Canada Physios - is this standard or a labor violation?
I get paid hourly. My clinic is doing some community outreach and asking us to be present at different events in town. I thought it was cute when we helped out a marathon one time on a Sunday. I've run marathons and I was actually excited to help out and talk to runners who could be potential clients.
Well now all of a sudden we will be doing outreach on weekdays at more local sporting games. Once a month my evening shift is ended early (4pm instead of 7pm) and I'm being asked to go volunteer at a table or tent for 4 hours unpaid to "meet the community". Marketing is not in my contract.
I'm annoyed that my hours are cut, wage losses are occurring and free work is expected. I have a family to support. The worst part is there are 2 new grads working for us, both are in their early 20s with no responsibilities and no family and nothing else going on outside work and both always say yes. When I brought up disappointment at loss of wages I was told I am not being a team player.
My question is - I know this field is over saturated and outpatient orthopedic PT in Canada generally sucks as a business model and it's hard to bring in clients. However, is this what happens at other clinics? does your clinic ask staff to work unpaid in the guise of "marketing"?