The author makes many valid points that I agree with, but I disagree with her emphasis on time spent with children. I realize that most folks in the working world have children, and spending time with them is a priority, as it should be. However, people that don't have kids also don't enjoy having their time wasted with superfluous meetings, or "urgent" tasks that end up being used weeks later, if at all. Single and childfree people deserve a life, too!
24
This article was not clear enough about overtime works under the Fair Labor Standards Act. There are exempt and non-exempt employees. Exempt employees do NOT have to be paid overtime. In order to be exempt, you have to earn more than the threshold salary ($455 per week, or $23,660 per year) AND you have to fit into one of the exempt categories, such as executive, administrative, or professional workers. So not everyone who earns above the threshold is exempt; in fact, many will not be exempt. New York has its own wage and hour laws which the employer also has to follow.
7
I am glad to see a report on this subject.
In my company in the IT field, it is not uncommon to hear people forced to work 60 -80 hours per week. There is no additional pay for this work. The company has cut to the bone and kill people to do the work. I believe this practice is terribly wrong.
I am sure this is common across the industry.
I can understand if someone is a manager who wants to get ahead and prove they can handle more. But, the burden fall on the technical folks who are classified as "management" in order to skirt the overtime rules. There is nothing "management" about these people. They are the technical folks who do the work, they dont manage anyone.
In my company in the IT field, it is not uncommon to hear people forced to work 60 -80 hours per week. There is no additional pay for this work. The company has cut to the bone and kill people to do the work. I believe this practice is terribly wrong.
I am sure this is common across the industry.
I can understand if someone is a manager who wants to get ahead and prove they can handle more. But, the burden fall on the technical folks who are classified as "management" in order to skirt the overtime rules. There is nothing "management" about these people. They are the technical folks who do the work, they dont manage anyone.
17
In our always connected world the line between a reasonable workweek and servitude has become blurred with businesses getting a free pass. This article missed the hundreds, if not thousands that are required to travel for work both domestically and internationally, basically uncompensated. Try sitting in a coach seat for two or three flight legs in a day and tell me you feel anything but exhausted.
11
Well, for what it is worth....technology was supposed to free us from the shackles of the office cube. It made things worse. I spent 3 hours with my boss, this past Friday, because he needed to waste time. What I had planned to do, which would put me ahead for 2nd quarter, was cast aside, to sit with hom, on a meaningless exercise. I am exempt but have come in on weekends, major holidays and worked countless late hours and got nothing in return. No comp time, no OT cash, nothing. But they say that when you need to go to a doctor, or have an appointment, you can do so because you are en exempt employee. Well, that is just great but my boss deducted that hour from your vacation time! We cannot work from home because the micro managers, employed here, would not here of it! I just cannot see that things will get any better!
10
Personal experience gives me a bit of a different perspective. Ten years ago (after 20 years of professional status)my job description was reclassified to non-exempt. I and my co-workers were horrified. We were senior legal researchers/employed in the legal department of a large utility. Every one of us held an advanced degree, and were compensated at a minimum of $50 an hour. The federal and state government insisted that our work fell into the category of non-exempt status - apparently confusing us with entry level paralegals.
For this, we lost 50% of our bonus potential/our professional status/the ability to come and go within in reason/and the ability to participate in the pay for performance program. Although not strictly enforced, written policy provide when we could and could not go to the restroom and when we had to eat.
I have been retired for one month. This is all behind me, but because of this complete nonsense, I lost approximately $50K in bonus and because of the compensation band being lowered, salary increases! This resulted in a smaller amount I am now receiving in my pension which I earned after 30 years of very good work for the corporation!
I appreciate that many workers need the protection of labor laws, but I and my fellow researchers did not, and we were penalized for this silly government over-reach!
For this, we lost 50% of our bonus potential/our professional status/the ability to come and go within in reason/and the ability to participate in the pay for performance program. Although not strictly enforced, written policy provide when we could and could not go to the restroom and when we had to eat.
I have been retired for one month. This is all behind me, but because of this complete nonsense, I lost approximately $50K in bonus and because of the compensation band being lowered, salary increases! This resulted in a smaller amount I am now receiving in my pension which I earned after 30 years of very good work for the corporation!
I appreciate that many workers need the protection of labor laws, but I and my fellow researchers did not, and we were penalized for this silly government over-reach!
5
When my husband and I got married we made a pact. No overtime and no weekends on the jobs.
It was the best decision of our lives. We had the strongest most loving marriage for the full 26 years we were blessed with. My husband died at 48 years old and I thank God we had all that free time together. I do not regret one minute of our pure joy together. We were the envy off all because we put us first.
He's dead now. What do I miss the most? His income or his company?
It was the best decision of our lives. We had the strongest most loving marriage for the full 26 years we were blessed with. My husband died at 48 years old and I thank God we had all that free time together. I do not regret one minute of our pure joy together. We were the envy off all because we put us first.
He's dead now. What do I miss the most? His income or his company?
26
I once worked in a mail order fulfillment warehouse (Actually mostly Phoned in sales) business where 80% of the business came in on Monday. Intense pressure to get it done before the UPS pickup time, and then pressure to be usefully occupied for the rest of the week, despite days when all there really was to do could be done in twenty minutes.
Working for not much more than minimum wage, well, a lot of tension there; After all, I was there to make a living, even if that meant riding the clock four days a week. Sorry about that Mr. Businessman, but if you only want to pay me when you "need" me, and I end up living in my car, well, it is not very good for me or Society, especially my landlord. Oh, and don't tell me to get a second job, part of the requirement was that I "Be There" the other four days, and I already had a second, part time job.
A LOT of confusion about work and hours out there, I guess I am too old school for the modern economy where "Human Resources" are just like any other natural resource, something to be exploited.
Working for not much more than minimum wage, well, a lot of tension there; After all, I was there to make a living, even if that meant riding the clock four days a week. Sorry about that Mr. Businessman, but if you only want to pay me when you "need" me, and I end up living in my car, well, it is not very good for me or Society, especially my landlord. Oh, and don't tell me to get a second job, part of the requirement was that I "Be There" the other four days, and I already had a second, part time job.
A LOT of confusion about work and hours out there, I guess I am too old school for the modern economy where "Human Resources" are just like any other natural resource, something to be exploited.
11
With respect to Ms. Rodgers, much of what she has written appears to not to be applicable to most free-lancers and independent consultants/contractors whom I know. We are paid on the basis of project success (with reaching certain milestones triggering progress payments).
She clearly had not communicated that most of us routinely work 60 hour weeks. This means that we're prepared for the late night call from Asia (it's tomorrow there), early in the AM from Europe (it's late afternoon there), and early in the evening from the west coast (they're still at work there).
My best, most creative work is ordinarily done on Sunday night. In the four hour stretch after "60 Minutes", it is appreciated that there are few distractions, phone calls, etc. I set up the music (usually Karen Carpenter and Whitney Houston) and away I go.
The reality that Ms. Rodgers had not communicated to her readers is that we, as professionals, must get away from the 40 hour week mindset. What I share with young professionals is for them to fit their 60 hours into the contour of the 168 hours available to us each week. When we focus on exceeding the client's expectations with the quality of our work, much of what Ms. Rodgers' has written goes away.
She clearly had not communicated that most of us routinely work 60 hour weeks. This means that we're prepared for the late night call from Asia (it's tomorrow there), early in the AM from Europe (it's late afternoon there), and early in the evening from the west coast (they're still at work there).
My best, most creative work is ordinarily done on Sunday night. In the four hour stretch after "60 Minutes", it is appreciated that there are few distractions, phone calls, etc. I set up the music (usually Karen Carpenter and Whitney Houston) and away I go.
The reality that Ms. Rodgers had not communicated to her readers is that we, as professionals, must get away from the 40 hour week mindset. What I share with young professionals is for them to fit their 60 hours into the contour of the 168 hours available to us each week. When we focus on exceeding the client's expectations with the quality of our work, much of what Ms. Rodgers' has written goes away.
3
The last time I read the reg, and it has been a few years, but nowhere like 40 years, the overtime regs only applied to worker type jobs. That means jobs that do not require education over a high school diploma. "Associate" degrees that are comprised of classes offered in high school do not count.
What that also means is that the threshold can be raised to the sky and IT people if they have required degrees, and other professionals will not be affected or entitled to overtime. Unless those important provisions are changed. Overtime applies to workers in retail, services and manufacturing industries. Your office assistant and the people who clean the place. Etc.
It is amazing how few people understand this important distinction, probably because a lot of professional people get voluntary overtime as a benefit.
What that also means is that the threshold can be raised to the sky and IT people if they have required degrees, and other professionals will not be affected or entitled to overtime. Unless those important provisions are changed. Overtime applies to workers in retail, services and manufacturing industries. Your office assistant and the people who clean the place. Etc.
It is amazing how few people understand this important distinction, probably because a lot of professional people get voluntary overtime as a benefit.
8
I owned my own company way back when. I had some contract employees. They were paid for what they produced. They could work at my house or they could work at their home or they could work wherever they wanted. They could set their own hours and they could decide how much they were going to produce. I trusted them to not pour their lives into their contracted labor. I would ask each one on Friday what they thought they could produce the next week and then give them what they said. What was left over was my problem. I'm the one that worked overtime.
Our forebears thought unions were a great equalizer. They were correct. My generation, the Boomers began to dismantle unions. The generations after us are axing them. We are hurting ourselves and our children's children when we dismantle a union. Without unions all workers are at the mercy of the owners and shareholders. We all end up as feudal slaves to the demands of the very rich wanting to be ever richer. It harms the economy because we struggle to keep a roof over our head so we don't spend. When we don't spend the profits diminish, then layoffs and firings occur, homelessness increases, and crime increases as frustration vents to anger.
Most employers are not going to be fair as I was. They are corporations now who buy politicians and use up peoples' lives without ever questioning what would ever entitle them to do so. They hide behind the quarterly reports and so remain faceless and often names masters of the job markets.
Our forebears thought unions were a great equalizer. They were correct. My generation, the Boomers began to dismantle unions. The generations after us are axing them. We are hurting ourselves and our children's children when we dismantle a union. Without unions all workers are at the mercy of the owners and shareholders. We all end up as feudal slaves to the demands of the very rich wanting to be ever richer. It harms the economy because we struggle to keep a roof over our head so we don't spend. When we don't spend the profits diminish, then layoffs and firings occur, homelessness increases, and crime increases as frustration vents to anger.
Most employers are not going to be fair as I was. They are corporations now who buy politicians and use up peoples' lives without ever questioning what would ever entitle them to do so. They hide behind the quarterly reports and so remain faceless and often names masters of the job markets.
96
I worked for several employers like this. They were all newspapers. Is The Times guilty of this?
8
I know everybody is afraid of losing their jobs so they put up with no weekends, no vacation, no extra pay, weird hours, and having no life outside of work. But suppose everybody just decided not to live that way anymore? What would bosses and corporations do if everybody said, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not taking it anymore?"
32
That is called forming a union. Such things used to happen.
43
While they are updating FLSA, I wish that they would change the 40 hour maximum per week to 80 hour maximum bi-weekly, following a typical pay period. The current 40/week was established during the depression and does not work well with compressed schedules and other flexible scheduling that is popular with today's workforce. Even when employers are trying to pay employees 1.5/hour for OT, it is often difficult to accommodate flexible schedules and shifts with this requirement. This is especially the case with ten hour day combinations when employees are trying to work 5 days in a row to get extended weekends off.
5
Employers, Corporations and people accepting and tolerating their rules creates the work culture. If the price of greater efficiency is the creation of a tired, neurotic society, what value does it have?
In order to have a balance there must be work rules and labor laws strictly enforced. Businesses entirely driven by profit motive will always try to extract the last drop of blood from their workers.
Get money out of politics, elect representatives responsive to the needs ans wishes of people, only then laws supporting work life balance can be implemented.
Reaching the pinnacle of efficiency in everyday life for everything we do or only accumulating more material wealth may not provide a contented life or attain the liberty or happiness we desire. When we as a people truly value a work life balance and strongly demand it from our government and our employers, only then we have a chance of getting there.
In order to have a balance there must be work rules and labor laws strictly enforced. Businesses entirely driven by profit motive will always try to extract the last drop of blood from their workers.
Get money out of politics, elect representatives responsive to the needs ans wishes of people, only then laws supporting work life balance can be implemented.
Reaching the pinnacle of efficiency in everyday life for everything we do or only accumulating more material wealth may not provide a contented life or attain the liberty or happiness we desire. When we as a people truly value a work life balance and strongly demand it from our government and our employers, only then we have a chance of getting there.
11
My understanding of work-life balance is that if you have a life you're not working hard enough.
91
A few years ago, our division VP gave a kick-off-the-new-year talk to the troops. He told us that although the previous year was pretty good, he needed us to give 110% in the new year so the company could have another good year.
One person in the audience raised their hand and asked "Is that 110% on top of the 130% we worked last year, or are you telling us we can cut back on our work hours?"
The VP was speechless.
One person in the audience raised their hand and asked "Is that 110% on top of the 130% we worked last year, or are you telling us we can cut back on our work hours?"
The VP was speechless.
159
I just see more employers avoiding salary positions all together and shifting their hourly workers from an 8 am to 5 pm schedule to a 10 am to 7 pm schedule on demand. Workers can't complain for fear of losing the job and employer's face no retribution for tying up worker's time in excess of their 8 hour without paying them.
9
Well, times have certainly changed. $23,660 per year was a dream salary back in 1975, even for someone living in New York City! Double that to $47,320 per year -- as now proposed, and someone at that income level and similarly situated today, they have to struggle to make ends meet. As for them being paid time and a half for any hours worked over 40 per week, well their employer can do a work-around to avoid paying them any overtime. So we end up right back where we started -- in 2015, that is.
11
Let's face it, any uncompensated work amounts to illegal imprisonment, and bonded labor, if not down right slavery, justified only by the "managerial machoism and sadism." Even if workers above certain pay level are not eligible for an overtime pay, they should at least be given the regular additional pay, or compensatory time off. Compelling people to work while they are on vacation with their family, is an abuse of the families by proxy. Most office work is not done on assembly lines, and hence, number of hours put in has nothing to do with the actual results produced. It only creates a situation wherein everybody is working all the time to produce absolutely nothing. That is a sign of a bankrupt management.
11
Our country is a bad joke for workers. We don't like to really discuss it, because that's said to be unpatriotic and mean towards the billionaires and multi-millionaires who've worked so hard and been so cunning to buy lawyers, lobbyists, politicians and judges. We're lost as a real community (no 'perfect union' here).
Working at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel for the last 6 weeks, I've experienced the wrath of the American Way. I started with 9 days in a row, then one day off, then 6 days in a row, then one day off. Many of my co-workers have been worse off than me. No overtime pay to be had. In our first national park, working hard for $9 an hour with no overtime (I believe in Montana it takes 48 hours for overtime).
We've let the monster of greed take over; partly due to the workers being apathetic and lazy-dumb when it comes to thinking politically and acting accordingly. The classes continue to divide further; I guess that's what we want. Lost in the wilderness.
Working at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel for the last 6 weeks, I've experienced the wrath of the American Way. I started with 9 days in a row, then one day off, then 6 days in a row, then one day off. Many of my co-workers have been worse off than me. No overtime pay to be had. In our first national park, working hard for $9 an hour with no overtime (I believe in Montana it takes 48 hours for overtime).
We've let the monster of greed take over; partly due to the workers being apathetic and lazy-dumb when it comes to thinking politically and acting accordingly. The classes continue to divide further; I guess that's what we want. Lost in the wilderness.
24
What does one expect from 40+ years of union bashing and zero push back from government, the only entity that can force change?
We will all be working for nothing in 10-15 yrs if this keeps up....correction the top 5% of earners will be in a different economic world than the remaining 95%, you would not even recognize each other....
We will all be working for nothing in 10-15 yrs if this keeps up....correction the top 5% of earners will be in a different economic world than the remaining 95%, you would not even recognize each other....
14
Why is labor considered different than goods or services in regard to paying for them?
If I buy something, e.g. gasoline, I pay for what I get. If I say that I want to by $40.00 worth of gas, I cannot go and say I want another 5 gallons because the tank is not filled.
But the employer can hire me based on a 40 hour week and then expect more labor without any additional pay, never mind 1.5 times the rate. The other benefits and employee costs do not impact the employer with the increased hours worked.
Try telling an electrician or a plumber that they worked on a fixed price. In my experience it has always been and estimate and charged for actual time. Actually, I have had charges for car repair where the charge was the higher of book time or actual time.
If I buy something, e.g. gasoline, I pay for what I get. If I say that I want to by $40.00 worth of gas, I cannot go and say I want another 5 gallons because the tank is not filled.
But the employer can hire me based on a 40 hour week and then expect more labor without any additional pay, never mind 1.5 times the rate. The other benefits and employee costs do not impact the employer with the increased hours worked.
Try telling an electrician or a plumber that they worked on a fixed price. In my experience it has always been and estimate and charged for actual time. Actually, I have had charges for car repair where the charge was the higher of book time or actual time.
17
This is amazing news. Does it apply to exempt workers? And when does it go into effect?
exempt probably means exempt from overtime. it would be a huge change if overtime covered all the people it doesn't now. Too bad for me, after my very first job, I was never eligible for overtime.
I am very glad to see the end of the abusive practice of classifying low paid workers as managers in order to avoid paying them overtime. In one case I read about, a janitor was classified as a manager! Employers have forgotten the reason that the FLSA was enacted: so employers who hire professionals who OCCASIONALLY have to work 40+ hours; e.g., accountants at tax time--would not have to pay OT. BUT, employers do have to provide compensatory time off for every hour worked over 40 hours if the employee requests it in the same pay period. Employers have conveniently forgotten this provision of the law and employees don't know about it. Most employers think that the FLSA allows them to expect salaried employees to routinely work 40+ hours a week. I was told as much when I was hired: "you're exempt so we expect you to work more than 40 hours a week without payment for the extra hours." I pointed out to my employer that this expectation was not a correct interpretation of the FLSA and that I refused to work more than 40 hours unless in my estimation it was needed. It happened once in 15 years. Hopefully, the change in the FLSA will lead employees to read its provisions more closely so they too can inform their employers about its provisions and prevent abuse.
17
I was a salaried employee. According to the company for which I worked, salaried meant I was paid the same whether I worked 40 hours or 60 hours each week. But not if I worked 39 hours. If I worked less than 40 hours, I had to use vacation time to get up to my minimum of 40 hours. It was a double standard - if I worked over, I gained no additional pay, but if I worked less than 40 hours, I was docked. All benefits of this system went to the employer, none to the worker.
54
This is great news even though it will not impact me. As a salaried IT worker these past 35 years I have seen first hand the complete lack of concern for my time discussed in this article. I have worked at 6 large companies during that time and it was true at all of them. There is an attitude that your salary is payment to call on you 24 x 7. I am also sure that overtime pay would change this attitude at least for those impacted, overnight.
12
As candiate for major independently owned company, which was just given millions by feds, was told the work would be 10 hours a day, five days a week, at STRAIGHT TIME. Now I know why major companies say they "cant find skilled employees". The skilled employees sell their skills just like a company does with their product. How many products would be given to with a 25% DISCOUNT EVERY TIME TO EVERY BUYER?
18
Face it: We now live in a feudal society! One step away from slavery.
12
I think that this article touches on the issue that few people want to address which is that current US labor and Tax regulations have spawned entire industries that are riddled with companies that could not survive or profit with out unfair wages or transfer payments from the government in the form of social services and tax abatement's. Yes landscaper's may rely on undocumented day labors who do not require social security or health care and a small restaurant may not survive if they did not push off the responsibility of fully paying their waiters and waitresses by making them dependent on tips but the whole sale wage theft inflicted on mid and low level employee's at successful highly profitable companies is inexcusable. When the competitiveness of american industry is a based on extorting it's own workers as opposed to innovation or strategic insightful management , the country as whole suffers and a few profit from it...
20
I worked for years in a job where I was on the road most of the time. Then, if anybody put in for overtime, they were considered to be disloyal. One would think that hiring a happily married employee with a house and picket fence would be an attraction. How about one who is active in community activities? No more. Management preferred to hire divorced men because they would have more available hours, and wouldn't be distracted my wife and kids. I kid you not!
5
Does the term "wage slave" ring any bells? We boast of being free, but at work we subject to dictators. We can, of course, quit, but not everyone has a trust fund. The dictator may be benevolent or malevolent, but while at work, we are not free. I consider it astonishing to what extent Americans consider it normal to be under the more or less absolute power of another for 40, 60, 80 hours a week.
The most important function of unions is to give workers some power against their bosses.
This is even a health issue, as autonomy is improves health and extends life.
The most important function of unions is to give workers some power against their bosses.
This is even a health issue, as autonomy is improves health and extends life.
10
"Exempt" workers - also called professionals - were originally people like doctors and lawyers who really could choose their own hours. Thus they were not entitled to overtime pay.
But an office worker or computer programmer who is required to put in 50 or more hours a week is not a "professional" in the same way. They therefore should not be exempt for overtime laws, no matter how much they earn.
If you are required by management to work over 40 hours, you should be paid time and a half.
And for that matter, we could obviously afford a 30 hour work week culture. We could have 20 hour jobs WITH BENEFITS for young parents.
We need white collar unions. The .01% has enough money.
But an office worker or computer programmer who is required to put in 50 or more hours a week is not a "professional" in the same way. They therefore should not be exempt for overtime laws, no matter how much they earn.
If you are required by management to work over 40 hours, you should be paid time and a half.
And for that matter, we could obviously afford a 30 hour work week culture. We could have 20 hour jobs WITH BENEFITS for young parents.
We need white collar unions. The .01% has enough money.
25
All workers should get overtime after *35* hours a week (that's 9am-5pm with an hour unpaid lunch) with the possible exception of high-level, high-wage professionals whose work tends to ebb and flow over the course of a year (e.g. attorneys, university faculty, independent project consultants). That would leave some breathing room for whenever members of a team take vacation, get sick, or go on extended leave. Offer remaining staff time-and-a-half to cover up to an additional 10 hours per week, and if there are no takers (and ONLY if there are no takers among existing employees) then employers can hire someone temporarily to cover the slack. Existing workers get fair additional pay for covering for their colleagues, only if they want to, and others who want temp work can find that too. Not to mention at time-and-a-half for existing staff vs. at most time-and-a-quarter for temps, employers won't be tempted to punish employees who pass on extra hours. Win, win, win.
6
In hospitals, almost no one who does shift work is scheduled to work 40 hours per week. It is either 32 or 36 hours: 4 8-hour days or 3 12-hour days. That way, you can stay later for another few hours without being paid at the over time rate. Overtime kicks in after 40 hours on the job. A bigger issue is earned time, that is, how much time you have off--sick time, vacation time, personal time, whatever--depends on hours worked. If you report to work and the patient census on an inpatient unit is lower than expected and they need to cut staff, you can be "called off" and sent home. And you can either not get paid for that shift or you can get paid by calling it an earned time day. People are afraid to take earned time for vacation so that they have enough in their earned time bank for days they are called off or for a potential illness. If you're a new employee, you can earn up to 80 hours a year--two weeks. Pretty sad state of affairs.
6
I come from the IT world, where "uncompensated overtime" is the norm. We're supposed to get "comp" time - which means we can come in late or leave early when times are slow, or we have a dental/dr appointment - at the discretion of our manager. But if you try to do it, you can look for it to show up on your review. Oh, and the 24 hours on-call? You aren't reimbursed for those hours in the middle of the night either.
11
I don't understand how Rodgers can reach the conclusion that people will start paying more attention to efficiently using an employee's time whilst simultaneously announcing that new rules will enable a company to avoid paying overtime rates until the employee has worked twice as long as before. Have I misread this article? Aren't businesses likely to care far less about overtime if they no longer suffer as many penalties for imposing additional hours on their employees?
The article says that a company will have to pay overtime when an employee earns twice as much as before. Not when an employee has worked twice as long. The salary threshhold used to be $23,660 and now it will likely double.
3
I'm a salaried, exempt employee. My VP consistently schedules meetings after 5 pm and is almost always significantly late for those meetings. These meetings are rarely critical and frequently unnecessary. Clearly, our time is worth, to him, exactly what it costs the company - zero.
32
Could this be the cause of the "productivity" lag? When most people were being paid by the hour and bosses had to pay overtime, they'd hire efficiency experts and work hard to streamline their business process. Indeed, the work week for hourly workers keeps falling year by year, but salaried workers hours have increased. When work costs money, businesses will become more efficient. When work is free, businesses will grab as much of it as they can for nothing. It's good to hear that our business community is being offered this opportunity for serious improvement. (Now, if only some of the productivity gains could be turned into wages. That's something we haven't seen for 30 years or more.)
11
I had a job where I kept earning comp time because I worked so many hours, yet was not eligible for overtime. So I decided to take a nice, long vacation with my comp time. But guess what? I got harassed by my coworkers and my boss that "my job must not be that important" if I could take time off. So, you know, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
115
You are only damned if you choose to be a slave.
No one ever had carved on their headstone "I wish I'd spent more time at work."
4
I guess I am just more concerned and the near 4 months a year I have to work to support the government. That costs me far more time than uncompensated overtime.
5
Rodgers hit the nail on the head when she states "We are a tired, stressed and overworked nation, which has many negative consequences for our personal health and the care of our children." As a teacher, I have most certainly seen the changes over the past 27 years as parents are less and less able to spend the time needed with their kids to help them succeed. Parents are overworked and exhausted, and for less pay than was realized years ago. They truly are doing more for less.
I'm hopeful that the minimum-wage revolution does not lose steam. This is a huge part of the problem. Upon entering the work force after high school in 1975, I had no problem making ends meet with my first job which of course was 40 hours per week and full benefits - routine for those days - even though the pay was not much more than minimum wage. Try finding a full-time job today with fully paid benefits. Then see how you can make ends meet at minimum wage.
I'm hopeful that the minimum-wage revolution does not lose steam. This is a huge part of the problem. Upon entering the work force after high school in 1975, I had no problem making ends meet with my first job which of course was 40 hours per week and full benefits - routine for those days - even though the pay was not much more than minimum wage. Try finding a full-time job today with fully paid benefits. Then see how you can make ends meet at minimum wage.
16
Teachers work hours of overtime every day and will never get paid for it. It is expected even though we have union contracts. This has been the standard for years. Part of the reason for that is because there is no way to get all the work done in the 8 hours with over 40 students in most classes. The majority of teachers at my school work early and stay late averaging 2 to 3 hours of overtime a day and that includes weekends. If you are an English teacher then you have at least double that. The work load keeps increasing with no extra time to do it. The public resents the fact that teachers get summers off not realizing the amount of unpaid time a year they work and the unpaid classes they need to take in the summer to stay at the top of their game. The attitude is that you are lucky to have a job. I am lucky and work hard for my job; it would be nice to be recognized for the work we do by the boss. A simple thank you goes a long way. Overtime pay is just pie in the sky and it won't happen in my lifetime.
9
I have been on all sides now. Working as an hourly, salaried non-exempt, salaried exempt and a little known but actually widely used salaried hybrid worker.
Perhaps it is only anecdotal but for myself the last was an eyeopener. In the contract services arena, such as engineering firms and legal firms if the client is being billed for your hours you get paid for overtime at straight time.
I think it is right that workers in any job that is physically demanding be paid a higher wage for hours in excess of eight per day or 40 per week. In fact I would not stop at time-and-a-half, but more on that later.
It is probably also appropriate to limit the higher wage to those who have those physically demanding jobs. As a similar discussion on retirement age notes physical demands tend to cause health issues and shorten lives. One caveat, there are some levels of stress that are equally physically demanding when compared to 'digging ditches'.
But time-and-a-half is not nearly the employer burden you think. When the benefits that cease at 40 hours are taken into account (health insurance, vacation time, unemployment, disability, etc) that extra hour still costs less than hiring another worker.
So to build a healthy economy I would recommend hourly receive double pay for overtime, salaried non-exempt receive time-and-a-half and salaried exempt receive straight time for overtime. No one should work overtime for free.
No one.
Perhaps it is only anecdotal but for myself the last was an eyeopener. In the contract services arena, such as engineering firms and legal firms if the client is being billed for your hours you get paid for overtime at straight time.
I think it is right that workers in any job that is physically demanding be paid a higher wage for hours in excess of eight per day or 40 per week. In fact I would not stop at time-and-a-half, but more on that later.
It is probably also appropriate to limit the higher wage to those who have those physically demanding jobs. As a similar discussion on retirement age notes physical demands tend to cause health issues and shorten lives. One caveat, there are some levels of stress that are equally physically demanding when compared to 'digging ditches'.
But time-and-a-half is not nearly the employer burden you think. When the benefits that cease at 40 hours are taken into account (health insurance, vacation time, unemployment, disability, etc) that extra hour still costs less than hiring another worker.
So to build a healthy economy I would recommend hourly receive double pay for overtime, salaried non-exempt receive time-and-a-half and salaried exempt receive straight time for overtime. No one should work overtime for free.
No one.
9
I would love to see all the office workers who are currently paid on salary illegally (because they do not meet all the standards) changed to hourly.
There is a huge bias by regulators in their enforcement of "white collar" (salaried) and "blue collar"(hourly) workplaces. The rules for blue collar workplaces were mostly written half a century ago for old-school factories. You have to stop work at the same time every day to take a paid break, lunch has to be exactly mid-way though the day, etc. Many blue collar workers resent these rules, but their employers enforce them because the fines are so high for breaking them even though they mostly don't make any sense any more.
If and when the tens of millions of salaried officeworkers in the U.S. were re-designated as non-exempt employees, as they should be if employers were following the rules, they would learn how antiquated and arbitrary the labor regulations governing the "rest of America" are and they would rise up en masse on Facebook and everyone else to demand a change.
It's no fun being treated like a cog in a machine. But that's how hourly workers are still treated -- not by their bosses as much as by the Department of Labor and other regulators.
There is a huge bias by regulators in their enforcement of "white collar" (salaried) and "blue collar"(hourly) workplaces. The rules for blue collar workplaces were mostly written half a century ago for old-school factories. You have to stop work at the same time every day to take a paid break, lunch has to be exactly mid-way though the day, etc. Many blue collar workers resent these rules, but their employers enforce them because the fines are so high for breaking them even though they mostly don't make any sense any more.
If and when the tens of millions of salaried officeworkers in the U.S. were re-designated as non-exempt employees, as they should be if employers were following the rules, they would learn how antiquated and arbitrary the labor regulations governing the "rest of America" are and they would rise up en masse on Facebook and everyone else to demand a change.
It's no fun being treated like a cog in a machine. But that's how hourly workers are still treated -- not by their bosses as much as by the Department of Labor and other regulators.
2
The best way to avoid abusive managers is to not have any. Go into business for yourself!
4
Nice article!
Aside from the financial burden on companies to pay more overtime, there is also a large requirement to pay more attention to job descriptions to accurately determine the primary duties test. In the past, you could label someone a manager, even though they only spent a small percentage of time in that capacity.
Moving forward, companies will need to accurately determine the percentage of time for exempt and non-exempt tasks. This is not a trivial job - as we found out in our company. With hundreds of thousands of job descriptions, the task became overwhelming (We ended up using a product from HRTMS to handle this)
Something to consider if you are in an HR position today - when last did you look at your Job descriptions?
Aside from the financial burden on companies to pay more overtime, there is also a large requirement to pay more attention to job descriptions to accurately determine the primary duties test. In the past, you could label someone a manager, even though they only spent a small percentage of time in that capacity.
Moving forward, companies will need to accurately determine the percentage of time for exempt and non-exempt tasks. This is not a trivial job - as we found out in our company. With hundreds of thousands of job descriptions, the task became overwhelming (We ended up using a product from HRTMS to handle this)
Something to consider if you are in an HR position today - when last did you look at your Job descriptions?
1
Since all businesses are equally impacted it just levels the playing field for responsible employers. Also, fewer people on food stamps, housing subsidies & medicaid.
As a citizen I see no reason to subsidize the walmart family and others profit dividends and CEO bonuses.
As a citizen I see no reason to subsidize the walmart family and others profit dividends and CEO bonuses.
10
If everyone making less than the median income in their area was paid hourly, I can guarantee you that no one would be working more than 40 hours a week. Companies would figure out ways to reduce wasted time, in order to avoid paying overtime. Hourly pay would also force companies to hire more employees, rather than pay fewer employees overtime.
The only solution to overwork in this country is to pay people hourly.
The only solution to overwork in this country is to pay people hourly.
4
MY BROTHER WAS AN "OFFICER" AT HSBC THE BANK FOR 30 YEARS . . .
...as he opened the door of the agency/branch at 7AM and often worked until 7 or 8PM and at times on weekends ... and since money and income is the most verboten topic of conversation ... even though he was my brother ... I never asked him nor did he inform me how much he earned.
When he died in 2000, I visited his office and was amazed to determine from his colleagues that his salary was $50K per year ... regardless of the number of hours he worked. I was truly amazed!
Many companies give elevated and prestigious job titles but not an appropriate and fair amount in compensation. The reason is simple. It provides a degree of status but for my brother's bank it allowed him as "officer" to put in seemingly endless hours of work ... with no additional monies given to him.
It is possible that this position provided my late brother less than the then existent minimum wage at the time ... but, he was an "officer."
This common practice is egregious!
...as he opened the door of the agency/branch at 7AM and often worked until 7 or 8PM and at times on weekends ... and since money and income is the most verboten topic of conversation ... even though he was my brother ... I never asked him nor did he inform me how much he earned.
When he died in 2000, I visited his office and was amazed to determine from his colleagues that his salary was $50K per year ... regardless of the number of hours he worked. I was truly amazed!
Many companies give elevated and prestigious job titles but not an appropriate and fair amount in compensation. The reason is simple. It provides a degree of status but for my brother's bank it allowed him as "officer" to put in seemingly endless hours of work ... with no additional monies given to him.
It is possible that this position provided my late brother less than the then existent minimum wage at the time ... but, he was an "officer."
This common practice is egregious!
13
Manager, smanager, if they aren't paying you for your time then you are a slave.
5
The Creation of the Camel:
It was done by a committee attempting to create a HORSE.
Meetings will destroy your organization faster than the speed of light ... raised to the power of infinity.
It was done by a committee attempting to create a HORSE.
Meetings will destroy your organization faster than the speed of light ... raised to the power of infinity.
3
I don't see why overtime pay should depends on how much you make per year.
2
The cap was sought by employers who wanted to minimize the impact of the law.
Let's face it if you are salaried you are a slave to the company. The company is being cheap. I did this at several jobs, no more. You pay me for the time I spend working for you. If you don't I won't work for you.
5
Who would ask an hour of your time if you were on your deathbed? Yet, thoughtless Scrooges think little of wasting one of those precious hours when they think you and he have many thousands left to live. A wasted hour is a gret loss whether it be in the front or the back of your life.
2
Maybe with the change--listen to this Republicans--it will create more jobs! My favorite saying is, there is plenty of work to do in America, just not enough jobs.
1
Please excuse my ignorance...
How does any hours worked over 40 hours a week cost Employers nothing?
Does that then mean that NO Employee earning more than $23,660 per year is entitled to payment for ANY hours worked past 40?
SURELY NOT!
I am assuming that they are earning their usual hourly rate per hour for each hour after 40 hours worked per week ...and that they are therefore, not realizing Time and a half pay for these extra hours...correct?
But the way the article reads , its almost as if its saying that if NOT earning under the threshold rate of the FLSA then you are paid NOTHING an hour past 40 hours a week...in effect, being made to work Overtime BUT NOT being paid Overtime rates...just NOT being paid at all!!!
That is...Illogical/illegal/immoral/unacceptable/impossible...it is of isn't it?
ISN'T IT?
I'm from Australia and actually can't conceive that ANY country could , would or allow or tolerate such a thing...third world unregulated sweatshops sure...but never a Rich Western Democracy.
Could someone please assure me that I am correct and fearing something that can't occur...and that I am just being overly paranoid that the U.S would do something so byzantine as that...because Profit over people has already destroyed an edifice I never though was reasoned to be exploited....
I sincerely do not want any more news that will turn me more darkly cynical than I have already become but genuinely am asking for clarification.
How does any hours worked over 40 hours a week cost Employers nothing?
Does that then mean that NO Employee earning more than $23,660 per year is entitled to payment for ANY hours worked past 40?
SURELY NOT!
I am assuming that they are earning their usual hourly rate per hour for each hour after 40 hours worked per week ...and that they are therefore, not realizing Time and a half pay for these extra hours...correct?
But the way the article reads , its almost as if its saying that if NOT earning under the threshold rate of the FLSA then you are paid NOTHING an hour past 40 hours a week...in effect, being made to work Overtime BUT NOT being paid Overtime rates...just NOT being paid at all!!!
That is...Illogical/illegal/immoral/unacceptable/impossible...it is of isn't it?
ISN'T IT?
I'm from Australia and actually can't conceive that ANY country could , would or allow or tolerate such a thing...third world unregulated sweatshops sure...but never a Rich Western Democracy.
Could someone please assure me that I am correct and fearing something that can't occur...and that I am just being overly paranoid that the U.S would do something so byzantine as that...because Profit over people has already destroyed an edifice I never though was reasoned to be exploited....
I sincerely do not want any more news that will turn me more darkly cynical than I have already become but genuinely am asking for clarification.
3
Sorry to burst your bubble, but yes, most people who are salaried are expected to work as much as their employer asks of them, without additional compensation. When I was working, my salary was my salary, whether I worked 40 hours for the week or 80. The amount I was paid was the same, regardless
4
That is exactly what is happening. In my company, people are routinely required to work 60-80 hours per week for no additional compensation. It's free, forced labor for the company
3
Salaried people are paid by the week, not the hour. Ergo, a salaried employee, as opposed to an hourly employee, could work or 50 or 60 hours per week and not earn one penny more than he or she would earn for working 40 hours.
2
Re: Who Owns Your Overtime? (NY Times 6/22/2015): In the early-to-mid 1970s, when scientists and engineers were being laid off in droves, remaining employees were often compelled to work overtime to pick up the slack. A saying sprouted and became commonplace: A professional is a person who works overtime for free.
Plus ça change, c'est la même chose.
Plus ça change, c'est la même chose.
7
It is not clear to me what the new rule is "double that threshold"..the hours threshold or the salary threshold?
There is a direct, if little-observed, line from the wanton exploitation of hyper-productive labor and the billions in Wall St. bonuses for individuals who produce, well, nothing. When rentiers like John Paulson "earn" $1.4 million/hr, or parasite capitalists like Mitt Romney disembowel healthy companies for their own profit, it's on the backs of American workers squeezed by unpaid overtime, wage givebacks, slashed benefits and vaporized pension plans.
But it's cool. As long as the Koch money flows, the victims of it all will ditto the "great Americans" on wingnut radio and vote Republican.
But it's cool. As long as the Koch money flows, the victims of it all will ditto the "great Americans" on wingnut radio and vote Republican.
11
Contemporary economics is used to bolster the Elite and squash workers
Workers were told that Globalization was "good" for the economy
only to see their jobs go overseas
they were told that Automation was "good" for the economy
only to see their jobs replaced by robots
they were told that Overtime was "good"
only to watch as more and more work was piled on, their salaries cut
During this time: their bosses got record bonuses.
Enough.
The Middle Class are the job creators, NOT the business owners and the affluent. We need to trumpet this again and again!
Middle Class consumption drives 70% of American GDP. This consumption creates Demand. The affluent and the businesses then fill this demand.
so you see, the MIDDLE CLASS are the job creators, and the affluent and businesses are simply Demand Fillers. (nothing wrong with being a demand filler).
The problem:
American Businesses and Politicians are destroying the middle class.
Because of this, the Middle Class cannot buy things
Their decreased purchases means less demand
And less demand means that businesses/affluent have few to no investment opportunities, or opportunities to fill demand
THIS is why interest rates stay so low, and why businesses aren't hiring.
To fix the problem: we must increase the wages of the Middle Class
Decrease overtime. Hire more workers
Increase wages
Decrease outsourcing
Decrease automation
Yes, short term it may be a hit to corporate profits, but our ECONOMY will do better.
Workers were told that Globalization was "good" for the economy
only to see their jobs go overseas
they were told that Automation was "good" for the economy
only to see their jobs replaced by robots
they were told that Overtime was "good"
only to watch as more and more work was piled on, their salaries cut
During this time: their bosses got record bonuses.
Enough.
The Middle Class are the job creators, NOT the business owners and the affluent. We need to trumpet this again and again!
Middle Class consumption drives 70% of American GDP. This consumption creates Demand. The affluent and the businesses then fill this demand.
so you see, the MIDDLE CLASS are the job creators, and the affluent and businesses are simply Demand Fillers. (nothing wrong with being a demand filler).
The problem:
American Businesses and Politicians are destroying the middle class.
Because of this, the Middle Class cannot buy things
Their decreased purchases means less demand
And less demand means that businesses/affluent have few to no investment opportunities, or opportunities to fill demand
THIS is why interest rates stay so low, and why businesses aren't hiring.
To fix the problem: we must increase the wages of the Middle Class
Decrease overtime. Hire more workers
Increase wages
Decrease outsourcing
Decrease automation
Yes, short term it may be a hit to corporate profits, but our ECONOMY will do better.
8
Overtime definitions, in this age of constant connectedness, mean nothing if confined simply to time put in at the workplace itself. On the other side of the pond they define things differently, at least in the Euro Zone: If you're required to be reachable, you're at work - and entitled to overtime pay. Guess how many Sunday morning foodless 'power breakfasts' they hold over in Paris or Berlin, as opposed to, say, Manhattanland (That working theme park formerly known as New York City) or Silicon Valley? Hint: How many blizzards do they get each year in my neck of the woods?
Take a cruise, and it's easy to tell which passengers are working Americans. They're the ones lining up to reserve ridiculously expensive onboard internet access time, shaking in their designer shoes lest they miss a message from The Office. As opposed to the Europeans; when they're on vacation, they really ARE on vacation.
Maybe we Americans ought to replace the bald eagle, as our national symbol, with a vacuum cleaner. Because when it comes to accepting seriously bad working conditions, we're now the biggest suckers anywhere.
Take a cruise, and it's easy to tell which passengers are working Americans. They're the ones lining up to reserve ridiculously expensive onboard internet access time, shaking in their designer shoes lest they miss a message from The Office. As opposed to the Europeans; when they're on vacation, they really ARE on vacation.
Maybe we Americans ought to replace the bald eagle, as our national symbol, with a vacuum cleaner. Because when it comes to accepting seriously bad working conditions, we're now the biggest suckers anywhere.
14
Japanese employees work far more hours, often without taking vacation, than Americans.
Too many of these op-ed pieces do nothing more than cite faulty studies that prop up the opinion. This is a ripe example.
Too many of these op-ed pieces do nothing more than cite faulty studies that prop up the opinion. This is a ripe example.
3
But until quite recently, Japanese employees had permanent positions where they can't be fired from. In the U.S. however, you can be forced to work long hours and still be fired.
Japan has the same issue as the U.S. actually, lots of unemployment but those employed work ridiculously long hours
Japan has the same issue as the U.S. actually, lots of unemployment but those employed work ridiculously long hours
I took pride in my work as a researcher. I loved it when we worked overtime on big projects. We were professionals and we did not receive overtime. We were reclassified b/c of some uninformed labor department bureaucrat. We lost our bonuses and our professionalism. Labor wage and hour laws are fine for factory workers and fast food workers/ not for highly paid/highly educated professionals.
The feudal system is back...but with new corporate lords and the 99% of us the surfs. The irony is that this nation of immigrants escaped Europe's dead end culture of the past only to have it now become the beacon of a life well lived with time for family. Time to reverse immigrate.
5
I once worked in an absolutely filthy space. They were saving money by not hiring cleaning staff. And we weren't allowed to do our own cleaning due to union rules or something: only certain staff could vacuum or dust. Sneakily use your own window cleaner or wipes? Impossible: only approved products allowed. MSDS on file only. In addition, as a federal government agency, some arcane rules required a mandatory staffing level of X bodies no matter what.
So when I developed what later was called "environmentally induced asthma" from working in an office with inch-thick dust globs everywhere and suffered my first asthma attack, which itself was terrifying, the manager allowed me to go home to find an inhaler (which I'd asked my PCP for because I figured I'd need it some day, given said filth).
But I was "mandated" to return to work, inhaler in hand, as we were at minimum staffing levels. And I did so because I was still on a yearlong probationary period, meaning I could be fired for any--or no--reason.
Did I mention the flea-infested carpet? Many of us kept bug spray in our cars and spritzed ourselves before entering the building. Doing so inside would have been a violation of environmental regulations. But never cleaning a department with hundreds of staffers was permissible.
My literally not being able to breathe did not matter to management. Not even death could have stopped the focus on the numbers. I wish I were making this up.
So when I developed what later was called "environmentally induced asthma" from working in an office with inch-thick dust globs everywhere and suffered my first asthma attack, which itself was terrifying, the manager allowed me to go home to find an inhaler (which I'd asked my PCP for because I figured I'd need it some day, given said filth).
But I was "mandated" to return to work, inhaler in hand, as we were at minimum staffing levels. And I did so because I was still on a yearlong probationary period, meaning I could be fired for any--or no--reason.
Did I mention the flea-infested carpet? Many of us kept bug spray in our cars and spritzed ourselves before entering the building. Doing so inside would have been a violation of environmental regulations. But never cleaning a department with hundreds of staffers was permissible.
My literally not being able to breathe did not matter to management. Not even death could have stopped the focus on the numbers. I wish I were making this up.
2
Although retired from self-employment, I get the impression that in some workplaces today, so much overtime is required that employers are trying to build loyalty by insisting that employees take part in group activities which are supposed to be fun but are often competitive, pitting groups or individuals against one another with the promise of winning "something". It also appears that those who would prefer not to take part in such "socializing" are made to pay a price.
When overwork turns the workplace into a social life and home is just a place you go to sleep, then jobs become prisons. and employers slave-drivers.
When overwork turns the workplace into a social life and home is just a place you go to sleep, then jobs become prisons. and employers slave-drivers.
8
If overtime has to be paid for salaries below say $45K, then all employers will have to do is pay someone $46K and make them work more hours.
There salary caps are arbitrary and useless. What we need is regulation over the hours an employer can make you work at all salary levels. 50-60 hour weeks and more are becoming the norm in too many industries. Many people would rather have their time back than make a little more money.
How about we mandate that employment contracts specify the number of hours that are to be worked for a given salary. An employer would be prohibited from forcing employees to work over that amount of time without consent from the employee and those extra hours would be compensated at a higher rate. If someone wants to sign a contract for a high salary that requires 60 hour weeks - so be it, but it should be voluntary and come with protections.
There salary caps are arbitrary and useless. What we need is regulation over the hours an employer can make you work at all salary levels. 50-60 hour weeks and more are becoming the norm in too many industries. Many people would rather have their time back than make a little more money.
How about we mandate that employment contracts specify the number of hours that are to be worked for a given salary. An employer would be prohibited from forcing employees to work over that amount of time without consent from the employee and those extra hours would be compensated at a higher rate. If someone wants to sign a contract for a high salary that requires 60 hour weeks - so be it, but it should be voluntary and come with protections.
45
Pretty sure a decent lawyer could nail an employer for bumping someone just over the cap in order to get free OT. But most folks wouldn't think to sue their bosses, and you're right, that's not a complete answer.
I used to work for an organization that liked to make employees work occasional Saturdays on weeks when there was a paid holiday, so they could pay straight time, not OT. (since we hadn't worked 40 hours) Several times I refused, and the boss didn't understand why I would pass up a day to earn extra money. I always said "You're not paying me enough to give up my Saturday." And I didn't like being screwed that way.
I used to work for an organization that liked to make employees work occasional Saturdays on weeks when there was a paid holiday, so they could pay straight time, not OT. (since we hadn't worked 40 hours) Several times I refused, and the boss didn't understand why I would pass up a day to earn extra money. I always said "You're not paying me enough to give up my Saturday." And I didn't like being screwed that way.
2
Hi N.H.,
It's not that simple. $23,660 is the minimum that an employer can pay you and call you "exempt." But there are more rules to being exempt than simply the pay. Depending on your industry you have to be in a somewhat creative role, or have management responsibilities, or otherwise make decisions on your own with respect to your work.
So even if we pay a McDonald's cashier $46k/year (could you imagine?) they would still have to be paid overtime because they wouldn't meet the criteria of being exempt.
It's not that simple. $23,660 is the minimum that an employer can pay you and call you "exempt." But there are more rules to being exempt than simply the pay. Depending on your industry you have to be in a somewhat creative role, or have management responsibilities, or otherwise make decisions on your own with respect to your work.
So even if we pay a McDonald's cashier $46k/year (could you imagine?) they would still have to be paid overtime because they wouldn't meet the criteria of being exempt.
Employment contracts are a great idea and already in wide use in most of the EU countries. I'm not holding my breath waiting for corporate employers in the USA to agree to it, so government regs will be the only way to make that work. And there should be no employee groups considered "exempt" from it. In the interim, because that's going to be a long fight, how about offering employees who are "exempt" compensatory time off in exchange for extra hours worked? Many years ago when I worked for the federal government, "comp time" was offered to those exempt from the overtime rule. There was seldom any abuse of either overtime or comp time because it had to be requested by one's supervisor in advance & approved. And the supervisor had to explain why this work couldn't be accomplished within regular working hours, and give details of the work to be done, i.e., how many people assigned, how long they'd known about it, was there a deadline, etc. There wasn't a lot of wiggle room. Naturally, some people gamed the system, but not many. One of those cases where the government does it better. Private sector...pay attention.
4
The Fortune 500 company that just laid me off, replaced me with three men, two of whom are contract workers with no benefits. Perhaps I was too vocal when talking with other employees about the universal dismay at the 60 or 80 bours a week needed to do everything needed, most of it to support stifling bureaucracy which we all found unproductive and an impediment to productivity. Perhaps if they had to pay overtime to these salaried employees this would change. But more likely they would try to find more desperate people to.work as.contractors.
34
Employers own not just our overtime but our entire lives. They are allowed to examine our credit reports, our facebook pages, even our urine. They control our daily routines, the clothing we wear and our grooming habits. They demand cheerful, outgoing employees who toe the party line and don't make waves, so they control our behavior and personal interactions as well.
In this society money is freedom, and those without money have very little freedom. Those with money can rob the rest of us blind, get bailed out with our tax dollars, and do pretty much whatever they please with no fear of any consequences beyond a small fine.
In this society money is freedom, and those without money have very little freedom. Those with money can rob the rest of us blind, get bailed out with our tax dollars, and do pretty much whatever they please with no fear of any consequences beyond a small fine.
50
The US Chamber of Commerce would strongly disagree with your Marxist-Leninist views.
1
When I worked for Bechtel Power in San Francisco, our boss asked us to take comp time instead of overtime pay so he could keep his budget down. We all complied, since we knew it really wasn't a choice. I worked ten hours overtime that week, and if we were paid, the time and a half would have equaled fifteen hours. I filled out my time sheet accordingly and my boss wanted to know why I expected time and a half in comp time. I explained the overtime laws to him, and that it should apply to comp time too. He realized I was right and I got time and a half in comp time, and then I was fired. Too many American workers can't win for losing.
84
Well, gosh.
So I have to pay overtime for salaried employees who make less than $23,660 per year.
Hmmm. . . . Let's bump that salaried employee's salary to, oh, I don't know, $23,700. Poof!!! Overtime gone for an additional annual outlay of $40.
Where there are rules, there are ways around those rules.
So I have to pay overtime for salaried employees who make less than $23,660 per year.
Hmmm. . . . Let's bump that salaried employee's salary to, oh, I don't know, $23,700. Poof!!! Overtime gone for an additional annual outlay of $40.
Where there are rules, there are ways around those rules.
7
That's not the entirety of the law. FLSA can entitle people to OT making over that amount, dependent on their primary job duties.
From the article: "The update, which is likely to at least double that threshold, will affect millions of salaried employees." You might want to check your math. The threshold would be $47,200. I work in IT in the non-profit sector as an exempt employee. I wouldn't mind moving up to this level of pay.
1
So we give up on making rules?
1
Unfortunately, there are larger economic forces at play here in the United States. We have a low rate of participation in the workforce, and a supply of post-college workers who are having trouble finding jobs in the industries of their hopes. If you need confirmation of this, talk to a 50 year old former exec, or anyone coming out of law school.
For every person working white collar, there are many that covet their position. If that person doesn't do all the boss asks, including being on call 24/7, there are plenty of would-be workers all too happy to take their place and do what is asked.
It isn't right. It isn't fair. It isn't humane. But it is the truth.
For every person working white collar, there are many that covet their position. If that person doesn't do all the boss asks, including being on call 24/7, there are plenty of would-be workers all too happy to take their place and do what is asked.
It isn't right. It isn't fair. It isn't humane. But it is the truth.
10
Plenty of H1bs being shopped around for this purpose already.
2
Another time issue long overdue for updating? Change how benefit earning periods are counted.
If 40 hours a week and 52 weeks make a work year, then an employee needing one, two, five or ten years of service to earn a benefit (pension, vacation time, bonus) and clocking all hours of work meets that requirement with 2,080 hours. Work more hours in a year and you earn hours for the next benefit year regardless of the calendar.
Sign me: denied a pension with seven years of hourly work, but short just four calendar days to make "five years" on the job.
If 40 hours a week and 52 weeks make a work year, then an employee needing one, two, five or ten years of service to earn a benefit (pension, vacation time, bonus) and clocking all hours of work meets that requirement with 2,080 hours. Work more hours in a year and you earn hours for the next benefit year regardless of the calendar.
Sign me: denied a pension with seven years of hourly work, but short just four calendar days to make "five years" on the job.
36
The average voter does not understand that labor is a commodity subject to the laws of supply and demand. Unions get increased wages and benefits by artificially restricting supply. (I'm pro union, BTW.)
The removal of earnings caps in the SS overhaul of 1986 has taken away millions of jobs from younger people who could use them. Few people know that the real reason SS came into existence in 1935 was not just an anti-poverty measure. It was a means to take older workers out of the workforce to make room for younger men. (Yes, almost all men back then.) And it worked just fine, thank you very much, for fifty years. After hitting the cap, around $3000 back then IIRC, Uncle Same took one dollar back for every two dollars you earned. Quite an incentive to stop working.
Ex-military, ex-law enforcement, ex-legislators double and even triple dip all at the expense of people who would like to have a job.
High immigration, like we have had since THAT overhaul in 1973 also brings down the cost of labor, and that's not even counting illegal immigration.
The removal of earnings caps in the SS overhaul of 1986 has taken away millions of jobs from younger people who could use them. Few people know that the real reason SS came into existence in 1935 was not just an anti-poverty measure. It was a means to take older workers out of the workforce to make room for younger men. (Yes, almost all men back then.) And it worked just fine, thank you very much, for fifty years. After hitting the cap, around $3000 back then IIRC, Uncle Same took one dollar back for every two dollars you earned. Quite an incentive to stop working.
Ex-military, ex-law enforcement, ex-legislators double and even triple dip all at the expense of people who would like to have a job.
High immigration, like we have had since THAT overhaul in 1973 also brings down the cost of labor, and that's not even counting illegal immigration.
9
Those in service jobs that cannot be displaced overseas will benefit from this change. However, for those jobs in either manufacturing or services where workers are competing globally, this change will likely exacerbate the trend towards moving work outside the U.S.
3
Some see this change to the Fair Labor Standards Act as an unalloyed lift to the lowest earners in our society, and a long-overdue imposition of fairness on what undoubtedly is an exploitation of some workers by capital. But it’s not unalloyed.
As the income floor is raised for the requirement to pay overtime beyond 40 hours, it will encompass more and more entry-level people involved in occupations with real careers attached to them. One of the traditional means of distinguishing people in the competition for promotions in such occupations is how hard they work voluntarily in ORDER to distinguish themselves. Yet, employers will be forced to strictly limit the hours of a greater number of people if they have to pay for those hours at time-and-a-half, and that means of establishing distinction at the lowest levels will necessarily disappear.
It’s an imposition by government on a process intended to sort people for elevation, a means of telling business how to conduct a critical element of its affairs. And if not very carefully managed, it can be very damaging.
I don’t actually see the proposed changes as a “job killer” – if the labor is needed, people will have jobs. But it could be a career-killer, which could lock greater numbers of people in lower-paying positions for greater proportions of their working lives.
As the income floor is raised for the requirement to pay overtime beyond 40 hours, it will encompass more and more entry-level people involved in occupations with real careers attached to them. One of the traditional means of distinguishing people in the competition for promotions in such occupations is how hard they work voluntarily in ORDER to distinguish themselves. Yet, employers will be forced to strictly limit the hours of a greater number of people if they have to pay for those hours at time-and-a-half, and that means of establishing distinction at the lowest levels will necessarily disappear.
It’s an imposition by government on a process intended to sort people for elevation, a means of telling business how to conduct a critical element of its affairs. And if not very carefully managed, it can be very damaging.
I don’t actually see the proposed changes as a “job killer” – if the labor is needed, people will have jobs. But it could be a career-killer, which could lock greater numbers of people in lower-paying positions for greater proportions of their working lives.
4
And this would take things back to working better during regular hours taking advantage of the team that is in place as criteria for promotions.
It is frustrating to have a manager that hangs out with his buds on Friday afternoons and then complains about not seeing people in the office bright and early Saturday mornings - why not stop that behavior? Single parents having to choose between the kids' soccer game or appearing in the office to be recognized as a "team player". Ugh.
Forcing visibility of this practice by hitting the budget with extra pay can make for a lot of improvement.
It is frustrating to have a manager that hangs out with his buds on Friday afternoons and then complains about not seeing people in the office bright and early Saturday mornings - why not stop that behavior? Single parents having to choose between the kids' soccer game or appearing in the office to be recognized as a "team player". Ugh.
Forcing visibility of this practice by hitting the budget with extra pay can make for a lot of improvement.
1
Richard, there are many ways employees can "prove" they are high achievers without working for "free". What uncompensated overtime does to lower income employees is theft. Especially if one has extra costs in daycare. The same goes for entry level jobs that pay less then the average cost of living in an area. That we as a country are so willing to let people work for less then livable wages at any level is awful! That there are enough desperate people willing to do so is also deplorable!
4
Can't people still distinguish themselves by the quality of their work? Usually it's pretty obvious who is a committed and/or effective worker and who isn't regardless of actual hours worked.
3
There is a slight misstatement of the law here, in that a person is exempt from being entitled to overtime pay if she (a) is salaried, (b) earns less than the threshold amount, AND (c) has substantial managerial or supervisory responsibility over facilities or people. The writer leaves out (c). Many employers have misclassified employees as exempt, and this have not paid them overtime, when they were salaried and earned less than the threshold amount, but when they were not bona fide managers or supervisors.
14
Your comment is on-point. At my first job after college, I started as an intern--but after they needed to pay overtime for a few weeks, they switched me to salary (my paychecks went down around $50) and classified me as "managerial". My responsibilities hadn't changed, and I was still the lowest ranking person in the department, but now they were able to save money and have me work extra hours without any issues.
That's not correct - there are also exemptions based on "administrative" work, that does not require the employee be a supervisor.
I think the economy would do better if more people worked shorter hours and spent more time with family and doing leisure activities. Productivity gains mean we should spend less time working, but instead a few people work way more and more people are unemployed. I work only 4 days a week for 80% of full time pay and I love it. Even though my income isn't that high, I have enough to live comfortably and lots of time to get stuff done around the house and enjoy my long weekends
19
Where there is a will to manipulate the workforce, there is a way.
Get rid of full time employment for most workers and hire more workers. Looks good on employment statistics, gets rid of most benefits and avoids overtime entirely, while doing away with those pesky planning meetings (because no one is going to pay for them). The motto of the part time workforce company is. after all, "Good Enough -- and Cheaper!."
It's been happening for some time now and will continue until the supply of underemployed workers (the Uber drivers, for example, dries up. By then, however, technology and the TPP will free up a new wave of potential part timers working two or three jobs just to survive.
Get rid of full time employment for most workers and hire more workers. Looks good on employment statistics, gets rid of most benefits and avoids overtime entirely, while doing away with those pesky planning meetings (because no one is going to pay for them). The motto of the part time workforce company is. after all, "Good Enough -- and Cheaper!."
It's been happening for some time now and will continue until the supply of underemployed workers (the Uber drivers, for example, dries up. By then, however, technology and the TPP will free up a new wave of potential part timers working two or three jobs just to survive.
14
Our "company policy" is not to pay for travel time for consultants. As on site assignments start on Monday morning this means travelling during the weekend.
The excuse is that consultants are "highly compensated" individuals. The CEO and the VP's are treated the same way, so it's problematic to protest.
For international assignments this means leaving (for me) San Francisco on Saturday afternoon. For Australia, South America and South Asia, it's Friday afternoon, because of the combination of long flight times (18+ hours) and time zone differences. It's time spent in economy class, not Business class.
The excuse is that consultants are "highly compensated" individuals. The CEO and the VP's are treated the same way, so it's problematic to protest.
For international assignments this means leaving (for me) San Francisco on Saturday afternoon. For Australia, South America and South Asia, it's Friday afternoon, because of the combination of long flight times (18+ hours) and time zone differences. It's time spent in economy class, not Business class.
14
But what are you paid? I'm guessing more than 23K/yr. I have worked you situation myself and generally found that for DC work & travelling from the west coast I set up to travel on Saturday. Why, I was more alert and ready to attend to my clients needs with two decent nights sleep and a full day to acclimate. And, RT airfares over weekend were less than half the Sunday - Monday $$ and weekend room rates were lower too.
Save project money, I'm more effective & feel better overall.
Save project money, I'm more effective & feel better overall.
I was a management consultant that helped companies dramatically improve productivity. The promise was that increased productivity would benefit workers with more pay and more leisure time. Instead the owners kept all of the wealth for themselves and demanded more hours from their underpaid workers.
100
As the saying goes" "Work hard and you will be rewarded - by the success of your superiors."
Flsa should be fully enforced! The law defines who an exempt employee is, and the definition is more than the salary or wage paid which determines status.
The nature of the work also determines if an employee is exempt or non-exempt. The courts have held in the past that simply titling an employee as administrative or managerial does not, in itself, cause the employee to become exempt.
The existing rules should be enforced. Require any employer claiming an employee as exempt to prove it. Otherwise the employer should be required to classify the employee as non-exempt, and limit work hours to 40 a week or pay the legally mandated overtime.
The nature of the work also determines if an employee is exempt or non-exempt. The courts have held in the past that simply titling an employee as administrative or managerial does not, in itself, cause the employee to become exempt.
The existing rules should be enforced. Require any employer claiming an employee as exempt to prove it. Otherwise the employer should be required to classify the employee as non-exempt, and limit work hours to 40 a week or pay the legally mandated overtime.
20
Not only enforced but really big fines as well as back pay x 2 for the insult. That would get their attention fast.
We've become a nation of people who are never off. At first working a few more hours showed the boss you were invested. Now it's just the norm. And it isn't a few hours, it's multiples of 10. I regularly work 60 -80 hours a week and my boss doesn't think it's enough. He wants more.
I once had a colleague call me at midnight on a Sunday because he was tinkering with something and wanted my opinion. Let me add that I had already worked a 15 hour day that Sunday and was supposed to be on a plane at 7am. You'd think this was mission critical but it was not. It was just a regular Sunday and Monday.
The section where the author talked about working all weekend for something that MUST be done then seeing it go nowhere is the story of my life. I can't tell you how many times this happens in a month.
I'd like to work to live not the other way around but with Giant Corporations in charge of our government and our lives doesn't seem like that's going to happen any time soon.
I'm fed up. I'm tired and I'm really learning to despise people who spend all of their time trying to make themselves significant rather than just do the job.
I once had a colleague call me at midnight on a Sunday because he was tinkering with something and wanted my opinion. Let me add that I had already worked a 15 hour day that Sunday and was supposed to be on a plane at 7am. You'd think this was mission critical but it was not. It was just a regular Sunday and Monday.
The section where the author talked about working all weekend for something that MUST be done then seeing it go nowhere is the story of my life. I can't tell you how many times this happens in a month.
I'd like to work to live not the other way around but with Giant Corporations in charge of our government and our lives doesn't seem like that's going to happen any time soon.
I'm fed up. I'm tired and I'm really learning to despise people who spend all of their time trying to make themselves significant rather than just do the job.
259
I hope you can survive until retirement. Take my word for it, once you get into your late 50s, early 60s you can't do this anymore. Then you are thrown on to the proverbial trash heap.
2
I couldn't agree with you more. The since of "immediacy" and "crises" that has permeated the business world the past 20 years, is astounding. Of course, technology has made this possible - just email that colleague at 2AM and then yell at him the next morning about not having gotten an immediate reply.
Much of this is a part of our growing narcissism. If we do it or think it, it must be earth-shatteringly important and must be given the respect normally reserved for international political crises. And it is going to start killing us physically. It has already done so emotionally due to utter exhausting.
Much of this is a part of our growing narcissism. If we do it or think it, it must be earth-shatteringly important and must be given the respect normally reserved for international political crises. And it is going to start killing us physically. It has already done so emotionally due to utter exhausting.
1
Good article. I think this is worse in the non=profit world when there is the guise that b/c we are "doing good" it's ok to work your staff harder, but not efficiently. I'm pushing back b/c time is finite and I don't want to "live to work."
Please don't focus only on the needs of parents, middle-age single women w/o kids like me need our time for ourselves (not to be the target to work overtime for the parents), including taking care of aging parents & siblings, getting more education to stay employable, and just doing nothing in our too busy world!
Please don't focus only on the needs of parents, middle-age single women w/o kids like me need our time for ourselves (not to be the target to work overtime for the parents), including taking care of aging parents & siblings, getting more education to stay employable, and just doing nothing in our too busy world!
153
What about self-employed people or small business owners? Often, they must work long hours but get no compensation for it because their earnings are tied to results and not to hours worked.
And this is the crux ... it would be ideal if everybody was paid for results and not for passing time. It might motivate more efficient working habits. But just paying more money for more time might motivate the opposite. Why not hold that meeting ... you will be paid for it. Worse, it might disincent entrepreneurial behaviour with its accompanying risks.
And this is the crux ... it would be ideal if everybody was paid for results and not for passing time. It might motivate more efficient working habits. But just paying more money for more time might motivate the opposite. Why not hold that meeting ... you will be paid for it. Worse, it might disincent entrepreneurial behaviour with its accompanying risks.
15
I'm a 1099 and I work for myself. I know what I want and how much I need. If the kids need braces, which one did, I worked extra to pay for it. Now I spend my time at a coffee shop coding or working in the cloud and bidding on jobs.
Is it long work? Yes it is, but it's work on my time and I accept the limitations that come with it. I will gladly work 80 hours a week at my rate and then invoice you for it.
Is it long work? Yes it is, but it's work on my time and I accept the limitations that come with it. I will gladly work 80 hours a week at my rate and then invoice you for it.
Self employed people are a completely different category from employees! Your remarks are entirely off topic!
This comment should NOT be a NYT Pick! Business owners control their destiny. If they work hard, they might make a mint. If they don't want to pick up extra work that is their decision. But all in, they control their time while an employee is hardpressed to say "No, I can't work all day Saturday etc."
11
I get paid by the project, not by the hour -- that is, I'm exempt. Maybe I'm rare here, but that works better for me. Sometimes everything flows well and I can get done in good time. Other times I get stuck and I need to just push through till I can do quality work. I'll go someplace quiet for the weekend with nothing but my laptop and work away till I have something good. If I was paid by the hour, I'd feel bad about taking money for the time I spend going in circles, till I figure out the best way forward. And sometimes I only get really productive after 5 PM. Of course -- there needs to be balance, and if I push through a weekend, I'll make sure I take some time back the following week. But being able to do my projects when it works best for me is something I value.
34
It sounds like you have control over when, how and on what you work which makes a huge difference in how "extra" hours feel to you.
1
Just because you're paid by the project does not mean that you are exempt from overtime rules. If you are an employee, and not a self-employed contractor, it doesn't matter whether you are paid by the hour, the project, the piece, or the week, overtime pay may be owed.
There is a method for computing overtime pay for all these modes of payment. Even if you've agreed to be paid by the piece, you cannot bargain away the legal requirement that you get overtime.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs23.pdf
There is a method for computing overtime pay for all these modes of payment. Even if you've agreed to be paid by the piece, you cannot bargain away the legal requirement that you get overtime.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs23.pdf
Somehow I seriously doubt the effectiveness of the new overtime law. Just how many people are really going to challenge their employer and ask for the extra compensation. Most of us lost a great tool in protecting our "personal currency" when we bought into the Reagan nonsense that unions were inherently evil. Now we suffer at the hands of excessive corporate abusers who think that they own us.
If companies had to pay for the overtime it would be natural that unnecessary long and non-productive internal meetings would cease. I for one would be happy just to see that my email box was no longer cluttered with useless emails that do not require my involvement but require that I spend wasted time sorting through them.
If companies had to pay for the overtime it would be natural that unnecessary long and non-productive internal meetings would cease. I for one would be happy just to see that my email box was no longer cluttered with useless emails that do not require my involvement but require that I spend wasted time sorting through them.
28
Billboards for unpaid OT have popped up all over the place: it's the next (really, current) big class action area for the plaintiffs' bar. This is also not a new OT law -- it's been on the books for more than half-a-century, and many employers have been on the wrong side of class-action lawsuits, which include treble damages for intentional violations.
Overtime pay makes sense. For an employee, each additional hour worked carries a higher opportunity cost. For an employer, each additional hour worked means fewer employees they need to hire which reduces costs - if an employer has 3 employees do the work of 4 by working 33% extra, it saves money on benefits, space, etc that would be consumed by the 4th employee.
Overtime pay is a counter to that by making it more expensive to keep employees at work longer. The employer-employee relationship in this country is heavily slanted towards the employer at this point largely because employers are so big they hold most negotiating power. In my industry its rapidly becoming standard to force employees to sign multi-year non-compete agreements, then work people to exhaustion. This leaves you with little option but to stay late and keep working because the cost of switching is enormous (a couple years without a job). Also, if you don't like your pay raise? Too bad, your non-compete is leverage.
We need to start treating corporations as what they are - soulless entities that will grab every single advantage that they can. Just to be clear, I'm not saying they are evil, just that this recognition is important and we should treat them that way instead of as partners.
Overtime pay is a counter to that by making it more expensive to keep employees at work longer. The employer-employee relationship in this country is heavily slanted towards the employer at this point largely because employers are so big they hold most negotiating power. In my industry its rapidly becoming standard to force employees to sign multi-year non-compete agreements, then work people to exhaustion. This leaves you with little option but to stay late and keep working because the cost of switching is enormous (a couple years without a job). Also, if you don't like your pay raise? Too bad, your non-compete is leverage.
We need to start treating corporations as what they are - soulless entities that will grab every single advantage that they can. Just to be clear, I'm not saying they are evil, just that this recognition is important and we should treat them that way instead of as partners.
47
Just out of curiosity, are the people hired to find new ways to exploit people consultants or salaried workers who are have to work more than 40 hours per week with no overtime?
The Economic Policy Institute and Fair Labor Standards Act are jokes, just like the United Nations. Who benefits? Not the oppressed.
The Economic Policy Institute and Fair Labor Standards Act are jokes, just like the United Nations. Who benefits? Not the oppressed.
3
Working without pay is called slavery.
42
Perhaps you call it slavery. And in doing so, you minimize the actual crime of slavery. If you work for an employer who demands too much legal time beyond 40 hours, you might resent it and feel that it is unfair, but you have the freedom to find a new job--a freedom true slaves don't have.
1
People ought not be treated as commodities.
20
but that is what they are in a market society.
The "Dilbert" comic strip got it right: "Always cancel meetings with time-wasting morons." Unfortunately you can't when they are the bosses, and many are, because they couldn't keep their jobs if they were workers who actually had to know something and accomplish something.
21
Until there's real discussion about the negative impact the H1B visas and Obama's ludicrous proposed amnesty for an unkilled foreign workforce, there can be no talk of worker protections.
12
don't worry, with a US Chamber of Commerce backed President and Legislature there will still be H1B visas and unskilled foreign workers. Only more. Either way, you lose and wealthy capital owners and employers win.
2
For all the extravagant pay for CEO's, the results are hard to find. This commentary shows one problem. Too many so called leaders do not work to good improvements just take time of employees. A good company cares about employees and then the employees do what is needed and agree for changes that improve the company.
These changes are wrong! Care about employees and be successful. Do not care about employees and fail.
These changes are wrong! Care about employees and be successful. Do not care about employees and fail.
5
45 years ago, I worked for a major defense contractor as an "exempt" employee, along with managers, where I provided technical skills. This was opposed to "non-exempt" employees who weren't engineering oriented. I didn't understand what "non-exempt" meant, then, but we did wear ties and jackets.
I felt pretty silly until I learned that "exempt" meant we were exempt from protection of Federal labor laws, while "non-exempt" employees received protection and weren't required to wear ties and jackets, worked shorter hours, had more job security, and were paid considerably more.
The price of vanity.
I felt pretty silly until I learned that "exempt" meant we were exempt from protection of Federal labor laws, while "non-exempt" employees received protection and weren't required to wear ties and jackets, worked shorter hours, had more job security, and were paid considerably more.
The price of vanity.
53
How productive is anyone after 8 hours at work? Furthermore, how productive are we if we're doing the work of two or more people because our employer, in an effort to save money, won't hire another person? As employees we don't have time to be with our friends and family, have down time, take a few weeks off here and there, be sick, tend to our personal needs. Yet many employers pay their CEOs thousands of times what the lowest paid worker or even mid-level workers make.
It's about time that our lives mattered to our employers and not just as a slogan. If you want a happy productive employee give them time to have a life outside of work, one where they aren't continually in a rush, behind, angry, and feeling like a slave. Give everyone real time away from the job. That would mean that a 24/7 business would have to hire enough employees to keep things 24/7. Less overtime, better pay, and better working conditions, would also mean less stress and better health. CEOs don't need salaries and perks that give them enough money to run a small country on their own. Most of them didn't start their companies and quite a few have run them into the ground in terms of morale and value.
Most people don't resent working. They resent being treated like disposable stupid unreasoning widgets who can be fired for no reason. It's time to start giving employees the money and credit they deserve for keeping a company profitable.
It's about time that our lives mattered to our employers and not just as a slogan. If you want a happy productive employee give them time to have a life outside of work, one where they aren't continually in a rush, behind, angry, and feeling like a slave. Give everyone real time away from the job. That would mean that a 24/7 business would have to hire enough employees to keep things 24/7. Less overtime, better pay, and better working conditions, would also mean less stress and better health. CEOs don't need salaries and perks that give them enough money to run a small country on their own. Most of them didn't start their companies and quite a few have run them into the ground in terms of morale and value.
Most people don't resent working. They resent being treated like disposable stupid unreasoning widgets who can be fired for no reason. It's time to start giving employees the money and credit they deserve for keeping a company profitable.
124
Dream on. Karl Marx identified the problem almost 200 years ago: employers treat workers as just another input, like iron ore to make steel or corn for fattening beef. Yet for those 200 years, we Americans have been fighting tooth and nail against his proposed solution, socialism. It does work reasonably well in most western European countries. Let's start modestly with tax-supported universal health care and union representation on corporate boards of directors.
2
It's been years ago so I have no idea what laws regulated it. My sister sued the company she worked for for overtime pay since she was salary. She won a substantial amount of money and continued to work for them for years longer but it was my understanding it was a state law that covered the overtime.
4
One of the root problems here is our veneration of "individualism" and our worship of "markets". Capitalism is quasi-religious in America and Unionism is godless socialism.
I firmly believe that Unions would have never taken root in America had it not been for the Great Depression. And had Unions never formed at all we would not have many of the workplace standards we all take for granted.
We seen to have no problem with employers exploiting workers. All hail the "job creators". Any attempt to strengthen labor at the expense of capital is godless socialism. The divinely inspired "magic of markets" will save us all.
I firmly believe that Unions would have never taken root in America had it not been for the Great Depression. And had Unions never formed at all we would not have many of the workplace standards we all take for granted.
We seen to have no problem with employers exploiting workers. All hail the "job creators". Any attempt to strengthen labor at the expense of capital is godless socialism. The divinely inspired "magic of markets" will save us all.
27
Agree utterely with everything you said and the "death" of Unions in America explain so much as to why things are as they are.
I felt truly sad though when you said "you would not have many of the workplace standards you all take for granted..."
The reason for my sadness is that versus most other Western Rich Democracy's...the U.S does not have ANY workplace standards/benefits that most of didn't already have decades ago! In Australia Paid Sick leave began almost 100 years ago...since then Paid Holidays, long service leave, paid Maternity and paid Paternity leave and a host of other worker benefits and protections you guys have not even imagined , are taken for granted by some of us.
And yet, you are the richest country on Earth.
But the majority of your workers are 50 years behind the rest of the modern world in treating workers well and with respect and positive outcomes and action...
Just so the gulf between your Richest becomes even more vast than it already was versus your poorest as well as average income worker.
I felt truly sad though when you said "you would not have many of the workplace standards you all take for granted..."
The reason for my sadness is that versus most other Western Rich Democracy's...the U.S does not have ANY workplace standards/benefits that most of didn't already have decades ago! In Australia Paid Sick leave began almost 100 years ago...since then Paid Holidays, long service leave, paid Maternity and paid Paternity leave and a host of other worker benefits and protections you guys have not even imagined , are taken for granted by some of us.
And yet, you are the richest country on Earth.
But the majority of your workers are 50 years behind the rest of the modern world in treating workers well and with respect and positive outcomes and action...
Just so the gulf between your Richest becomes even more vast than it already was versus your poorest as well as average income worker.
5
Remembering a Labor Day column by Ellen Goodman, at least two decades ago. I think she posted it ahead of time, because she refused to take her laptop to the beach with her family. She said, "When we can work anywhere, we're going to wind up working everywhere." A good call.
Wonder how much of American workers' vaunted productivity might be explained by "the Infinitely Elastic Work Week." Nurse managers stay late to chart meds because hourly-wage nurses aren't allowed to work overtime. Retail managers do more after-hours stocking than managing. Teachers... don't even start about teachers, who have fewer and fewer aides to help grade papers, make photocopies and monitor exams.
From the top, employees must look like so many "cost units," and the model seems to be: get by with as few as possible. Overworked, undertrained, stressed, pre-occupied with family concerns - nevertheless, Mr. Boss, employees are your stock in trade, your face to the public. If they are not more valued, how much do you value your customers? Or are we just another commodity whose numbers determine the value of your stock options?
Wonder how much of American workers' vaunted productivity might be explained by "the Infinitely Elastic Work Week." Nurse managers stay late to chart meds because hourly-wage nurses aren't allowed to work overtime. Retail managers do more after-hours stocking than managing. Teachers... don't even start about teachers, who have fewer and fewer aides to help grade papers, make photocopies and monitor exams.
From the top, employees must look like so many "cost units," and the model seems to be: get by with as few as possible. Overworked, undertrained, stressed, pre-occupied with family concerns - nevertheless, Mr. Boss, employees are your stock in trade, your face to the public. If they are not more valued, how much do you value your customers? Or are we just another commodity whose numbers determine the value of your stock options?
38
30 hour workweeks. Multiple part-time jobs that are *not* viewed as 'less than' jobs (viz, wages are the same as they would be for FT, only adjusted for the hourly difference (500 per week for 20 hr, vs 1000 per week for 40 hr)). Etc.
There are ways to make a job(force) more productive, to reduce stress, raise worker happiness, and so forth. Training people to view the Job (thus Money) as the Ultimate Goal (god) in life is not the answer. That smacks of a sort of slavery, a sort of brainwashing.
Which is not to say that a person could not work multiple part-time jobs and thus, say, 60 hours a week. He or she could, but as long as it is a choice rather than a 'necessary evil' (because his/her jobs will not pay realistic wages), then the time is likely well spent.
Respect.
There are ways to make a job(force) more productive, to reduce stress, raise worker happiness, and so forth. Training people to view the Job (thus Money) as the Ultimate Goal (god) in life is not the answer. That smacks of a sort of slavery, a sort of brainwashing.
Which is not to say that a person could not work multiple part-time jobs and thus, say, 60 hours a week. He or she could, but as long as it is a choice rather than a 'necessary evil' (because his/her jobs will not pay realistic wages), then the time is likely well spent.
Respect.
5
In Australia, Part Time workers earn an EXTRA 25% per hour than full Time workers in order to compensate them for the loss of benefits that full time workers have such as 5 weeks paid Holidays per year, just to mention one...
5
European notions of socialism severely restrict overtime as it takes work away from others by freeing an employer of the need to hire additional workers. Is that where we are heading?
8
Hopefully.
1
Hopefully, yes. Some (much?) of the social cohesion in European societies is based on everyone contributing to the society, even in the most modest ways. While we lived in Switzerland, it was remarkable that much of the public space maintenance was done by hand crews rather than by a single guy driving a machine. Those crews contributed ... and reduced public/social benefit costs because they working.
Europe also does not make a fetish of working long hours. Two things are sacrosanct: lunch (up to 2 hours) and vacation. Lunch could be used for "business" discussion (and frequently was), but this was over coffee in the personale restaurant. European management also recognizes that it is not indispensible - managers on vacation are on vacation. They don't check in, they don't invite contact; quite the contrary, you better have a good reason (the fabrique burned down) to contact them.
Europe also does not make a fetish of working long hours. Two things are sacrosanct: lunch (up to 2 hours) and vacation. Lunch could be used for "business" discussion (and frequently was), but this was over coffee in the personale restaurant. European management also recognizes that it is not indispensible - managers on vacation are on vacation. They don't check in, they don't invite contact; quite the contrary, you better have a good reason (the fabrique burned down) to contact them.
6
God, I hope so.
4
I worked for a year when I was with IBM at Goldman Sachs your time meant nothing to them. They treated you as a virtual slave. It's 10PM and you started at. 7 am who cares. Time spent at work was a macho thing for higher execs and managers. The worst part was spending weekends at work simply to impress the higher ups. Of course we got neither overtime pay nor any comp time. But virtually every company I worked for over a 40 year career worked you long hours usually for no reason simply to impress management. IBM, Hughes network systems, Bell Atlantic, Winstar and Noblis all did it.
82
When I was a middle manager, I discovered the powerful tool of time. I couldn't pay people more, so time was my only coin. But what a coin! If the work was done, I sent people home. If the projects were getting done to the customer's satisfaction, I didn't care if my people worked from a ballon over the Alps. The result: awards, soaring profits, more awards, bonuses every year---and an empty parking lot by noon on Friday.
Time is our most precious commodity, and it should be spent doing g great things, at work, but especially at home...
Time is our most precious commodity, and it should be spent doing g great things, at work, but especially at home...
162
Dear MJXS! Well said. You summed up what makes so many of us tick. Those who become a bit "lazy" can be switched out for employees who are interested in doing an excellent job in return for standard pay, but with the added bonus of time off.
It ties in with comments from the middle-aged woman who wants/needs personal time to parents who turn their thoughts to their kids/family time at the end of the day. Thank you for recognizing this theme and saying it so well.
It ties in with comments from the middle-aged woman who wants/needs personal time to parents who turn their thoughts to their kids/family time at the end of the day. Thank you for recognizing this theme and saying it so well.
1
Unions used to guarantee just this benefit. I am a member of a professional union and am called "exempt" which means that once I walk in the door, I get paid for the day, no matter how long I stay, but I also don't get paid for any additional hours beyond the 40 that I am contracted for. I would prefer to get paid hour for hour; I would know better how much I am working and so would my employer. And I would love the overtime, since I work 10 hour days at a minimum. If more (all!) jobs were unionized, getting paid for one's time would be automatic and would not require federal law or the good will of one's employer. It would be in the worker's contract. THAT is power to the people!
57
Ellen, you say that unions are the panacea that will guarantee getting paid for one's time. Yet you are a member of a union, and still don't get that. Apparently professional unions are not full-fledged unions.
2
Imagine a world without time, without clocks. Seems impossible, but it was the world before the monetization of time. Measuring time really became important to human beings only when the employment patterns began to relate to hours of work. In the Medieval workplace the object was largely craft - and completion of the product led to a value for the product. That value was based on the skills brought to its creation, not to the time it took to produce it. Farmers thought about seasons, weather, sun and rain - not about hours and minutes.
We are now so accustomed to the ticking away of time that such a world seems unreal. But when we begin to imagine this world, and really get closer to putting ourselves into a place where time is irrelevant, it is almost a paradise; a wonderland where our lives and our experiences have meaning - to us, as their creators. And owners. What could be more important?
We are now so accustomed to the ticking away of time that such a world seems unreal. But when we begin to imagine this world, and really get closer to putting ourselves into a place where time is irrelevant, it is almost a paradise; a wonderland where our lives and our experiences have meaning - to us, as their creators. And owners. What could be more important?
16
The time you speak of is what I called motherhood, fabulous, loving and unpaid time that revolved around them with the seasons, "weather, sun and rain" and snow. It was the best of times.
1
James Hadley
I think you are describing retirement with a decent and safe pension!
I think you are describing retirement with a decent and safe pension!
2
Overtime if available was my way of becoming financially free. In my years at the Bell System it was always available to Repair Technicians because there was no way estimate the amount of service calls that came in especially after a thunderstorm.
I started in Miami in 1970 when there was a huge influx of people moving in from the North. Plant was overtaxed and we even ran out of telephone numbers for a while.
The schedule was 13 days on and 1 day off with each day at least 12 hours. Even at my pay of $1.71 an hour ($68.50 a week) Those hours add up into real money.
Over the 16 years I worked for them I was asked to join management. Managers got about the same as a 50 hour week for me. I always said no because going to management would mean a pay cut and Managers were working more than 50 hour weeks.
Too many companies take advantage of salaried workers and don't seem to care about the high turn over and burned out people. This change is long overdue.
I started in Miami in 1970 when there was a huge influx of people moving in from the North. Plant was overtaxed and we even ran out of telephone numbers for a while.
The schedule was 13 days on and 1 day off with each day at least 12 hours. Even at my pay of $1.71 an hour ($68.50 a week) Those hours add up into real money.
Over the 16 years I worked for them I was asked to join management. Managers got about the same as a 50 hour week for me. I always said no because going to management would mean a pay cut and Managers were working more than 50 hour weeks.
Too many companies take advantage of salaried workers and don't seem to care about the high turn over and burned out people. This change is long overdue.
54
I, too, work for an organization that offers overtime. I am a manager (RN) who gets paid hourly. I am overqualified for my position but have refused promotions. Why? I am a non-exempt employee who gets paid hourly and who gets overtime for any hours over 40. The next position in management would move me into an exempt position. I see how many hours those directors work. Almost 60 per week! In addition, they must be available 24/7 (unless on vacation).
I'm looking forward to retirement in 7 more years. But until then, I expect to get paid for every hour I work. I refuse to "donate" my time!
I'm looking forward to retirement in 7 more years. But until then, I expect to get paid for every hour I work. I refuse to "donate" my time!
11
A business needs 5 workers to work 200 hours. They want to expand production to 240 hours. Is it cheaper now for them to add an additional 8 hours onto all the workers, or go through the expense of searching, hiring and training a new person?
By making time and a half the rule, you incent the employer to take the cheaper route and hire the extra body. Thus, creating a job, at none of the workers, or employers expense.
By making time and a half the rule, you incent the employer to take the cheaper route and hire the extra body. Thus, creating a job, at none of the workers, or employers expense.
33
I worked for many companies in the past who paid overtime and then stopped it. This move was frequently accompanied by layoffs which increased my workload. In order to keep up with the increased load, and keep my job, I was forced to work many unpaid hours every week.
As long as we have the best Congress money can buy, this practice will continue to increase.
Only in America.
As long as we have the best Congress money can buy, this practice will continue to increase.
Only in America.
148
I have two interests that require daily practice of 30-60 minutes each. Most days I have to pick between them, some days I can pick neither. I am exhausted from working long days and then adding overtime and then adding oncall on top of that.
If you run a 7x24 shop or any aspect of it that requires 7x24 maintenance, then hire enough qualified people to cover during those hours.
If you run a 7x24 shop or any aspect of it that requires 7x24 maintenance, then hire enough qualified people to cover during those hours.
21
This is MRS. Both my retired husband and I needed to make 40 hours before overtime pay kicked in. That was fair. I retained a non-exempt position solely so that what I did would garner me overtime even though there were other things I sacrificed. I am now at the twilight of my career and only want to be compensated appropriately. It has always been up to me to be aware of my circumstance and the laws that affected me so that I would not be tread upon by an employer who might be all too willing to take advantage of a situation. When in an employment-at-will situation, alway keep your diary of what has happened and know how to protect yourself and document your situation. Management hates that, but there's nothing they can do about it.
28
Overtime pay is a great solution to our inequality problem.
29
This is a great change. It would be even better to have no salary cap at all. Most employees make less than $200,000 a year. For the relatively few who make over that amount, the employer could reduce the base salary of anyone who perpetually works over 40 hours per week. In fact, most CEOs claim that they work over a hundred hours per week, when they attempt to justify their outrageous pay. So, cut their base pay by about 70%, so that when they work 100 hours with time and a half for 60 hours, their total pay is still about what it was before the change. (If the average number of hours worked was 100, divide the hourly pay rate by 3.25.)
But there are always those who, benefiting from free work, object on the grounds that if one is a "professional" then it is unseemly to get paid for overtime work.
Forty years ago, I countered with this: show me a lawyer or doctor who tells his clients that there is no charge, since he already worked 40 hours for that week.
But there are always those who, benefiting from free work, object on the grounds that if one is a "professional" then it is unseemly to get paid for overtime work.
Forty years ago, I countered with this: show me a lawyer or doctor who tells his clients that there is no charge, since he already worked 40 hours for that week.
181
One of the more unfair practices associated with overtime is when engineering companies develop bids on projects. The engineers determine how many hours it will take them to produce the product, then are told to reduce the cost based on 40 hours per week. So, the company turns in a bid that is based on 40 hours work per week, and employees are expected to put in however much time is required to complete the project, without overtime since they are exempt.
34
"Forty years ago, I countered with this: show me a lawyer or doctor who tells his clients that there is no charge, since he already worked 40 hours for that week."
I don't think you understand how much we do for no charge.
I work 32 patient-contact hours per week.
I also work about 30-40 non-patient hours per week.
I am only paid for the patients that I see. (the 32 hours)
In addition to those patient hours I have
-Pager Call. I get paid nothing while on pager call. I take 6 one-week stints of pager call PLUS I am on call two 24-hour calls per month. I am on the phone working, for free, often during these
-in-house call. I must be ready to go in the hospital at a moment's notice. I get paid nothing for this unless I actually go in.
-endless meetings (I earn $0)
-endless conferences I must go to (and pay to go)
-endless paperwork requested by patients. FMLA paperwork, work comp, school and camp forms, Allergy forms, asthma forms, diabetes forms, Prior Authorization forms, Legal Forms, and the list goes on
-prescription refills
the list goes on. all free.
for many years we also gave completely free phone care and Email care. (although this is now changing). this was at least 1-2 hours on the phone with patients per day. For free.
I won't complain about my compensation. but I do A LOT for free.
I don't think you understand how much we do for no charge.
I work 32 patient-contact hours per week.
I also work about 30-40 non-patient hours per week.
I am only paid for the patients that I see. (the 32 hours)
In addition to those patient hours I have
-Pager Call. I get paid nothing while on pager call. I take 6 one-week stints of pager call PLUS I am on call two 24-hour calls per month. I am on the phone working, for free, often during these
-in-house call. I must be ready to go in the hospital at a moment's notice. I get paid nothing for this unless I actually go in.
-endless meetings (I earn $0)
-endless conferences I must go to (and pay to go)
-endless paperwork requested by patients. FMLA paperwork, work comp, school and camp forms, Allergy forms, asthma forms, diabetes forms, Prior Authorization forms, Legal Forms, and the list goes on
-prescription refills
the list goes on. all free.
for many years we also gave completely free phone care and Email care. (although this is now changing). this was at least 1-2 hours on the phone with patients per day. For free.
I won't complain about my compensation. but I do A LOT for free.
11
I often work over 100 hours a week and let me tell you no one cares. They just expect it.
2
As an employer who pays a fair wage and gives fair but not extravagant benefits, I compete everyday with companies that do neither. Fair labor standards, when properly implemented, can simply level the playing field so that ethical companies are not undercut by unethical companies.
323
Too bad conservative legislation has no interest in level playing fields.
21
I couldn't agree more, but the unethical companies predominate and their employees will not challenge them as we know for fear of reprisal.
6
I think that is all the America worker is asking for. A solid days work for a solid day's wage with 4th of July off and the weekend to go down by the lake.
4
Where I work some people, not exempt, are required to clock out but keep working until they finish whatever was assigned to them at the last minute. All of the employees in that department are too afraid of losing their jobs to call out the managers on it.
Take a look at the jobs that are classified as exempt. Most require some level of managerial responsibility unless the job is likely to require extensive overtime, e. g. "computer related jobs," then guess what, it's exempt.
Take a look at the jobs that are classified as exempt. Most require some level of managerial responsibility unless the job is likely to require extensive overtime, e. g. "computer related jobs," then guess what, it's exempt.
93
Record the wages/hours worked; obtain a lawyer (for all). Best would to get a manager/boss on tape (yes) stating that one must stay 'off the clock' to finish.
Then sue.
Easy to say, sure. But if no one stands up, there is a point where inaction is to acquiesce.
Then sue.
Easy to say, sure. But if no one stands up, there is a point where inaction is to acquiesce.
28
Your employer is breaking federal law by requiring non-exempt employees to work off the clock. Drop a dime.
Your employer is breaking the state law in the vast majority of states for requiring non-exempt employees to work off the clock, as well. South Carolina, your home state, is probably a state without employee protection because it is one of the throwbacks to the plantation era when the employment relationship was still considered master-servant.
It's state's like South Carolina who elect representatives responsible for the freeze in the overtime base at $23,660, the false federal distinction between an exempt and non-exempt employee, and right to work laws. These laws, spawned by lawmakers in states like South Carolina, have been a plague on American workers subject to state laws in the South and a hindrance to American workers who have fought for a modicum of workplace fairness across the rest of the country for more than 75 years.
All American workers across the country will benefit tremendously when voters from the South pay more attention to their wages, hours, and conditions of employment; and less attention to their rights to fly flags and carry guns.
Your employer is breaking the state law in the vast majority of states for requiring non-exempt employees to work off the clock, as well. South Carolina, your home state, is probably a state without employee protection because it is one of the throwbacks to the plantation era when the employment relationship was still considered master-servant.
It's state's like South Carolina who elect representatives responsible for the freeze in the overtime base at $23,660, the false federal distinction between an exempt and non-exempt employee, and right to work laws. These laws, spawned by lawmakers in states like South Carolina, have been a plague on American workers subject to state laws in the South and a hindrance to American workers who have fought for a modicum of workplace fairness across the rest of the country for more than 75 years.
All American workers across the country will benefit tremendously when voters from the South pay more attention to their wages, hours, and conditions of employment; and less attention to their rights to fly flags and carry guns.
94
Yet another example of why unions are needed.
18
It is ludicrous that people who have jobs are overworked, while millions of qualified people are unemployed or underemployed. If I have a salaried job with specific requirements, and my workload is too high to meet these requirements, either I will sacrifice my own resources by working unpaid overtime, or the company will invest in more employees to lighten the load, which is an indirect investment in me and my well-being. Of course, the moral, financial, and productivity gains of full employment eventually benefit employer, employee, families, the economy, etc.
Why don't we? Americans are gullible, and the business sector, especially, seems under thrall of political interests who prefer to remain behind the scenes. Look at any state where unions are under attack. Wisconsin's gov. Walker, New York's gov. Cuomo, Michigan's Kasik, New Jersey's Christie, are all funded by the Koch brothers, Gates Foundation, Walton Foundation, and here on the west coast, Eli Broad's foundation and "Superintendent's Academy" (super creepy). These organizations get candidates elected, laws passed, unions crippled, media cowed, and Americans misinformed. Overtime is just part of this mess.
Why don't we? Americans are gullible, and the business sector, especially, seems under thrall of political interests who prefer to remain behind the scenes. Look at any state where unions are under attack. Wisconsin's gov. Walker, New York's gov. Cuomo, Michigan's Kasik, New Jersey's Christie, are all funded by the Koch brothers, Gates Foundation, Walton Foundation, and here on the west coast, Eli Broad's foundation and "Superintendent's Academy" (super creepy). These organizations get candidates elected, laws passed, unions crippled, media cowed, and Americans misinformed. Overtime is just part of this mess.
211
Michigan's governor is Rick Snyder. John Kasich is from Ohio. Same song, different day. The unethical segment is in control of both business and government. Time for a big change.
6
This is long overdue, and will help a lot of Americans increase their paychecks. Employers will still avoid hiring new staff to avoid benefit costs, but at least those who have to work overtime will be compensated.
68
"It’s not just a question of getting paid fairly for every hour you work. "
Yes. Yes, it is about getting paid fairly for every hour you work. That's the bottom line. No one should be working for free, salaried or not, high income or not, waste of time or not.
It's a great start and an indication of a tiny spark of life in the revival of employee rights in the workplace. Next step, let's take action for those whose time is also held hostage without pay by employers -- those who aren't checking email of sitting in meetings on their own time, but are expected to be available to their employer 24/7 without knowing what next week's schedule might be.
It’s not just a question of getting paid fairly for every hour you work; it's about respect.
Yes. Yes, it is about getting paid fairly for every hour you work. That's the bottom line. No one should be working for free, salaried or not, high income or not, waste of time or not.
It's a great start and an indication of a tiny spark of life in the revival of employee rights in the workplace. Next step, let's take action for those whose time is also held hostage without pay by employers -- those who aren't checking email of sitting in meetings on their own time, but are expected to be available to their employer 24/7 without knowing what next week's schedule might be.
It’s not just a question of getting paid fairly for every hour you work; it's about respect.
221
Companies will find some way to continue their exploitation. I guarantee it.
70
I imagine they are already engaging "consultants" to guide them on how to work around this attempt to make them play fair.
9
I'm sticking with the Union! More unions means less exploitation.
15
That's right, because they're supported by big money tyrants like the Koch brothers and the politicians they are permitted to purchase thanks to our corrupt SCOTUS.
3
The use of time in the office as a measure of performance speaks to the lack of ability on the part of the people who run companies. Like Ms. Rodgers, I consulted with many businesses and found that there was more face-time than productive time to be found in corporations. People are smart, they learn that simply being seen at the desk, in meetings, holding meetings and their car in the parking lot long before and long after everyone else is the singular measure of success.
I've manage to increase productivity and higher achievement of corporate goals but met resistance from senior managers because my program requires less face time and generally people can accomplish all their goals in less than 40 hours. Unfortunately, the senior managers, while appreciating the actual performance improvement could not wrap their brains around the idea that they should financially reward people who put in less than 80 hour/week (while only being paid for 40). My consulting practice did not fare well as it ran counter to the trend and the recession has only made things worse. Now being a brutal boss is a plus in they eyes of senior managers.
I've manage to increase productivity and higher achievement of corporate goals but met resistance from senior managers because my program requires less face time and generally people can accomplish all their goals in less than 40 hours. Unfortunately, the senior managers, while appreciating the actual performance improvement could not wrap their brains around the idea that they should financially reward people who put in less than 80 hour/week (while only being paid for 40). My consulting practice did not fare well as it ran counter to the trend and the recession has only made things worse. Now being a brutal boss is a plus in they eyes of senior managers.
112
I would have loved to work with you on such a project when I was an HR manager. Senior management so entirely identifies hours worked as the only indicator of productivity. It truly is frustrating to see managers request urgent work at the last minute while stressing how important it is to work smart.
8
We moved to New Zealand ten years ago. We came mainly for adventure (we are whitewater kayakers). For both of us, the ability to pursue our interests outside of work is a paramount reason for staying. I get 4 weeks paid vacation a year she gets 5 plus statutory holidays. and it is not hard to take additional unpaid leave. Furthermore, it is normal to take that in a large block, so you can have a long several week holiday. I never feel like I am run ragged.
We have less money but we are happier. Small house, modest income, great life.
There are many things I sincerely miss about the United States, but the work culture is NOT one of them.
We have less money but we are happier. Small house, modest income, great life.
There are many things I sincerely miss about the United States, but the work culture is NOT one of them.
243
"We have less money but we are happier. Small house, modest income, great life."
That sounds downright unamerican.
That sounds downright unamerican.
3
I wish someone would pose a legal challenge against the $23,660. Why can't middle managers get paid for time worked? Why can't they form labor unions?
38
They could form unions, but they're afraid to. It's past time to march for unions again, or the plutocrats will work us to death.
12
Because, I suspect, many of them believed they had a shared interest with the wealthy and voted in Ronald Reagan many years ago. The chickens are coming home to roost.
10
I am with you! I've worked for several years as a so-called "manager" and have put in lots of unpaid hours as an exempt employee. I have often wished I could join a union for just the reasons cited by many of the posters here.
And BTW, most of my work is pretty clerical, so the "manager" title is hardly accurate.
And BTW, most of my work is pretty clerical, so the "manager" title is hardly accurate.
7
And what about Singles who are always there to take up the slack left when "Marrieds" have to take care of family etc??????
Sorry, but at 58 , never being married, I'm realizing more and more how much Singles are just stepped on as if we didn't exist at all.....
Sorry, but at 58 , never being married, I'm realizing more and more how much Singles are just stepped on as if we didn't exist at all.....
127
Wouldn't it be nice to get paid extra for the overtime you put in to "take up the slack?"
46
Those families are raising the children who will be keeping the economy and the society going when you can no longer work. Your elder care and any pension you receive depends on them. Those parents are doing a grueling second job on your behalf. You should say "thank you"
7
This sounds like sour grapes. I know many married people, most single with as many as 5 children, working their job and that of other slackers who are "single."
3
America's new God is profit. He is worshipped by greed. It is time corporations are told enough is enough ...
Government of the people, by the people, for the people ...
Government of the people, by the people, for the people ...
45
I have to work almost 4 months to pay the government. Enough is enough indeed.
2
The article suggests that whether an employee is exempt (the overtime rules etc do not apply) or non-exempt (overtime must legally be paid) is dependent simply upon pay level and whether an employee is hourly or salaried. However, there are other measures included in the law, which must be met in order to classify the worker as exempt. Two of these are: does the position include supervising other paid employees? Does it involve making decisions which affect the whole organization? While I agree that employees time should be used well and that all should be compensated for the work that they do (exempt folks are generally considered to be paid enough that they are compensated adequately even though not specifically paid for overtime etc - and some take at least some comp time), the subject of who gets overtime pay is more complicated than the article suggests.
22
I agree. "On-call" time is frequently uncompensated for both exempt and non-exempt employees. Companies feel they have carte blanche to compensate it or not as they see fit. That is simply a major hole in the Fair Labor Standards Act.
71
Most people wh are paid at least $80-90K do not want to make an issue out of this. They're willing to do whatever it takes to advance their careers and get ahead.
5
Work more than 8 hours a day? Thanks for your dedication.
Work less than 8 hours the next day? That will count against vacation time.
Work less than 8 hours the next day? That will count against vacation time.
235
I worked for an organization like this. Even exempt employees had to account for every minute of the work day. Many managers did just as you say, and made people take vacation time for doctor's appointments, etc, but extra hours remained uncompensated. My managers were relatively forgiving, in that we could work extra on other days and log the time on the day we took the hours off. It was, nevertheless, infantilizing, and took several months on the next job to realize that my manager trusted me to get the job done, whether in fewer hours or more.
9
And thee shall receive 8 hours of toil. Exactly.
1
What vacation time? None here.
3
Here, the employer sees the employee as a resource not to be squandered but nurtured. Every effort is made to prevent employee burn-out.
Why? I'd have to say the presence of labor unions in every aspect of the work force (blue collar, white collar, executives, almost the entire workforce is in a union).
What is the cost? Extremely high taxes of course (but everything pretty much evens out in the end). I think it's worth it...