I work as an overnight concierge for a retirement home. I am the only employee in the building during my shift, and because of that am required to keep both the handheld phone and alarm device on me at all times, including on breaks. And am expected to answer and respond to any calls or alarms whether I'm on break or not, if I need to respond to one my employer will “fix my time” so that I'm only clocked out for 30min instead of however long it takes to respond to the calls. I'm required to clock out for a 30 minute lunch break. If I'm still required to keep up with the phones during my break time, and am not permitted to go outside of the building, wouldn't this constitute “unpaid time working?” My duties are not any different than during my time clocked in.
For the most part I do love this job, it just sucks to spend between 2-2.5 hours every work week unpaid and feels a bit like a loss of wage. It offers decent benefits, matching 401k, PTO after 1 year and 4hrs of PTO for your birthday. They also provide a meal for every shift. The pay is slightly above average for most jobs in my area ($13 per hour instead of $10-12) I'm in a low cost of living state, although we're currently dealing with an unsustainable number of transplants from more expensive states, which is adding insult to injury when coupled with the soaring inflation and gas prices. I'm not hurting for money yet, but with everything else going on every penny counts.