I hope this all makes sense and that this is the right place to ask for some discussion about this, because this irritated me so much that I couldn't even articulate myself to my husband about how this wasn't right. This subreddit was the first place I could think of to ask for advice lmao.
My husband works at a gas station/car wash place and his job is mainly running the car wash. He was scheduled to work today at 3:30pm. His manager called him at 3:30pm on the dot as he was pulling in to work, but not a single time before, so he didn't answer the phone kuz he was already there. When he got to work, his manager told him that the car wash was flooded and that he could go home, the owners of the store were there at the car wash and trying to get it fixed again. My husband said cool, and then came back home. We live in a pretty rural area, and his job is on the other side of town. The commute isn't horrible but gas prices are high, blah blah blah. He got home and I shit you not, not even 20 minutes later, his boss called him back and asked him to come back into work because the car wash was working again.
My husband asked her if there's any way that they could compensate him for some gas money or if they could have the manager of the car wash come in to cover the rest of his shift, since the car wash manager lives close by to the store, and we don't in comparison. His manager said something along the lines of, “we can't give you any gas money, but you can put it on your account tab.” (meaning that he can pay for his own gas money, just delayed till he gets his next check??) And then goes on to say “I think you should come back in, I don't want you to get in trouble with the store owner for not coming back in.”
I told him that it sounds like to me that his boss is the one who would get in trouble in this situation for sending him home early and is trying to cover her tracks. I also tried to explain to him that if he is off the clock, such as, if he has a day off or something, then he isn't obligated to go into work if they call and ask him to work. He then stared at me blankly. He didn't seem upset or inconvenienced in the slightest by his boss, and basically said his only gripe was having to drive all the way back over there. Am I wrong in this situation, could he really get in trouble for not going back into work? He did end up going back in anyway. But I feel like he didn't have to.
I guess I would appreciate if I could get some advice on employee etiquette and obligations he holds. The place he works at has a high turnover rate, mostly due to the employees being young and not understanding what they are obligated to do as opposed to what they are expected to do. What are some things that an employer can ask you to do, and you can decline without getting written up or getting in trouble? As far as I know he isn't working in an at-will position but I could be wrong about that.
I'm so frustrated :')