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Are Coders Exempt From California's Overtime Laws?
Gizmo Kid asks: "How many of you Californian, full-time, software programmers are getting paid overtime? From what I understand, a law in California, passed within the last two years, says that software engineers who make less than $41/hour [PDF version] are required to be paid for overtime? Are your employers following the rules? I'm not sure mine is?"
Right now most IT companies that my friends work for, and mine as well are really putting the screws to the employees. Our company is demanding more work, giving scanty raises, and lowering our benefits. Unfortunately I live in Texas which is traditionally a state that favors the employer heavily. Good luck with your OT issue, but if it was me right now I would probably just lay low being the heartless coward I am :). I know that even if you win you will probably lose your job for not turning off the lights when you leave or something stupid like that. If I were you I would just take the screwing they are giving you, keep track of your hours, and if you ever get fired or quit then sue for back pay and take the nice fat bonus at the end :).
I posted this below under 'Go On Strike!', but it seems more appropriate here:
Move to Europe!
I'm an American currently working in Germany which is supposed to be a worker's paradise. I moved here 6 months ago to work for an accounting firm just because I thought it would be fun to live in Europe for a little while.
My work experience has been much less kind then I expected. The company is great, and the people are nice, but the conditions are definitely not 'pro-worker.' My contract has a minimum 40 hour work week, I pay my own insurance, and my salary is less than half what it was in the States. My co-workers are literallly awed by the pay and benefits that I got in the US.
And the job market is just as bad here as it is in the US. In fact, unemployment is even higher here.
Anyone who claims that Europe is a better place to work isn't telling the whole story.
This is slightly off-topic, as I am a technician, not a programmer.
Well, I made over $41/hour working for my last employer (quite a bit more, actually, all things considered, viewed from a 40 hour work week perspective). At my last job, my title was "Vice President of Technical Services". But, I can say that overtime *should* be paid, regardless, and here is why:
My last job (2 years ago): In return for a great salary, plus a company vehicle for my work and personal use and full health insurance benefits, I worked anywhere from 60 - 80 hours per week, 7 days a week, and holidays.
At the time, I thought it was worth it: I was the "star" employee, first technician hired, bright, motivated - all the other techs came to me for help, and as a result, they could successfully complete their service calls with my assistance, thereby benefitting the customers and the company. My customers loved me, and I was happy doing what I loved to do.
For awhile, I enjoyed being "it", and thought that the time I spent working was the natural result of my skills and experience, and the need for my company to make money to offset my salary and benefits.
Now, I realize that I was wrong. I almost always billed enough time, directly or indirectly, during a normal business week, to justify my remuneration. The late nights, weekends and holidays were just "gravy" for my employer, since I was never paid for any of that time.
Weekend server migrations/upgrades (to save downtime for the customer, of course!): Billed at full rates by my employer ($95/hour at the time). LAN/WAN infrastructure improvements, the same.
Was I being compensated well? Absolutely. Was it worth the time spent? In my opinion, in retrospect, no.
At any given point, ALL of the time I spent beyond a standard work week was at my personal expense, just extra money generated for my employer. Over time, it became expected of me, and I bought into it, for years, as the price for employment, for being "good" at what I do. To my shame, I demanded the same from all of my technicans as well.
Training? Forget about it! My last boss wouldn't authorize training during business hours. If I wanted to learn, I did it on my own time. He would graciously pay for certification tests, but God forbid I should fail the first time.
Sadly, it has been my experience over the past 15+ years that this is the paradigm for all small-medium sized service companies, especially those owned privately. The technicians are merely cash cows to be milked. Technicians around here (Upstate New York) are salaried, not because they are being paid higher than normal, generally, but to save on overtime.
When I was fired from my last job (officially for "having been late for no compelling reason after having been previously warned" - tell me that a VP that sets his own hours can be late?!?), I set off on my own. I've done well over the past 2 years, and, when I needed additional help, I hired good technicians as subcontractors, and paid them the lion's share of their billable time (85/15 split - they get the 85 percent, after all, they are doing the work). I'm not getting rich by so doing, but I sleep well at night.
Over time, what I've come to realize is this: Money is a good thing, but money earned to the detriment of others ("greed") is not. The vast majority of managers, executives, etc. that have never been in the trenches, possess no technical skills to any great degree, view we geeks as chattel. The phrase "human capital" has been mentioned in the IT trade mags of late (notably in InfoWorld) - it underscores the problem, the perception that we geeks are merely plug-in components of a company's technical prowess, to be used, discarded and replaced at whim.
So, to wrap this up - Sure, $41/hour is a lot of money, but at what cost to the person earning it? If that person works 60 hours per week, salaried, what was once $41/hour becomes about $27/hour, and lessens with every additional hour worked, to the employee's detriment, NOT to the employer's.
So, I think that overtime, generally, is a good thing: It uses the motivation of management to generate revenue as a brake: The more we geeks work, the more the employer has to pay. It is a perfect example of negative feedback in its truest sense, and removes the incentive on the part of the greedy to exploit us egregiously.
Just my opinion.
dj