Re: It's fairly common practice.
Depends how long it takes. A random shakedown shouldn't hold anyone up by more than 10 minutes at most.
I was contracted to be in store from 6.30pm to 10.30pm Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but we were frequently let out early if we had finished stocking that delivery and there was no line that was in the warehouse that wasn't on the shelves. Some managers would let us get changed then we'd have to strip the shelves of empty cardboard until 10:30, when we'd be out promptly. Other managers would let us out at 10:15 or 10. And sometimes we'd be lined up ready to go when three or four guys from security would step around from another aisle and we'd have our bags and pockets turned out.
It's swings and roundabouts. You might be out five or ten minutes late one night, five or ten minutes early the next.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
