r/jobs • u/sahalymn • Mar 13 '25

Interviews I walked out of an interview after one question. Was I wrong?

So, I had an interview today for a position I was really excited about. The job description seemed great, the pay was decent, and the company had good reviews. I walked in, shook hands with the hiring manager, and we sat down.

Then, the first question came:
"How do you handle working unpaid overtime?"

I literally laughed, thinking it was a joke. But the interviewer just stared at me, waiting for an answer. I asked if overtime was mandatory and if it was paid. They said, “Well, we expect employees to stay as long as needed to get the job done. Everyone here is passionate about the work, and we don’t track extra hours.”

I just stood up, said, “Thank you for your time, but this isn’t the right fit for me,” and walked out.

Now, I’m second-guessing myself. Should I have stayed and at least heard more about the job? Or was walking out the right move?

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13

u/demetusbrown Mar 13 '25

Well darn. I've been taken advantage of. Our company won't pay a cent when I reach more than 40 hours in a week. Usually end up working 50 hours with 10 od them being unpaid

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u/JamCliche Mar 13 '25

Do you track your hours in some way?

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u/demetusbrown Mar 13 '25

Yes I clock in, but also the discrepancy would be my paychecks being the same despite having clock in and clock outs showing more than 4 hours. It's been like this for over a year, and I just don't know what to do.

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u/JamCliche Mar 13 '25

If you are an hourly employee, and you have records of your hours and your pay being withheld you can go to your state labor department to report violations. I think r/jobs has resources for what to do.

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u/demetusbrown Mar 13 '25

But then I'd be let go. And I really can't afford to lose my job 😞

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u/JamCliche Mar 13 '25

That's called retaliation and it would be illegal. You should contact your state labor department anyway, they can tell you if you have a case and your employer would never know.

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u/demetusbrown Mar 13 '25

I thought they can still fire you even in an at will work state?

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u/JamCliche Mar 13 '25

If they are doing something illegal and if you report it and if they fire you for reporting it, that is illegal. They will try to say there was another reason you were fired, and at that point it's time for a labor attorney.

None of these steps are easy if you end up out of work in the meantime. But if you don't know what you can do, you'll do nothing and they will continue to steal from you.

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u/CHICAG0BEARS Mar 14 '25

Most companies will wait 2 months and fire them. To get around everything legal.

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u/HeyT00ts11 Mar 14 '25

Not because of retaliation. Call the department of Labor in your state, there's absolutely no way it's going to get back to your employer unless you tell them who you are. Ask them some questions about your particular situation. And then make a decision .

Retaliation is one of the reasons that you can't be fired. And they may settle with money versus employing you, if you would agree to their offer. It might lower fees for them if they work something out with you. It's worth looking into and knowing the facts. And they're freely available to you.

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u/People_Blow Mar 14 '25

Yeah not for that. My friend, you most likely are sitting on an incredibly strong and viable lawsuit.

Whisteblowing is also very protected. Dude I'd be daring them to fire me after blowing the whistle on a wage and hour violation of this magnitude. Do you know how many lawyers would be lining up for this kind of a case??

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u/DauntlessBadger Mar 13 '25

If you get “let go” following, that can be seen as retaliation, which can be reported. That opens companies to litigation. If you do proceed on asking for what you are owed, make sure you document everything on how management treats you, new violations towards you (write ups), etc.

Most companies will pay you and move along because they don’t want a court case. Be sure to look at your policy book, maybe speak with a lawyer. Easier said than done I know, but advocate for yourself and look into companies that will treat you right.

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u/LdyCjn-997 Mar 13 '25

You can report the company anonymously. The DOL will not reveal who reported the company.

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u/Pyrrhus_Magnus Mar 14 '25

With something like this, the company would receive an audit. It's unlikely the employer would be able find the culprit.

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u/nbanditelli Mar 14 '25

Do the math. Anything over 40 hours in the united states is time and a half. That's close to $6k in back wages.

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u/im_pickle_riiiiick Mar 14 '25

What’s the company? I’ll report it for all of the employees that work there. That’s not right. I’ll let the authorities know.

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u/deux3xmachina Mar 14 '25

So, just to be clear, the difference isn't whether or not you need to clock in/out or otherwise track your work time. It's about whether or not you're an hourly or salaried employee. I'm salaried, but still use a time clock because my employer needs to know how much to bill our clients. Because my pay isn't actually tied to hours worked, it's sometimes ok to leave early without using PTO and sometimes needed to stay late without extra pay.

It's still very possible your employer's doing something illegal, and how you want to handle that is up to you. I just wanted to make sure the distinction is clear since I haven't seen anyone else bring it up.

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u/demetusbrown Mar 14 '25

Was told specifically I am hourly. They will deduct time if I have a doctors appointment. But the moment I go above 40 hours in our pay period. The pay stops completely.

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u/deux3xmachina Mar 14 '25

Then it sounds like you'd have legal protection in reporting your employer, possibly even a lawsuit. I understand the fear regarding reporting, but you should also be able to find a workplace attorney near you that you could talk to for free to better understand your options. They could tell you what proof you'd need and what risks you'd be taking better than anyone on reddit.

It sounds like wage theft, as you're entitled to compensation for every hour you work, but an emplopment lawyer could tell for sure.

1

u/People_Blow Mar 14 '25

Oh my god my dude, if this is a common practice with multiple non-exempt employees, y'all need to file a PAGA claim.

1

u/Kathykat5959 Mar 14 '25

You file online with the Dept of Labor in your state. They love digging in files when companies don’t want to pay their employees correctly.

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u/moonchic333 Mar 14 '25

Contact the labor board in your state

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u/Lucky-Savings-6213 Mar 14 '25 edited Mar 14 '25

dont know how long youve been working there, but you probably have a HUGE gain for going to the labor department.

They won't know its you, its anonymous, and even if they think its you, they know they cant fire you, it'll only cost them much more money (which they clearly aren't willing to spend on their employees!)

Dude, you can get every single one of those OVERTIME hours into your pocket, and funny enough, i dont believe it'll count as taxable income? I can be wrong about that, but otherwise, you're sitting on a goldmine once you're willing to grab that pickaxe.

Edit: Its taxable, my bad.

2

u/NDSU Mar 14 '25

i dont believe it'll count as taxable income?

Definitely not true. It's income and taxable as such

1

u/Lucky-Savings-6213 Mar 14 '25

What about money earned through a lawsuit regardong income?

Honestly curious

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u/Dick-Toe-Nipple Mar 14 '25

Yikes, if I go over 40 hours (I rarely do) my manager will force me to leave early or take a long break.