[wahnfrieden]

In my experience these meetups at offices typically relied on uncompensated overtime from several employees. I wish employers would compensate or give time in lieu for such recurring overtime asks, rather than pretend it’s extracurricular fun that the workers asked for and shall get as a favor. For hosts and organizers, a pizza meal isn’t substitution for compensation that pays the rent.

[rmbyrro]

The employees used to ask employers to allow usage of office space and to sponsor food.

It's not the employer who's asking for a task to be done.

Why would you expect the employer to consider this work time that should be paid?

[wahnfrieden]

Sure, often hosts and organizers employers use the events as a recruiting strategy and to promote their engineering brand and so on

[rmbyrro]

Yes, that's their upside and why they used to sponsor. But I've never heard of an employer asking its employees to run these events.

[wahnfrieden]

It’s common!

Besides if the employer uses it as a recruiting event and has recruiters involved and so on, it is work regardless of who asked for the work. Stop giving your labor away for free

You wouldn’t take unpaid time to fix tech debt you had to convince your employer to allow either

[em-bee]

i have been hosting events at my workplace before but i think that's different. tech debt only affects work. but if i want to host an event, and i get the option to host it at my work place or elsewhere, the chosen location should not affect my pay. in fact, i would not want to get paid so as to remain independent, and be allowed to run the event however i want. i'd appreciate my employer offering the location and even sponsoring food maybe, but once i get paid, it is no longer my event, but my employers, and depending on the nature of the event, i may or may not want that.

of course, if my employer does host an event and directs me run it, then i'd expect to get paid for that.