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New OT law and the media

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Inky_Wretch, May 18, 2016.

  1. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    No, it doesn't. That's the sad reality. In our business, "we just won't cover this and that anymore" has become the norm.

    Our shop just laid off its lone remaining graphic artist this week. If something we do next week would normally call for a graphic or map, it simply won't get done. Or a designer with moderate Adobe Illustrator skills will be asked to cobble something together on the fly.

    And at companies where the work absolutely does have to get done, the company will just hire part-timers at low wages so that people who get OT are few and far between. Or it will make almost everyone part-time, hiring enough hours to get the job done but no single employee working more than 27-28. Or it will "synergize" its properties so that the work of one group is simply used by another, with no extra labor cost.

    Enact all the laws you want. Their total labor costs are NOT going up. And they wield many a hammer to ensure this is so.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2016
    I Should Coco likes this.
  2. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    If it was cost efficient for those businesses, why haven't they done so already? Why haven't they taken their 15 FT employees and merely hired 15 more and make all 30 PT employees at 20 hours per week?
     
  3. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    It can become cost efficient if conditions warrant it. Conditions don't always warrant it.

    If you mandate health insurance for full-timers or OT pay beyond 40 hours, companies will get around it if they need to. Some businesses simply have zero need for their FTEs to work any more than 8 hours. So the OT law doesn't faze them, and they don't need to do anything.

    Go to a grocery store, survey the first 20 employees you encounter, and see how many are full time. What possible reason could they have for hiring so many people working 20-28 hours a week? Hmmmmm . . . .

    Depending on the skill set needed, those 15 FT employees may be valuable, and the company will lose them if they try to cut their hours. These companies don't just need bodies --- they need skilled bodies.

    Sometimes the employee needs the job more than the job needs the employee. Sometimes it's the other way around. In a perfect world the equation is balanced.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2016
  4. JohnHammond

    JohnHammond Well-Known Member

    You should read what the rules are. If you make less than the threshold, you're eligible for OT, even if you're salaried.

    No more covering JUCO signing day that takes up a few hours for each story.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2016
  5. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member


    Which is what these updated regulations are doing. Companies that are already having a bunch of part-timers aren't going to change. What does change is making the low-paid manager of those part-timers who is working more than 40 hours and put them on a timeclock just like the part-timers. Maybe more hours open up for the part-timers since the business isn't going to want the manager to go over 40.
     
  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    That's assuming the skill sets are similar. PT guy working more to make up for the manager working less is good math but often not practical.

    At my shop, the managers typically book all the weekend sections (Sat., Sun., Mon.) on Friday. Can make for a long day. As a FTE accustomed to booking sections, I could take over one of those days and save them 15-20 minutes. But a PT agate clerk probably could not.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2016
  7. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Which then, if the managers are below the threshold, the paper will have to either pay the managers OT for that long day, give them a raise above the threshold, make them leave early one day during the week, or start training the agate guy to book the section.

    The papers (and other businesses) are going to have to adjust their way of doing things.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    That's too sad to contemplate.
     
  9. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Newspapers are fucked regardless, but I see one of two things happening
    1) Management gets pay bumps to barely clear the threshhold
    2) People get let go. DO MORE WITH LESS Y'ALL.

    A lot of small dailies and weeklies who salaried "assistant editors" will put them back on an hourly scale and make sure they stay at 40. Wouldn't be surprised if people get fired and are offered their position back at an hourly rate for less pay but with promise of OT. Depending on the paper, there are going to be places that know their employees are suckers and will continue to work free. Those are the people that are ruining things. Stop working for free.

    I've said this before, but I'm pretty sure even if you're salaried you're entitled to OT regardless of pay scale. My wife is salaried out at an hourly rate per pay period. Some weeks she works 60 hours, some she works 24-36. If she's under, she picks up a day to fill her rate and if they need her to cover for someone that will put her past that number, she gets OT. Salary doesn't mean infinite work. If you're on salary and not collecting OT, talk to HR and see how many hours you're actually required to work.
     
  10. JohnHammond

    JohnHammond Well-Known Member

    Rhody, if an employer makes more than the threshold, they aren't entitled to OT pay. Minimal duties test applies regarding whether a salaried employee has management duties.
     
  11. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    If managers make a stink and want to be paid OT then like somebody said theyll put the manager on hourly and managers will be forced to work 60 and get paid for 40 like the peons. Once you sign that you worked 40 you can't sue. Managers will sign time sheets that say 40 hours and that's that. If they don't make a stink it won't change.
     
  12. bevo

    bevo Member

    You should read the list of "exempt" workers. One listed is employees of limited circulation newspapers. Which means all those editors and writers at most weeklies and very small dailies.
     
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