An employee works at a banquet hall or something similar. Often he is told to pick up ice from a store before work and bring it. He is reimbursed for the ice but not compensated for his time. Management justifies it as he would likely be going to a store anyway and it doesn't add much time. From a legal perspective what type of compensation is the employee entitled to? Assume he is paid hourly as opposed to salary and he must pick up the ice before the official start of his shift.
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1Employee can state that he only goes to a store after work, not before. He then brings in the "ice" he bought last night, with the receipt. Alternative B: employee clocks in to work, and then goes to the store to buy ice.– Weather VaneCommented May 8, 2023 at 22:34
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Perhaps the least argumentative and most compliant alternative C is to leave work xx minutes early.– Weather VaneCommented May 8, 2023 at 22:47
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2@WeatherVane whether these strategies are likely to be fruitful surely depends on what BC labor law has to say about requiring employees to run errands before their shift begins.– phoogCommented May 8, 2023 at 23:40
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1What the law says is less important than the relationship between the employee and management. If the employee is in a strong position (i.e. skilled, well respected, hard-to-replace) they can reject the request e.g. by saying "I'm not comfortable doing that without being paid", or more with more subtlety: "I'm sorry, I'm coming straight from [event] to work tomorrow so I can't go to the store beforehand". Otherwise (e.g. if the employee is unskilled, not-liked, easy-to-replace) they could be replaced/managed out even if the law says they should be paid for this time.– Neil TarrantCommented May 9, 2023 at 11:33
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