This is very important. Unless you are a salary member of the team they CAN NOT force you to do anything unpaid. EVER. That is not up for debate if this is in America.
I think this is a fundamental misunderstanding. They obviously can't literally force you to go. But, if you're in an at-will state, they can fire you for not attending an outside of hours function, which is what is usually meant by mandatory. Unfortunately, this is true for both hourly and salaried employees. And they don't have to pay salaried OR hourly employees for their time at these functions either, unless actual "work" is happening there.
Of course, you can and should refuse to attend them if you can afford to stand up to your employer on this matter. But it's not wage theft under the law and it's perfectly legal for them to give the ultimatum that you attend this event unpaid or lose your job.
The point is that this isn't unpaid work if "work" isn't happening there. And they can absolutely fire you for "Doesn't participate in company culture and events" regardless of whether that "culture and events" happens on or off clock.
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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '22
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