Overtime pay

[Wander_mutt]

Just saw this article and am interested to see how this will impact my shop:

Obama to expand overtime coverage - Fortune

I haven't read all the fine print, but it seems like this will impact about half a dozen people in my newsroom.

 

[I Should Coco]

We put this article on the business page last night in our shop. We wanted the headline to read, "(Podunk Press) owner, take note!"

Truthfully, most owners would rather leave pages blank than pay journalists overtime. So when you hit 40 in the middle of that high school game, just post the halftime stats on Twitter and split. Some parent can call in or post the final score ... :rolleyes:

 

[Wander_mutt]

Where I work they're pretty conscious of overtime, so much so that if it appears to be a problem for a particular position they "promote" that person to salary. I'm in my last couple weeks so I'll miss how this plays out. Heard a couple guys on the desk talking about it, but no one of any importance has acknowledged the news.

 

[Bronco77]

Newspapers and other companies will find a way around this, just as they've found ways around the health-care laws. In my workplace, for instance, we've lost four fulltimers over the past two years, and three have been replaced by part-timers who work 29 hours a week maximum and aren't eligible for company health insurance.

 

[Wander_mutt]

Newspapers and other companies will find a way around this, just as they've found ways around the health-care laws. In my workplace, for instance, we've lost four fulltimers over the past two years, and three have been replaced by part-timers who work 29 hours a week maximum and aren't eligible for company health insurance.

Wow, they haven't done that at my place yet, but we have been on furlough for probably 5 or 6 years now.

 

[DeskMonkey1]

i personally know someone who was given 2-3 (or more) hats to wear because he was salary. Only to be laid off.

Poor guy worked at least 60-70 hours per week to keep up with the workload.

 

[Rhody31]

Newspapers will continue to do what they've been doing - not pay overtime to people who are more concerned about the product.
If you're on salary that doesn't mean you can work infinite hours. You're salaried out at a specific number of hours - if you work more, then you're entitled to OT pay. Last interview I had I was told that everyone worked more than 40 hours with no OT and it was all but expected. Don't think my attitude about that helped my cause.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Newspapers will continue to do what they've been doing - not pay overtime to people who are more concerned about the product.
If you're on salary that doesn't mean you can work infinite hours. You're salaried out at a specific number of hours - if you work more, then you're entitled to OT pay. Last interview I had I was told that everyone worked more than 40 hours with no OT and it was all but expected. Don't think my attitude about that helped my cause.

What business only does the salary thing for a certain number of hours, then pays OT? Most of the ones I know pay a salary and tell you that's all you make if it's 40 hours, 60 hours or 80 hours.

 

[Rhody31]

What business only does the salary thing for a certain number of hours, then pays OT?

Ones that do it by the rules.
My wife gets salaried out at X hours per pay period. Because her and her partner work rotating shifts - where weekends aren't full days - she has to pick up one floating shift a month, or something like that. If she picks up a day to cover for someone, she gets OT because she's already met her required hours per pay period.
Now she puts in some off-the-clock work as well. She gets swarmed on the first of the month when the addicts get their checks, so she'll stay past store closing if she's not working the next day to make sure her partner doesn't come in to a mess, or stay late when she floats to make sure everything is in order for the person who's in the next day. We're talking like max 30 minutes. But if she adds a day of work, she gets time and a half for the day.
Being on salary doesn't mean you're a slave. Problem is, most companies treat it as such.

 

[Wander_mutt]

My SO's position is salary but still pays overtime. I don't know exactly how it works exactly but it's something with exempt/non-exempt. I thought all salary positions were exempt, I guess that's not the case.

 

[MisterCreosote]

I'm salaried but get overtime when I'm on call, usually for one week a month. I make myself available 24/7, and there's no way in hell I'd do that without getting paid OT.

I only get paid OT for the hours I actually work, not simply for being at the ready, but it's a big enough inconvenience that the only decent thing to do is make it worthwhile.

 

[justgladtobehere]

Ones that do it by the rules.

Being on salary doesn't mean you're a slave. Problem is, most companies treat it as such.

What rules? The rule before the change was that salaried employees making less than $23K had to receive overtime. It didn't stop employers from giving OT pay to people making more as I once had. I don't think companies abuse it they way you make it seem. A lot of people in white collar, non-professional jobs make sure it is only 40/week. Others take on more work to get ahead. It depends on the culture of your company and line of work. Also, on the other hand a salary doesn't require 40 hours of work to get paid in full.

 

[joe_schmoe]

If this actually were to come into effect, I see our companu just laying off one of our salaried news side editors who makes mid 30s.
When we hired our most recent sports editor, it was basically a promotion. The big hassle was they were going to raise his pay about $5000 a year, but make him salary. He knew they also weren't hiring a replacement for his position in sports, which meant the SE would end up working about 60 hours a week. He refused to go salaried, because he knew he wouldn't get the OT and it would end up a cut in pay for the hours he'd work. They finally worked out a deal, but I'm not sure what it was.

 

[Batman]

If this actually were to come into effect, I see our companu just laying off one of our salaried news side editors who makes mid 30s.
When we hired our most recent sports editor, it was basically a promotion. The big hassle was they were going to raise his pay about $5000 a year, but make him salary. He knew they also weren't hiring a replacement for his position in sports, which meant the SE would end up working about 60 hours a week. He refused to go salaried, because he knew he wouldn't get the OT and it would end up a cut in pay for the hours he'd work. They finally worked out a deal, but I'm not sure what it was.

I had a similar situation last year after our SE left. I was making (and still am, as a base salary; haven't had a raise in going on six years now) in the low 30s, and they offered me a news editor position. Figuring I'd make, at most, $4,000 or $5,000 more and probably less than that, it took me about 30 seconds to think it over and politely decline. Besides not wanting to work on the news side, I knew I'd still be working the same amount of hours as being a one-man sports department except I'd be salaried instead of hourly. It just wasn't worth it financially. I'd already had a couple of months of that at that point, and knew what my paychecks looked like just from more or less doing the minimum to get the job done -- i.e., working 50-55 hours a week and getting 30-plus hours of overtime on every paycheck.
The gamble paid off. I wound up making about $10,000 in overtime last year and cracking the $40,000 barrier for the first time in my working life. I passed my previous high in September.
I'm viewed as the sports editor in my shop now, but to this day I'm still considered a sports/staff writer. I've asked a few times about being formally promoted, but have made it clear that I don't want it if it comes with a salary. At least not one that's less than $50K per year.

 

[Doom and gloom]

I see

 

[Doom and gloom]

For those of you who are predicting layoffs to offset rules changes, you're damned straight. You also need to investigate your health insurance. There's certain cost controls built in where for example, once upon a time if you had recurring allergy issues and would get an injection, now you get pills if the cost of your injection is deemed too much by your plan. I'm hoping myself or a family member doesn't get cancer or something really expensive.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

For those of you who are predicting layoffs to offset rules changes, you're damned straight. You also need to investigate your health insurance. There's certain cost controls built in where for example, once upon a time if you had recurring allergy issues and would get an injection, now you get pills if the cost of your injection is deemed too much by your plan. I'm hoping myself or a family member doesn't get cancer or something really expensive.

Or perhaps medical research and technology has improved to the point where instead of a needle, you get a pill.

Kinda like how pills can now be used as an option for an abortion.

As far as cost controls built in for the rules changes, well, that'll be up to the company to decide whether or not the potential loss of productivity will be worth not paying the manager overtime.

 

[Doom and gloom]

Or perhaps medical research and technology has improved to the point where instead of a needle, you get a pill.

Kinda like how pills can now be used as an option for an abortion.

As far as cost controls built in for the rules changes, well, that'll be up to the company to decide whether or not the potential loss of productivity will be worth not paying the manager overtime.

You make a good point except that pill peddlers represents America's No. 1 industry. When they advertise to people who can't write a prescription, I'm skeptical.

 

[Fredrick]

Every newspaper sports writer I know works 50-70 hours a week during season and gets paid for 40. Overtime is simply not allowed. You "pretend" to work 40 and that's the way it has to be.

 

[boundforboston]

Obama is looking at bumping the $23,600 threshold to more than $50,000: Obama's overtime proposal explained and why it matters