg News reported, “Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse club, was sued by a California worker who accuses the retailer of false imprisonment for locking in employees against their will at closing time.” The complaint by “Mary Pytelewski, a cash register clerk at a Costco warehouse in San Marcos, California, alleges the company violates wage laws by refusing to allow workers to clock back in and be paid for the extra time they’re locked in while managers close stores, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in state court in San Diego.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
WELL GUESS WHAT? I WAS FIRED FOR NOT STAYING 15 MINUTES OVER.
However I do see both sides of the issue of the class action lawsuit about being “Falsely Imprisoned” There were quite a few times I remember a bunch of employees as well as myself were stuck in the warehouse even after clocking out waiting for a manager to let us out after the jewelry and till count. Most of the time they were pretty good about getting us out if we whined but it depended on what managers were there. Other than that there is this thing where they ask one person still on the clock to stand at the top of the stairs and keep an eye out for anything unusual. If that anything unusual should happen than they were to push what looks like a garage door button in which I was told long ago alerts the SWAT team.. If I had only known back then what I do now about SWAT I would have probably pushed it knowing there was a brief “hostage” situation going on.. LOL
I TOO have gone through this as i worked for costco for 6 years
this is the norm for them as the doors can not be opened while money and jewlery are on the floor,at that time you have to wait for them to open the door you are not allowed to clock back in while you wait.
but you need to remember as soon as you clock out you are on your time.
something should be done to make this right