Costco - Locking Employees Up Without Pay... What Could Go Wrong?

If you keep your eyes on the media reports of best places to work, you couldn't help but notice the contrast that has been reported between Costco and WalMart.  Here's some comparisons that clearly suggest that Costco is an employer of choice from Slate:

"It's not hard to make a case that Costco pays employees more. The most relevant comparison is between Costco and Sam's Club, Wal-Mart's membership warehouse, since both business models rely on membership fees for a large percentage of revenues. A Sam's Club employee starts at $10 and makes $12.50 after four and a half years. A new Costco employee, at $11 an hour, doesn't start out much better, but after four and a half years she makes $19.50 an hour. In addition to this, she receives something called an "extra check"—a bonus of more than $2,000 every six months. A cashier at Costco, after five years, makes about $40,000 a year. Health benefits are among the best in the industry, with workers paying only about 12 percent of their premiums out-of-pocket while Wal-Mart workers pay more than 40 percent."

Of course, just because you treat employees well doesn't mean they'll appreciate it - or give you a break if you're in the margins.  Consider this recent lawsuit related to mandatory post-shift work at Costco with (reportedly) no pay.  More from Bloomberg News:

"Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse club, was sued for false imprisonment by a California worker who claims employees are locked in stores against their will for 15 minutes after they're off the clock.

Mary Pytelewski, a cash register clerk at a San Marcos, Calif., Costco warehouse, 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 Friday in state court in San Diego.

"They've been locking people in at the end of the day, clocking people out and making them wait for a manager to let them out," David Sanford, Pytelewski's lawyer, said. "They claim it's because of loss prevention or security concerns. That doesn't make any sense. Even if you have loss prevention or security concerns, you still have to pay people."

The complaint, which seeks to represent several hundred Costco workers in California, asks for $50 million in back pay plus damages from 2005 until the present.

Pytelewski also claims she was retaliated against when she first complained about the alleged practice."

If it's true that this mandatory downtime is a company-wide thing backed by commonly held procedures (regardless if they're documented or not, I'm just talking operational norms), it's hard to believe that Costco wins this case, especially in the Peoples Republic of California. 

I'm betting this one settles.  And that you'll see employees paid for the 15 minutes, or walking out with customers at 10:01pm...

Comments

[Kim Bailey]

There is a definite winner here, though....the lawyers. It's not that I don't think you shouldn't pay your people fairly, but waiting to walk out while the security is being turned on, etc, just seems like a silly reason to be upset at your company. Who wants to wager the plaintiff was in trouble and on the verge of being fired when she found the practice to be a problem? Sounds like a sure bet to me.

It will likely settle as you say.

[stars827@aol.com]

I'm not sure that I would be ok with my employer locking me in anywhere... or for whatever reason. In case of a fire or other emergency it could be another Triangle Factory fire in NYC :http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/narrative3.html where "the owners had frequently locked the exit doors in the past, claiming that workers stole materials." I doubt very much that Kim would find that "silly" at all- at least I would hope not.

[Amy]

Costco isn't the only company that does this. I think this is fairly common in retail. I worked at Home Depot a few years ago and this was their policy too. It applied to people stocking shelves, etc. overnight. The doors were locked to prevent people from coming into the store after closing. (You wouldn't believe how many people knock on the windows at 2am trying to get in to buy paint.) You could still get out through the emergency fire doors but that would trigger the alarm and automatically call 911. So you had to wait for the manager to unlock the doors at the end of the shift. Most of the time it was less than a 5 minute wait. When it was longer, the hold up was usually due to slow coworkers rather than the manager.

[Nathan]

I knew Mary. I used to work at this Costco. Management is HORRIBLE. I started in 2003, and quit in 2006 when I got a better job! Not only did they pull this stunt. But they threatened people in my crew (night restock) to clock out or we’d get written up for staying overtime. THOSE WERE THE EXACT WORDS. They always wanted us to finish or drop what we were doing in order to not have any overtime on the clock. When Dave Carratine (I don’t know if thats how you spell his last name) was manager of the store, that was not the policy. We stayed until the work was done, and done right. SAFE AND CLEAN. Plus when he left, the majority of senior staff made a mass exodus. The new manger Danita instituted a lot of ridiculous policies that violated a lot of union labor laws. ALL THE SENIOR STAFF, that I started with, all transferred, or quit the san marcos store. Plus when I worked on staff, there was never a time we didn’t have a safety violation. We couldn’t go barely a moth without someone getting injured. Plus the routine for the corporation in this part on North County was to transfer managers and sups of marginal talent or questionable records. San Marcos basically is the dumping ground for bad managers, or managers who take shortcuts in thier work.

[Steven]

I work for Costco and agree, the end of the night deal is BS. I've stood around waiting for over 30 minutes "off the clock" for a manager to let me out of the building. The avg nightly wait is a good 15 minutes to get out; times 5 nights a week for the past 2 years...I think I'm owed some compensation and so is every other employee. Costco needs a new policy for releasing employees after store hours. When I clock out I want to leave right then; not wait around for a manager to let me go at their convenience.

[John]

I used to work at Costco and the door is indeed "locked"...but only to enter not to exit. You are asked to wait but only until "cleared" which means that someone looks at the camera to make sure no one suspicious is on the other side of the door. This is a safety precaution FOR the employee not against the employee. The longest I ever had to wait....maybe 30 seconds. At night, when there are only a few employees left, a million dollars worth of merchandise and nothing to stop some loon from rushing right in...I appreciated the effort by the store to keep a safe environment. This is no different than any other business in the country which locks its doors at closing time and you have to be let out.

[JME]

I worked in a store in Washington state. This happened
on a regular basis for many years of my employment.
I asked if I could continue working so that I could be paid for my time having to be spent there and I was told that I could not leave the building and was told
no,I would not be paid. Most of the time if managers would wait five minutes for employees to clock out and grab their coats and belongings this could have been avoided. I would be stuck in the building 15-20 minutes
many times a week.

[patann]

It's happened at our store. I was locked for 45minutes one sunday.Neither manager could unlock the jewelry case. Thats what is running our stores now.I am glad to see someone stand up to them about this practice I imformed my manager next time it happened I was going to call 911 and tell them I was being held against my will.

[Hank]

Crazy Mary is what she is called. She has been creating hassle since she started. Bad hire in my opinion. But I didn't do her interview so I'm not to blame. Check with Big Montana Debbie, she is probably to blame.
Here's the real deal...After the final customer leaves the doors are locked. Employees have a few short minutes to get their stuff and get out. Crazy Mary ALWAYS took her sweet ol time to get her lazy FAT A$$ out the door. The managers want to get their stuff done just as well. When the managers are ready they pull the jewelry and the employees can't leave until this is done. Under no circumstances are the employees forced to clock out and wait for the managers. They can clock back in, but they are expected to work! I know what a concept. After the jewelry is pulled and secured the employees are let out. If the employees wait off the clock, then it is their fault for not getting out in time. Plan ahead. You're making a great wage for doing monkey's work.

My .002c

P.S.
Nate that commented above...dude we were happy when you quit! You were almost as crazy as Mary. I can't believe someone else hired you. I would blame that hire on Big Montana Debbie also.

P.P.S. Nate how many workers comp reports did you claim? I would bet it was at least 1 per year that you worked there.

I'm out

[Jaime]

I used to work for Costco and I want to be honest here, Im not saying the company is bad, but how could they overlook so many warehouse complaints. The warehouse I worked at was horrible. The managers were very rude and showed signs of violent/aggressive behavior. I normally would see managers kicking pallets of product while swearing at employees for minor mistakes. The warehouse manager knew of her managers acting violent in the work place and even laughed when she was notified of this, as she thought it was normal for them to "vent". I feel its only a matter of time before the company is seen for what it truly is.

[anonymous]

They need to hire managers with degrees not high school diplomas. Alhambra Costco is full of favoritism and HR is horrible, she gets employee of the month every other year not to mention green card discounts for her electronic merchandise which is approved by a manager. They are all crooked. They need to be investigated.

[Carrie]

I've worked for Costco for 11 1/2 years and I love my job. I'm not in management, though, when my child is older I'd consider it. The practice Mary sued over has been changed (I'm sure because of the lawsuit) and I'm grateful for it. That said, I can not believe she sued! Costco treats it's employees wonderfully. Are there things I disagree with? Sure! However there are better ways to get rules changed. I have yet to see an issue not get dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner. We could have petitioned that the rule be changed, instead most of us just complained while we waited by the door.
No matter where you work (or go to school, or live) you're going to find things you disagree with. Nothing is going to be perfect, but you have to be realistic and be grateful for what you have.
Suing the company and running it's name in the mud for an issue that could have been dealt with "in-house" was unfortunate.
As Hank said back in July, we are paid a great wage for doing Monkey's work!

[Justin Bieber Shoes]

Thanks,for this beautiful post and it's fascinating questions!
Something about a view opens up a world of possibility. I'm sure he'll enjoy it though and hope you raise LOADSAMONEY for your charity.
I am sure that he will absolutely love it. My son has done it a couple of times.

[Deb]

I think Costco is just going downhill since Jim retired. Love the place to death but WTF is going on with how degrading managers have become. It has become a political race. Every employee that I know have been scared to speak up for the fact that they will loose their job. I got fired from hear say because they didn't like the fact that I knew correct policy procedure and would let them know when they were not following it. Kinda sucks when every employee is walking on egg shells. I got counseled when after a month of waiting at the door for over 30 mins at 11 at night and I mentioned this lawsuit to other co-workers. Closing duties should be done by then it's just lazy mgrs with no sence of urgency.

[Need an answer ASAP, thanks]

I need someone to answer this question who works or has worked at Costco. Do they hire siblings? I know someone who has been working at Costco for over four years in the food court. His sister was hired for seasonal and she's doing a fantastic job, compliments daily. She was just recently told by her Mgr that she would not be hired permanently due to her brother working there. They never work together and rarely at the same time. Is this a Costco policy? I know of several people that work there that are dating and have heard some are married. She was told she could go to another store but we all know they will not be hiring for awhile after Xmas. She has been doing so well and is very disappointed not to mention needs this job. Please answer asap as I need to know. Thanks

[Midwest Costco Worker]

I work a store where many siblings, mother/daughter, spouses, and family members work. None work in the same department but there has never been issues that I know of.