So I did some digging (quite a lot actually) about this at-will employment state after my last job would make us clock out for breaks and we “weren't allowed to leave the building.” I say that in quotes because managers definitely left the building while on break and no one cared but the people making the least amount of money, by gods, you had better stay for that whole 25 minutes they so graciously gave us. It supposedly was 30 but they always wanted us at the register 5 minutes early before our shift started to clock in, just to stand there.
“215.3(13) “Hours worked.” In determining, for the purpose of the minimum wage, the hours for
which an employee is employed, there shall be excluded any time spent in changing clothes or washing
at the beginning or end of each workday which was excluded from measured working time during the
week involved by the express terms of or by custom or practice under a bona fide collective bargaining
agreement applicable to the particular employee. In determining the total hours worked, the employer
must include all time the employee is required to be on the premises or on duty (and not completely
relieved of all job duties during a meal or sleep period) and all the time the employee is suffered or
permitted to work.”
We weren't allowed to go next door and get McDonalds for our lunch break but did that stop Mr. Manager? No. He would sit in his office, stare at the cameras, and eat giant bags of fries and burgers which I then had to clean up later.
Being confined to the building and told we can't leave, is that not “suffering”? Being told I have to be 5-10 minutes early for my shift every single day or I'm late, is that not “suffering”?
“Permit” me to work, I “permit” you to tell me what to do for this shit wage. But telling Iowans that they can clock out but they can't leave is false imprisonment and it's bullshit.
The labor law I'm quoting is “MINIMUM WAGE CHAPTER 215 MINIMUM WAGE SCOPE AND COVERAGE [Prior to 10/21/98, see 347—Ch 215]” Directly from the Iowa government's own website.