In the already time-poor day of many workers, a new pressure is building. Increasingly, companies are pushing "off-the-clock" work, tasks done outside regular work hours for no pay.

Joe Peterson, union president, charged that Nordstrom managers pressure employees to spend personal time on delivering merchandise to customers or other stores, setting up promotional displays and attending meetings.

He said clerks agree to these requests in order to keep their jobs because performance is judged on a sales-per-hour basis, and clerks perform those tasks "off the clock" so they can maintain a high job rating.