Complaint Review: Select Merchandising Services

I recently answered an ad in the Palm Beach Post and Craig's List for part-time work as a merchandiser for Select Merchandising Services.

An excerpt from their ad is below.

MERCHANDISER POSITION(S) AVAILABLE

Select Merchandising Services..
JOB DESCRIPTION

...Salary is paid on an hourly rate.  Stores need to be serviced weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and quarterly depending on the store.
...Stores must be serviced during their normal day time business hours Monday -- Friday.
...Candidate must have access to computer, printer, email and be able to respond to regular communications.

I received a call from a Select Merchandising Services manager and was asked to meet at a local fast food restaurant for a job interview.   During the interview, the manager said it was absolutely necessary for me to have computer access so I could receive, read, send, and print out Select Merchandising Services company emails.

The manager stated that as part of the job, every Sunday I would receive emails from the company, Select Merchandising Services.   Each Sunday, I would be responsible for reading and printing out company emails from my computer.  I agreed and was immediately hired as a magazine and book merchandiser for Select Merchandising Services.  I did not expect what would happened next.

That Sunday, around 3:15pm, I received 5 mails from Select Merchandising Services.  I put a new black ink cartridge in my printer and began to open the emails to print them out when I noticed there were PDFs attached to each email.  There were 37 PDFs in all.  Many of the PDFs consisted of several pages.  On total, I received approximately 89 pages of material that I opened, read, and printed out from my computer printer that Sunday solely for the benefit of Select Merchandising Services.   I was surprised to find an email within the stack that required me to reply by email to the manager before Monday 8am.  I immediately replied by email to the manager and finished printing out the company material.  The process took me well over an hour and drained the new black ink cartridge dry.

Monday morning 7:30 am: I received an email from the manager.(before work hours).  He said he needed me to respond by email immediately.  I responded.

Later that day I saw the manager and asked that since I was paid by the hour, was it necessary to separate the work I did on Sunday from the rest of the week.  He answered. "You don't get paid for working Sundays.  Nobody does."

I said, You said I was responsible for receiving, opening, printing, the emails from my computer on Sunday.  He said, "Yes, it is necessary for your job, but there is no pay for it".

I asked, how do I get reimbursed for the printer ink I bought to print out company emails on Sunday?  He said, "You don't get reimbursed for your printer ink, that is your responsibility."

Monday evening 11 PM: An informational email from the manager. (after work hours).

Thursday 6:45pm to 10:15pm: (after work hours) 3 more instructional emails from the manager for me to read and print out.

Later I asked the manager: How do I record my time so I'll get paid for sending and replying to required company emails before or after work hours?  "You will not get paid for it.  That's just the way it is.  If you don't like it, you can quit and we'll get someone else to do the job."

After repeating the same sequence of events the following week, I quit.

Let it be known to all that:
SELECT MERCHANDISING SERVICES IS GUILTY OF UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES.
Had I known from the beginning that Select Merchandising Services would not pay for work known to be routinely performed for Select Merchandising Services, I would not have agreed to accept the job.  And neither would any other reasonable thinking person.

Select Merchandising Services willfully withholds their unfair labor practices from the applicant knowing that if the applicant knew their unfair labor practices the applicant would decide not work for Select Merchandising Services.  Select Merchandising Services managers are acting in a dishonest and immoral manner in the attempt to attract workers to Select Merchandising Services.

This report is being filed in the hope that it will prevent someone else from becoming a victim to their immoral and dishonest labor practices.

I highly recommend you find an alternative to working with Select Merchandising Services for the following reason:

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH SELECT MERCHANDISING SERVICES