For context, I work for a small business with 3 employees(including me).
We recently got back from a 2-day “Company Retreat” this past weekend. It was a “First Annual” trip so, It was short and nothing really over the top. Our boss put the 5 of us (Us + Herself and her husband) in a very nice Airbnb and we employees paid for nothing beyond the gas to travel to the house. She was even considerate enough to stock the house with food/drinks based on what we liked. She also provided Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner along with a Team Building Activity.
The questions that the 3 of us have and are not sure about how to approach is: Will/Should we get paid for the work we did during the trip? We sat as a team from 9-5 each day ironing out new methods to make us more efficient. We also had a full day of meetings with several of our partners. Giving them the opportunity to speak on this business and how we can be more effective in one another business. We finished with a very long meeting/training session with a representative from the CRM software we use. Again, a method to learn how to be more efficient as a team/company.
Would the meetings/training sessions be considered as “working”? Should we assume that since everything was taken care of it was more of a “vacation” than a working environment?
To add to this, the word “mandatory” wasn't exclusively said however the trip was rescheduled to accommodate everyone's calendar availability. SO it was kind of like a “can't get out of this” situation.
Would we be in the wrong to submit those 16 hours as working time or should we just “eat it” and move on?
I've learned that neither of us has ever worked for a small business so we're not sure how to approach the situation without looking like a*shats who expect money.
Any thoughts on (A) how to approach the situation and (B) if we're misinterpreting something?
TIA