I work in a restaurant and yesterday we had a power cut, main supply down for about 5 hours. Obviously we were forced to close and team on shift did their best clean up what they could but with no power there's only so much you can do; no lighting, no dishwasher etc.
So team on shift are sat waiting for power to come back on or management to call it a day and send them home. Whilst waiting we're told we won't get paid for just sitting here, so either accept on extended break (but not allowed to leave in case power comes back on and need to reset restaurant), or find jobs to do that are safe like sweeping outside or picking up trash.
Under normal circumstances I'd say fair enough need to work to earn but since power cut is no-ones fault this just felt like a power play from the management. Thoughts?