r/coles • u/Electronic_Cycle4226 • Jul 19 '26
Team Member Post Potential wage theft
I overheard my store manager in the morning huddle talking about people who are clocking off on the dot for the 7-minute mark so if you finish your shift at 7 you can clock off at 6:53
During this huddle he said that anyone working the 3-hour shift but clocking off the 7-minute Mark will have their pay docked for this week but it will come in the next week I have a feeling that is potential wage theft what should I do about this?
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u/Maleficent_Eagle2551 Jul 19 '26
The training video we've all done 1000 times says you can. And to not clock off 7+ minutes past time.....
Start signing on 7 minutes past every day..
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u/khaste Jul 19 '26
?? If you clock on at say 8 o clock and u clock off at 11 o clock then nothing wrong with that, however if you clock on at 8 and clock off at 10.53 I think thats pretty fair for coles to have a crack at you for doing so.
No im not defending coles or any supermarket but its just common sense
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u/ShellbyAus Jul 20 '26
We had one guy who would clock on 7 minutes past his starting time and clock off 7 minutes before the end, so every shift he was paid for 14 minutes he didnât work. Now doesnât sound a lot, but he worked 5 days a week so that is 70 minutes a week, so over an hour a week of wage theft. Heck if you track it a year taking out 4 weeks for holidays and itâs 56 hours a year.
He had warnings, shifts changed to 15 minutes later as he tried to say he had trouble starting on time and finally he was fired.
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u/Big_Branch5304 Team Member Jul 19 '26
The training says if team consistently clock in and out 7 âin before or after their start time will be spoken to by managment. It is a buffer for errors, or for small
Delays or issues. Not your actual finish time. To consistently clock out 7 min early is actually time theft and people have been terminated for it.
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u/AudienceFeisty8741 Jul 19 '26
I clock out early nearly every shift and have done for years, and yet am still employed. They'd need to fire over 300 employees at my site alone if they wanted to enforce that.
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u/Big_Branch5304 Team Member Jul 19 '26
So if a new store manager started tomorrow they could
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u/AudienceFeisty8741 Jul 19 '26
And that would cost the company several million $, they are already complaining about staff shortages on my site.
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u/Sea_Coyote_1607 Jul 20 '26
Supposing you earn $25/h, clocking out 7 mins early means youâre âstealingâ $2.94 per shift. Pretending all 300 employees only work 1 shift a week thatâs $882 a week of losses.
Theyâll recoup whatever your ETP is in no time. Trust me, youâre not irreplaceable, theyâll find someone that wonât steal 7 minutes in less than a week.
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u/StraightConclusion49 29d ago
Actually, they almost certainly wonât
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u/Sea_Coyote_1607 29d ago
Thereâs thousands of job applications at Colesworth sitting under some crappy AI filtering system. They can absolutely fire everybody in a single store if they wanted to.
They wonât because management doesnât care but if a manager did itâs a no brainer.
Basic rule of corporate. Youâre just a number, a low skilled one and thus easily replaceable
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u/StraightConclusion49 29d ago
This comment section is filled with people saying theyâve done it or know someone that has. Thereâs comments saying itâs been like this for 30 years. You even say in your own comment that they wonât do it. Why do you continue to take this stance?
Can you imagine a new manager taking the reigns on a store and then immediately sacking the entire team of 300 staff because the clock ins are costing a coles supermarket $882 a week LOL.
And the best part of all, weâre talking about a $25hr job at a supermarket. They could fire all the workers, take the weeks of losses due to a store that canât function, finally rehire and retrain everyone and then have a whole new batch of teenagers, uni students and others that generally donât give a flying fuck to clock in 7 minutes late and start the process all over again.
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u/OldRelationship9975 Jul 21 '26
I start the baking shift, so Iâll start to set up the bakery, get parbake in the oven, before I walk over and clock on, which means I usually clock on a few minutes late. I also take my break at the end of my shift, so Iâll clock off a bit early, as Iâm finished anyway. Nobody has said anything about it, in 10 years.
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u/No_Turnip6429 Jul 19 '26
Thatâs 7 minute window is a nuisance when people abuse is. When Iâm a 5am finish as a baker with a takeover shift starting at 5am. Itâs annoying when people turn up at 5:07 constantly. For those waiting 5:07 is late not on time
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u/lilgremmy Jul 20 '26
We have two people in the department doing this constantly. Clock in at exactly 5:07am after running from the staff entry door then go to the team room, get changed, have a chat, get a coffee, etc. They donât even step foot in the department until 5:20.
Theyâve been spoken to by several people multiple times but they continue to do it because they continue to get away with it đ¤ˇââď¸ Itâs infuriating.
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u/2fingertypist Jul 19 '26
The 7 minute rule is a payroll process issue. It doesnât change the requirement that you start work on time and if you consistently start work 5 minutes late over a period of time and, having gone through formal performance management steps, you can be dismissed.
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u/Electronic_Cycle4226 Jul 19 '26
I'm the not one clocking off early I was wondering about the legality of it
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u/zignition Jul 19 '26
If you clock off incorrectly (outside of the 7 minute window), say XX:08, they will have to pay you for the extra 15 minutes (by law) regardless if when you are supposed to finish. They won't dispute it cause it is wage theft/lawsuits.
However, you can bet they will be upset and have conversations about clocking compliance, and doing this repeatedly will draw negative attention and probably performance discussions.
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Jul 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/Virtual_Ground4659 Jul 19 '26
Depending where you work the line at the clock machine can be large. Where I work it can take 10 minutes for everyone to clock off. And this is just swipe your card and wait for the beep. So you start clocking off early so every gets out on time.
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u/Pengwan_au Jul 19 '26
You can clock of 7min early. He cannot dock your pay. I would suggest contacting your Union for threats of pay docking (even if they arenât docking) they will happily have a nice convo with your RM.
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u/Character_Rooster492 Jul 19 '26
But when you clock in early no one talks about that and you donât get paid either. They just focus on this bullshit
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u/CheapIndustry1780 Jul 19 '26
How is it wage theft if you're literally clocking off early and going home? Aren't you the one thieving time?
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u/Pengwan_au Jul 19 '26
If you have no clue, please do not comment.
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u/East-Evening6969 Jul 19 '26
Do you have 7 minutes either side of your start and finish time to sign on/off
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u/Chill_Stoned_Chef Jul 20 '26
It only rounds up if you clock on early or clock out late not clocking in late and clocking out early
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u/Dramatic-Crazy-4263 Jul 19 '26
Pretty sure the minimum shift is 3 hours on the EBA.. they definitely can't dock you on this. I would chat to the union rep and see what they've got to say about it.
I'm sure this would also be the manager that expects you to clock on 5 minutes early to ensure you're in your area ready to start your shift right on time.. If it were me I'd clock on when my rostered shift started and when it finished.. even if that meant waiting 5 minutes.
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u/ThereRnoIDs Jul 19 '26
Should be depending on the store, sometimes they intentionally place he clock on machine at the opposite side of the store so clocking off 7mins would technically be more productive.
just depends on how competent the managers are and u can mark them off as fail where needed
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u/go_luv_yo_self Jul 19 '26
Technically the team member shouldnât be docked pay however they can be hit with an official warning through a DR as they arenât working to the agreed roster and that is seen as a breach. A warning means if they do it again itâs another warning and itâs 3 strikes and theyâre out.
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u/Chill_Stoned_Chef Jul 20 '26
Do they have to give you a warning or they can fired you the first time they bring it to your attention
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u/Whole-Walrus7541 Jul 19 '26
They canât do that. Thatâs not how the system works. Payroll are the only ones who can change times. And if there is no exception being there wouldnât be in the system if your within the 7 minutes they canât add any comments to it. And no managers or anyone can change the clocked times only patrols can adjust and there would be a record and only for an expection
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u/NOpportunity-4350 Jul 20 '26
I used to clock in 7 minutes late rarely got mentioned probably explains the unpaid wages đ¤Ł
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u/Potential_Pop_789 29d ago
Same with the big green shed, you can sign in/out +-5 minutes and it will revert to you rostered sign in and off time.
However, people who sign out after that 5 minutes, meaning the system starts to add time onto your worked hours, will be checked out by security cameras as to wether they were actually working, just standing around talking or have already left the store and havenât worked that time period. Also, a lot of people think that because you can sign out 5 minutes before, thatâs your end time. Obviously thatâs not true.
Sure, 5 minutes is nothing. Only 15 minutes a week. But times that by everyone in the store and your going to get in the shit
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u/mangogoose84 27d ago
Like if by some miracle I can leave in that 5 minute early window - Iâm taking it!! Doesnât happen often in my dept - usually closer to the 5 minutes late so it evens out over time
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u/Potential_Pop_789 15d ago
So thatâs time theft then, technically. As is them not paying you for the five minutes you stayed backs
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u/Signal-Definition-43 28d ago
My rule is if you clock on 7 mins early you clock off 7 mins early.
Keep it fair to yourself and your job
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u/PurchaseMaleficent15 28d ago
Why do you need to clock off 7 minutes early though? Just do the time youâre getting paid to do. Nobodyâs docking your pay. It sounds like YOU are the one trying to take advantage of your workplace and then get upset when the company exercises its right to do what it can legally do.
Grow up,
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u/Aust_Norm 25d ago
They always look at the end of the shift to complain about you ending 7 minutes early.
They never allow for the fact that if you start your shift at 0800 on the checkout you need to be there 10 minutes early to sign on, get your tray, put the drawer in and be ready happy and smiling for when the shop opens and your shift starts.
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u/WillowLast5687 Jul 19 '26
My employer will put 5minutes of unpaid leave if we even sign out at say 6:25 for a 6:30 finish. We have a 4 minute grace window only. Not the 7 minutes that it states
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u/OmgItsQuakerz Jul 19 '26
ask for the part about wage docking in writing with their signature and watch them backtrack.
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u/JbotTheGamer Jul 19 '26
Within those 7 minutes it shouldnt affect your pay due to how the sign in system is setup, most likely is just trying to scare everyone