This reminds me of the second full-time job I had out of high school. It was a family-owned print shop, and when business was slow in the early '90s, they did everything they could to get the newer employees their 40 hours each week. I worked in shipping and receiving, but for two weeks early in my tenure I did nothing but paint the factory in which the company was housed. Things picked up after that and I got back to doing my actual job, but I was glad to have two full weeks of pay despite not having any "work" to do during that time.