Q: Am I getting fired?
I live in Wisconsin. In May, I was verbally warned not to work outside of the hours that I was clocked in. In June, I was verbally warned and also sent an email warning to not work outside of the hours that I was clocked in when I got caught a second time doing it. On 12/22, my boss called me and let me know that he saw that I was, once again, working outside of the hours that I was clocked in and that he would be escalating the situation to HR and that it could possibly lead to termination. On 12/28 I had to fill out a spreadsheet they created asking what my best guess was as to how many minutes I worked outside of my clocked in hours based on the orders I had created while not clocked in between April and December (when work from home started). I was given another spreadsheet today to do the same from when I started working there until this past April. So, it has been 2 weeks now and have not heard if I am going to get fired yet. What should I do?
A: If an employer is aware that you are performing work that is unpaid, the employer would be liable for wage and hour law violations. The employer's remedy is to impose discipline, not to withhold payment. Thus, HR is likely trying to determine the amount of unpaid hours that you have worked in order to compensate you for that time. However, even if you are paid for that time, the employer can impose the next level of discipline, including termination. There's not much you can do while you wait for HR to complete its investigation. Moving forward, you should not perform any work off of the clock.
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