Management expected her to arrive at least an hour before she clocked in to complete her prep work — all unpaid. Sometimes the unpaid work begins in the interview stage with what’s known as a stage or trial shift. The boss asked Desjardins if he wanted to stay on after his shift, which he agreed to do. Chodos, who himself was asked to work unpaid time at a part-time retail job as a teen, agreed that this often happens to vulnerable people. In B.C., another province with a large service sector, unpaid trial shifts and unpaid work hours are illegal with few exceptions, said Blair W. Curtis, head of litigation at Vancouver-based Tevlin Gleadle Curtis employment law strategies.

Source: National Post March 14, 2019 17:48 UTC