Overtime pay

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.

 

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 ...

 

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.

 

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 In my workplace, for instance, we've lost four fulltimers over the past two years, and three have been replaced by part-timers who work 29 hours a week maximum and aren't eligible for company health insurance.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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.