Retail Staff and cashing up ..... What are your thoughts on .....

[Guest Guest26012]

Yes it is called "time off in lieu," or TOIL, but this is only really available in the higher end of jobs.

 

 

Exactly!

[The Fisheys]

Oh please. I am a professional and I work lots of unpaid hours.

When I was young I worked in retail and as I said it is part and parcel of the job. By the way,you have no need to worry, your rudeness comes through frequently on here without a problem. Your response to AJ being a prime example.

 

Well you shouldn't do unpaid hours.

[Tappers2oz]

If it's expected you won't leave work premises till 5.45/6pm because you are doing work stuff (and the shop shuts at 5.30) then you should be paid for that time.

If there were mistakes like things not adding up then any extra time is on their own head imo.

[gee13]

Legally its meant to be paid. Reality is different. Its also not necessarily the employers fault...say if youre paid til 545, shop shuts at 530 but youre stuck with a customer until 545. But theres a rare thing as comon sense and that is if this happens then its your choice to have the conversation with the manager/ employer. As Fishey mentioned its time in lieu.

[milliem]

Whoops I just voted the complete wrong way on the poll by accident sorry.:embarrassed:

 

If staff have to cash up they should be paid. If not then the manager or owner should take over at time and do the cashing up. If they are not available then the staff member should be allowed to claim the time

 

Millie x

[blossom]

Mod hat on now.

Just because someone's experiences do not match your own it does not mean they are 'rubbish'. Try to understand that it is a big world we live in, and our range of experiences at work are very different.

If you don't agree with something someone has said then by all means debate the issue, but please do not start bickering and belittling people.

Thank you.

[colinmaclec]

Can i ask what is the difference to other jobs here as, in if you finish at a certain time you then pack up your tools, pens , laptop etc that may take 15 mins before you leave the workplace or do we all now accept that we don't do any work for 15 mins before we finish work. I know that i don't expect to leave exactly on the minute that i am paid to as I don't expect my employer to pay for me putting my things away and walking to my vehicle before i leave to go home.

[Rupert]

For majority of my working life, it has been the case that you work whatever hours are required and this is probably going to be more than a basic 35 hours a week or whatever. Clock watchers in the work environment I am in would get short shrift from most managers and even most colleagues.

 

But I think it a bit different for retail assistants that are probably not on much more than minimum wage. I worked in a supermarket when I was in sixth form, I didn't have to cash up, but always had to stay back to finish off the last couple of customers, usually another 15 or 20 minutes. It really annoyed me as I wasn't paid and it usually meant missing my bus as well so having to wait another thirty minutes for the next one too.

[Rupert]

Slavery is actually still illegal in Australia following the Abolition of Slavery Act 1833. Intriguingly, this law was repealed by no less than Tony Blair in the UK, but remains on the statute books in Australia.

Frankly if you "don't see a problem with it," that says a lot more about you, (none of it good), than I would be rude enough to say.

 

Whilst i have voted no on the poll, I think to liken 15 minutes of unpaid work by a retail assistant to slavery is an insult to people that genuinely are or ever were trapped in slavery.

[Incata]

I used to work for Gateways (in the UK) as a student. If you were on the 8.30 - 6pm shift, the doors shut at 6, but if a customer came in at 5.55pm to do their weekly shopping, you had to stay until they left (which could often be 6.30pm). We were only paid until 6pm. I did not think it was fair at the time, still don't think it is fair and was very happy to switch to a shift from 8am - 5.30pm when it became available because at least that way I would finish at 5.30pm.

 

It is shocking that the practice still continues. I would have expected that if the shop shuts at 5.30pm, the staff would be paid until 6pm to allow them to cash up etc.

[blossom]

Can i ask what is the difference to other jobs here as, in if you finish at a certain time you then pack up your tools, pens , laptop etc that may take 15 mins before you leave the workplace or do we all now accept that we don't do any work for 15 mins before we finish work. I know that i don't expect to leave exactly on the minute that i am paid to as I don't expect my employer to pay for me putting my things away and walking to my vehicle before i leave to go home.

Most days at my work place there is a queue with bags waiting at the time clock at home time. Friday I ended up having to work 10-15 minutes over (I got called back from the car park) as my boss answered the phone past closing (which I told him off for lol). We actually finish work 15 minutes after we close, and we will happily hunt down customers and tell them they have to finish up.

 

My last job we always finished on time (no customers).

My last one in the UK I was on flexitime so it was never an issue, I just finished when I wanted and built up TOIL.

The one before that, we had to wear specific clothes for work, and we used to get changed in works time. THEY were the ones who wanted us to wear it (and it couldn't leave) so it came out of their time. Actually, the job I had in oz before here was the same. You clock on, THEN get changed.

[nic1171]

In my profession we often work through breaks which we don't get paid for, I was actually told this is accepted behaviour in Oz, erm I don't think so! I don't mind mind missing a break but I ain't working for free! I work to live not live to work!

[NicF]

If yon are paid hourly (which I expect most shop staff are) you should be paid for all the hours you work. If you are salaried this is a different matter and you would be expected to work additional hours when required. Given that the cashing up always needs to be done at the end of the day so therefore is a regular task it should be built in to someone's paid hours, or regular job hours and tasks if they are a salaried manager.

 

If it was the odd one off thing to help out the manager then I would considered doing it unpaid would be acceptable, although I'd also expect to be able to come in late or leave early some other time to make up for it.

[Guest]

Hmm, cashing up doesn't take half an hour. Not even 15 minutes in my experience. If you drop notes through the day (as in deposit it for security purposes) then the till will mostly be coin and notes to a certain amount. If you are flat out busy you can't really keep tabs the last hour and start winding it up but if its a little slower then its easy to start to cash up well before actually closing a till. As in taking out almost all the coins and counting them up, bagging them and leaving the bare minimum in the till to make change. And then if you need to go into a bag for more you simply note it down and adjust the running total.

 

I used to have to swap tills inside of 3 minutes when I was running a set of service stations. All the staff had it down to a fine art and I could not be an exception just because I was running the sites and therefore had to be able to do the same job as those in the shop when needed and it really is possible, even with customers still coming in and out the the site remaining open while customers fuel up. The only reason there was a 3 minute wait where the till was actually 'closed' was the end of shift/end of day print out from the till for the back office. Staff simply took the final total for their till from the print out, counted the cash in their till and banked it or handed over to the other member of staff who themselves had to count it and then sign off on their opening balance. Often the two staff would count together to save time and this would also double check as they went and they could agree quicker on the till. Payments by card etc should not need to be counted but again, these can be tallied up if need be and done so in quiet times over the day to keep a running total although adding up in one go can be time consuming. But its cash most people are expected to add up, not the electronic print outs.

 

If a till was short or over this was simply noted in the report, member of staff signed off on it and went home. An error of margin was allowed in small change and any other differences were unfortunate. Usually we didn't worry about them overly unless a person developed a habit of being short in their till too often or it was a larger amount (say over a tenner), which didn't happen often, in fact hardly ever.

 

We didn't pay people past their actual working hours and usually most finished their actual working day at the correct time or a minute or two either side. If someone wanted to sit around for 15 minutes to cash up and count their till after their shift ended that was up to them. Most didn't and would do as I explained above.

 

I've also worked in a job that required shop front staff to cash up large amounts of money and foreign currencies and they could all manage it in the run up to their actual end of shift and it only take a couple of minutes to wrap up even after a busy shift. And that is working with numerous currencies in their till. If I had to fill in for sickness or some such, I had to do the same.

 

As to if staff should be paid for their cashing up time if its outside their actual hours, it would be nice but I doubt it will happen for many. But cashing up money from a till really isn't difficult and need only take a few minutes at most. I guess it comes down to the person, their speed and organisation in how they maintain and count their till.

[pablo]

For majority of my working life, it has been the case that you work whatever hours are required and this is probably going to be more than a basic 35 hours a week or whatever. Clock watchers in the work environment I am in would get short shrift from most managers and even most colleagues.

 

But I think it a bit different for retail assistants that are probably not on much more than minimum wage. I worked in a supermarket when I was in sixth form, I didn't have to cash up, but always had to stay back to finish off the last couple of customers, usually another 15 or 20 minutes. It really annoyed me as I wasn't paid and it usually meant missing my bus as well so having to wait another thirty minutes for the next one too.

 

See,i thought you'd get extra for that,time and a half maybe.

[blossom]

See,i thought you'd get extra for that,time and a half maybe.

We never have any shop I've worked in. Used to be REALLY annoying when there were two customers talking to each other, and one would say 'ohhhh they get paid for it' if the other said to hurry up. Ummmm no, no we don't!

[The Fisheys]

Can i ask what is the difference to other jobs here as, in if you finish at a certain time you then pack up your tools, pens , laptop etc that may take 15 mins before you leave the workplace or do we all now accept that we don't do any work for 15 mins before we finish work. I know that i don't expect to leave exactly on the minute that i am paid to as I don't expect my employer to pay for me putting my things away and walking to my vehicle before i leave to go home.

 

There is no difference. Most of us arrive to start work on time, we should leave on time. Your employer shouldn't pay you for walking to your vehicle, but you should leave your workplace at the appointed time....................and I am no Marxist. Unpaid overtime is a stain on any business that forces it on its staff.

[BritChickx]

I always got paid for cashing up.... The shops would close at 5.30 we would stay until 6 and I always got paid for the time I stayed there whether the shop was open or not.

[ali]

I asked my daughter who has a casual job in retail, she says the very generous discount she receives in part makes up for it

[BritChickx]

I have done loads of unpaid hours when I did community care.(which I wasn't happy about) but it was normally because an incident happened at work, Like that time on Christmas day 3 years ago I had to call an ambulance for a service user... (just one of the many incidents) they don't normally pay for extra 15 minutes or 30 minutes here and there which all add up...

[Fisher1]

When I was teaching, I was paid a salary and worked countless hours outside my basic remit - but I considered this par for the course in that job with that salary.

 

Having retired from teaching I now work part time for a high-end household name. I am paid minimum wage, as are all the part time staff. We are forbidden to cash up before closing at 5.30 and no, we are not paid for hours worked after 5.30

 

This is wrong - no two ways about it. You should be paid for the hours you do - and no, the very generous discount does not make up for it - you should be paid cash for your hours. Someone said that it only takes three minutes to cash up - so we should give the firm three minutes a day? that is twenty one minutes a week they are getting free.

 

A further issue is cleaning. We are expected to hoover the shop before we leave - but we can't do it if there are customers there. There are also the customers who delight in arriving at 5.20 ...

 

I love my part time job, and enjoy the social contact and the experience of doing something completely different - but it doesn't make it right to expect people earning minimum wage to do unpaid overtime.

[Fisher1]

P.S. Whoever it was who was complaining about grammar - "Staff" is singular, just like orchestra and management. So it is correct to write "the staff isn't"

[Love Shoes]

When I was teaching, I was paid a salary and worked countless hours outside my basic remit - but I considered this par for the course in that job with that salary.

 

Having retired from teaching I now work part time for a high-end household name. I am paid minimum wage, as are all the part time staff. We are forbidden to cash up before closing at 5.30 and no, we are not paid for hours worked after 5.30

 

This is wrong - no two ways about it. You should be paid for the hours you do - and no, the very generous discount does not make up for it - you should be paid cash for your hours. Someone said that it only takes three minutes to cash up - so we should give the firm three minutes a day? that is twenty one minutes a week they are getting free.

 

A further issue is cleaning. We are expected to hoover the shop before we leave - but we can't do it if there are customers there. There are also the customers who delight in arriving at 5.20 ...

 

I love my part time job, and enjoy the social contact and the experience of doing something completely different - but it doesn't make it right to expect people earning minimum wage to do unpaid overtime.

 

 

Good post well put

I too love my part time job lovely after a stressful career

TBH my employers are great so I don't mind giving a bit extra, it's the poor people on minimum I stand up for

Always in 30 minutes early which is pretty standard for me, I always take pride in the store and want it to look and smell how I would expect it to look and smell, clean, bright, newly merchandised, lively music and the smell of sexy perfume

[VERYSTORMY]

In my role I work a LOT more hours than my contract says. It says 38 hours per week but I normally do 84.

 

Technically I am on annual leave at the moment. But I will be in the office at least 4-5 days of it.

 

Yes I am salaried but I don't see the difference between salaried and hourly unless it is self employed / consulting type roles.

[Fisher1]

Very Stormy, there is not necessarily a difference between salaried and hourly paid - my point about teaching was that you know when you get into it that extra hours are going to be necessary and the salary reflects that.

 

Many hourly paid workers are on minimum wage - that's currently £6.31 or £5.03 if you are under 21 and £3.72 if you are under 18. Their jobs are also often not too secure. The petty meanness of making people who are already paid such a low wage work half an hour or so for nothing on a regular basis is, in my opinion, unjust.