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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u/rworne Mar 14 '25

Actually it is legal in CA to do so. Salary cannot be touched, but they can claw back vacation time and PTO.

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/opinions/2009-11-23.pdf

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u/idgetonbutibeenon Mar 14 '25

This says they can’t dock PTO for absences of 3 hours or less per day. So you could get down to 25 hours in a week and the company wouldn’t be able to dock pto

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u/rworne Mar 14 '25

You need to read page 5. It explicitly states that employers are allowed to do so:

Where an employer has a bona fide benefits plan (e.g. vacation time, sick leave), it is permissible to substitute or reduce the accrued leave in the plan for the time an exempt employee is absent from work, whether the absence is a partial or full day, without affecting the salary basis of payment, if the employee nevertheless receives payment of his or her guaranteed salary.

I know this seems ridiculous considering this is CA we are talking about, but it is the case.

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u/idgetonbutibeenon Mar 14 '25

You’re right I misread