What Tech Workers Need To Know About Overtime 418
onehitwonder writes "The class-action lawsuit that current and former Apple employees have filed against the company raises questions about what kinds of workers are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) — and thus, what kinds of workers are eligible for overtime pay. Some tech workers are covered under it; some are not though perhaps they should be. The lawyer who got IBM workers a $65M settlement from Big Blue for violating labor laws explains why employers often deny tech workers overtime pay and the circumstances under which certain tech workers may or may not be covered under the FLSA. From the article: 'It's not uncommon for employers to err on the side of classifying employees as exempt [from the FLSA], says Sagafi... In fact, the dirty little secret among employers and HR departments is that classifying employees as exempt — even if it means breaking the law — is in their best interest[,] provided... that they don't get caught... "In a sense, they may see it as economically viable for them to skirt the law and wait to see if they get sued because the exposure is not that huge [if they don't get sued]," Sagafi says. "If they can settle [a complaint] for less than 100 percent of what they owe people [for overtime], they've gotten away with a good deal."'"
California law applies too (Score:5, Informative)
Also bear in mind that, for the IT field, California has additional laws about who's overtime-exempt and who's not based on, among other things, salary and effective hourly rate. Relevant law is California Labor Code section 515.5 [ca.gov]. As of 2007 the effective hourly rate needed to qualify as overtime-exempt was $49.77/hour. SB 929 [ca.gov] changed that effective 1/1/2008 to $36/hour, or not quite $75K/year in salary. Anyone in the IT field not being paid at least that amount is not exempt from overtime in California regardless of other qualifications (the exemption requires that all conditions hold).
Re:One solution (Score:5, Informative)
Is there an actual codified definition of what constitutes a "manager"?
Yes. It'd be better if you RTFA, but since you didn't, all of the following must be true:
Re:A dig at the free market and capitalism. (Score:3, Informative)
Your argument is flawed because it is based on the assumption that a free market would contain laws pertaining to employee pay and overtime.
A free market would still contain agreements, and it would out of necessity need laws for situations when somebody breaks the agreement, no? If there was no government to enforce agreements (and define what an "agreement" is), but only private "security" bought with money, then the law would simply be what ever the one with most money for the best "security" would dictate.
Re:Crazy idea. (Score:5, Informative)
That's quite an unequal bargaining table, stacked substantially in favor of the employer.
Laissez Faire capitalism was tried and failed in the US nearly a decade ago, precisely because the individual has such minuscule bargaining power compared to a large company.
It wasn't the free-market and contract law that ended sweatshops in the developed world.
Re:One solution (Score:3, Informative)
You posted anonomously, so you might not ever see this, but: when they do switch you to exempt, it's your chance to negotiate your rate. Go back several years and calculate how much you made in overtime vs regular time. Do market research on your job function and find out the salary range in your area as well as nationally. Do an honest evaluation of how you stack up to your co-workers.
If your regular time pay is about $35/hr (around $70k per year) but you received overtime pay (at time and a half, I assume - $52.5/hr) and worked about 10% more hours as overtime on average, you should target a salary in the 80k range. If your job function gets between 60k and 80k in your region, then expecting 80k might be unreasonable, so you'd have to target more like 75k. If you are better than every one of your peers, maybe that 80k isn't that unreasonable.
Regardless, what you negotiate now will actually affect you long term. Raises and bonuses are usually designated in percentages. You want as high a base as possible because most people only see a 3% raise annually. It will take 5 years worth of 3% raises to make up the 10k difference in my example numbers.
Layne
Re:One solution (Score:3, Informative)
"Um, hello? It only varies upward as a result of OT."
It can only vary upwards as a result of *adding* OT. What about taking it away--plenty of hourly places use a few consistent hours of OT to balance out the fact that the base pay rate is marginal. Suppose that company has just realized that they can't find their asses with both hands and a map, and are hemorrhaging money.
First thing to go is overtime, as much of it as possible, which means your paycheck is probably going down and staying there. I don't think that sort of scenario is all that uncommon (but I could be wrong)
Having to deal with crap like that is why I am truly glad to be salaried. Getting paid for working past 40 would be great, but it goes both ways.
What flexibility has to do with O/T (Score:2, Informative)
So, if a non-exempt employee works 60 hours one week and 20 the next, he effectively gets paid for an extra 10 (Time and a half for 20 of the 60 hours.)
So guess what? Most employers don't like paying extra for their employees' flexibility, so the flexibility disappears for non-exempt people...
Re:One solution (Score:2, Informative)