Manager slammed after being exposed for 'illegal' new staff rule

The person behind this note has been blasted. Picture / Reddit

An employer has been slammed by thousands of people after threatening employees who showed up late for work with forced overtime.

In a notice displayed in the office, understood to be in the UK, the manager informed workers of the "new office rule".

"For every minute you are late for work, you will be required to work for 10 minutes after 6pm," the notice, shared in a post to Reddit, read.

"For example, if you arrive at 10.02, you will have to stay an extra 20 minutes until 6.20pm. Thanks."

A disgruntled employee posted the notice last week, writing: "Shout out the worst place I ever worked (minimum wage, of course)".

More than 5000 people have since responded to the post, slamming the manager's attempt to improve his workplace's tardiness.

Hundreds of respondents pointed out it was unlikely the demand fell within the confines of the law.

"Is this UK? If so, and you are on minimum wage this is absolutely illegal as it reduces your hourly rate below the national minimum wage (NMW). It's technically still illegal over NMW but under a different reason and harder to prove/argue. However if you are paid NMW – this is very illegal," someone who claimed they owned a payroll company wrote.

"That sounds incredibly illegal and wouldn't hold up in court," another said.

Many said the rule would unjustly penalise people who showed up late for reasons outside of their control.

"Damn so if I'm stuck in traffic and am late 30 minutes, they want me to stay an extra five hours? Hell no," one wrote.

Others speculated the employer would pay the workers overtime for the time they stayed back after 6pm, with some suggesting workers stay back purposely for extra pay.

"Boy I hope they like paying overtime. Or paying people to literally just stand around for an extra 20 minutes because they know this rule is bulls**t. How the f*** can people think this is a good idea?" one person wrote in a comment.

"Oh cool, a bunch of free overtime where I almost certainly won't be doing any work," another said.

It was later clarified the expected overtime would be unpaid.

Some suggested the rule should be reversed, allowing people who arrived early to go home early too.

"This needs to work in the other direction, if I arrive early I get to leave early, so if I'm there like a couple hours early, you pay me for a full day and I go home, right?" one wrote.

Dozens of respondents agreed that regardless of the way the rule could be manipulated, it was a clear sign the business wasn't being operated optimally.

"Do you want to lose employees? Because that's how you lose employees," one person said.

"They're banking on uneducated employees. Those who don't know they're being exploited," someone else wrote.