MrFedEx
Engorged Member
That's not how an employer/employee relationship works. In general, a business is free to pay its employees whatever it wants. An employee is then required to perform whatever tasks at whatever pace the employer sets as long as there's no illegal activity etc. It doesn't make it right or fair but it is what it is. You, as an employee, don't get to tell your employer that you are going to work at the pace you decide.
Analogies often don't work well however just to clarify, as you seem to have misinterpreted mine, if you call a repairman and he tells you he charges $xx/hour, your expectation (as his "employer") is that he will work at an acceptable pace. If he's sitting on your couch drinking beer and still charging you $xx/hour, I doubt that you are going to be ok with that just as FedEx isn't going to be ok with you setting your own pace.
Again, not debating whether or not the hourly wage is fair. Just clarifying that a business can and does dictate what it expects from its employees.
Let's put it this way. If Fred doesn't pay-up, his refrigerator is only going to be about 75% as efficient as it used to be because the "repair people" won't fix-it properly. He can continue to dictate what he expects and fed-up employees will not meet his expectations. They will call-in sick, not provide good customer service, and generally gum-up the works. He's already pushed further than he should have. Now is where the resistance comes in, and I'm already starting to see it in the form of reduced performance. People are finally figuring it out, and won't play the game under the same old rules. There are many subtle ways to create inefficiency and chaos at FedEx. What if everyone "accidentally" locked their keys in their truck at 1700? Ooops. Accidents happen, and almost everyone is aware of what Fred is doing even though Memphis isn't saying anything to employees. Word travels very fast.