Manager Requires I Show Up Early For My Shift Without Pay

This is a rant/ legal advise for the terrible company I work at, may divulge in later posts about the poor conditions and hazards.

Location: Washington State

I live in Washington state and our labor laws are interesting. Seattle has great laws but everywhere else in Washington is completely different. I don’t work in Seattle. More recently my manager has told me that I am REQUIRED to come in 10-15 minutes before my scheduled shift (I start at 5am btw) to get systems up and running and to clean up the building but since I’m not working with customers I’m not allowed to clock in for it and that it is “time theft“ against the company. I am not allowed to change the times on my shift other than what I am scheduled for. This conversation came up because I asked to extend my shift for the 20 minutes I showed up early, except I was locked outside the building in the freezing cold because nobody put back the opening key.

The shitty way this company works is the higher up gives my manager a specific amount of hours each week depending on our numbers. My manager can only schedule that many hours and gets yelled at if we go over that amount. So it’s pressure from the top going all the way down.

I have proof of my manager telling me to come in early but they didnt say anything about not clock them. In Washington you have to have two party consent to legally use an audio recording in a legal case otherwise it will get thrown out, that’s why I opted for text message. Doesn’t require consent. I am hoping to get reimbursed for all the time I came in early but wasn’t allowed to clock in for it. I’ve started collecting evidence of when I come in early. I also never get a chance to take my breaks and often work 6-8 hours without breaks, I choose not to take my lunches because of the few hours I am scheduled. I have the highest seniority for my department (which is like 8 months) and some of the best productivity score but I still get nearly the fewest hours. I’ve begged for more hours yet my manager doesn’t schedule me. She also changed my schedule without telling me, constantly. Monday she offers 6 hours of “variable hours“ on Friday, I say hell yeah! Thursday my co-worker comes in for two extra hours and my spidey-senses start tingling. I check the schedule and I had been reduced to a 4 hour shift. I don’t know when the change was made, I just know I wasn’t notified. Later on Thursday my co-worker asks if I want to take her opening, hell yes. I call my manager and ask if I could take it and use the variable hours to extend my shift. She doesn’t let me and gives the hours to my newest co-worker who is already working 30+ hrs a week. I work maybe 15. The reason why? Because she wanted 3 people in the morning to make calls, then later after my shift there’s 4+ people where easily I could’ve done my job much much better. She chose not to let me. I am peeved, miffed, and frustrated. Any info and advise on labor laws would be great as well as next steps to take!