Overtime Supreme court case

http://www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter ... 54301774/1

This could be pretty huge. It sounds like overtime lawsuits are on the rise and companies are pushing unpaid overtime more. Sounds like the definition of exempt and non-exempt is not well defined either. Could affect telecommuting too, its already hard to get employers to agree to Telecommuting.

Edited to add poll, do you work OT paid or unpaid?

When I was on salary I got no OT pay. As a contract employee I get straight OT pay, not time and 1/2.

Americans were pushed to their limit in the recession and its aftermath as they worked longer hours, often for the same or less pay, after businesses laid off almost 9 million employees.

The controversy has reached the Supreme Court, but in a case involving an age-old profession: sales. Monday, the justices will hear oral arguments in a class-action lawsuit against drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.

I'm salary so no overtime. I get the work done during the 9 hour day or I finish it up the next. I am on-call about one week a month so after-hours and weekend work is possible. If I go over 10 hours per day, I keep track of the extra and log it as "flex time'. I can use the flex time like vacation or sick time. I can only accrue so much flex time per year and I can only carry so much over at the end of the year to the next. On occasion, if I work a 12 hour day on say a Thursday, I have the option of taking flex time or leaving a few hours early on Friday (good deal).

I'm salaried...but my company pays OT to salaried employees at straight-time rates... (The first 40 hours go into a "bank"... At the end of the year you get to choose whether you want it as an extra week of vacation; a week's worth of extra pay; or you can split it 50/50...which is what I usually do.) Everything over that first 40 hours is added to your paycheck at straight-time rates.

Since OT is NOT required at all for salaried employees, it's a perk of my job.

No overtime for salary people where I work, but we are given stock options and they will increase if your bosses know you are working overtime, whether you are salary or hourly who do get paid overtime.

The company prefers to give overtime rather than having to train temps.

I hate regular expected OT for salaried slaves. I didn't mind working extra on occasion when there were project deadlines and deliveries, and good managers gave you a pat on the back, Its the expected regular 50-60 hour work weeks, screw that.

It would be nice if they had a written policy on expected OT, with the job offer. LOL

Regarding stock options, got many of those at one place, for 5 years, and they were worth zippo when I bailed. Not even good for wallpaper. Maybe fire-starters for the woodstove.

I work plenty of overtime and it's a part of my job as defined by my company for the position I am in. I don't get paid for my overtime but I can take Comp time and my benefits are better than the hourly and non-exempt employees at my company. My travel time is not paid either but I have the freedom to book my own trips and I am allowed to use my expense account to cover airfare, food, and lodging superior to what I would pay for out of my own pocket.

Unfortunately, working from home is not an option for me, I have to go to each customer's site and do the work locally. I am also expected to be at work at a set time and not to leave before the scheduled end of the work day without approval from my management.

My wish list:

1) Telecommuting (and the self discipline to actually work from home). Let's face it once the Wundermutt figures out I'm not going to work that day we'll be off to the dog park or out for a romp in the woods - work be damned!

2) Work assigned as tasks instead of compensation for hours worked. How cool would it be to have a look at the tasks that need to be done, pick the ones that you have the best chance of completing quickly and completely, and assign them to yourself. If it takes you 8 hours or 80 hours that week to do the job the pay would be the same for that task. I think this would help me with the self discipline issue in item 1.

3) Flexible work hours. I did 26 years of being on time by being early to work in the US Navy and I continue to do so now because it's burned into my brain. I wonder if I could cope with a flexible start time and the option to work off the expected hours every week in any way I see fit. 12 hour Monday, 10 hour Tuesday, 12 hour Wednesday, take Thursday off (to go to the dog park with the Wundermutt), 8 hour Friday, and wrap up the bits and pieces on Saturday as required.

I suspect that I'll retire well before any of the items on my wish list will become reality in my industry but it's fun to wish and wonder what if.

I worked as an engineer and in management in Silicon Valley.

We never got paid for OT. And when times were tough, we were told to put in 25% extra hours with no extra pay. That happened a few times and most companies did something similar. It was certainly better than getting laid off. But most of us put in extra hours anyway.

When I went to a startup, most of us worked weekends too (just a few hours usually). But if there was a huge priority or a problem, we'd work 7 days if necessary, and again no extra pay.

I never questioned it. We were well compensated and had great benefits too. There was never a pension plan though. Nor was there much 401K matching. The main things we had were profit sharing, stock options, and a bonus program (if you got to the point of qualifying for it).

No regrets here. But if the government were to force companies to compensate, I wouldn't agree with it, but send me the money! lol

pineinthegrass wrote: No regrets here. But if the government were to force companies to compensate, I wouldn't agree with it, but send me the money! lol

I agree, there will be unintended consequences if they get too crazy regulating overtime. I'm fine with the way it is along as there is no abuse. Best thing to do is keep your skills marketable and move on if you don't like it.

OT is for people who choose to be second class citizens and be employees.

Business is about output, not hours worked. Why would anyone think they deserve more per hour just for working more than some number of hours. We all know that after 40 hours that most people are less effective anyway and thus should be paid less.

Also by giving OT, we are encouraging people not to get another job, not to diversify their income, thus when they loose that one job, they are screwed.

We should cut pay after say 30 hours, to say 75% and then we would all be better off. More people would have more diverse employment and would not be as screwed when the loose one job. No company would survive long on one customer, employees should not have one customer unless they want to be worried all the time.

We need more entrepreneurs. We should not entrench the employee class any more than they already are.

Plus the end result is that all your kids will be working part time (if at all), unless you show them how to be in business for themselves, then they will not get processed by the system quite as much as the rest of you employees. But most reading this are employees and do not have these self employment skills to pass on to their kids...and they DON'T teach this stuff in business school. I have had business grads work for me that said they have learned more about business in one month on the job with me vs. 4 years in school.

Every employee I have now is part time...because of this issue...and because they have better lives as a result (either more free time to ski or kayak or to take another job or even better, start their own firm).