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New Overtime Rules Have Short Shelf Life

rwiedower writes "So the House just voted to scrap the new overtime rules that went into effect August 23. The vote was 223-193. Were the new rules designed to shaft IT workers from getting overtime? Or were they merely designed to streamline outdated rules?"

6 of 501 comments (clear)

  1. Not Scrapped Yet... by Kr3m3Puff · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you actually read the article, it says that the House only put an admendment into the Spending bill and that the Senate might very well remove it before it gets to the President. So it is far from scrapped, so don't go looking to your boss for your overtime yet...

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    D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M.
  2. It's All A Mystery... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Overtime?

    Oh.... that's what employers expect you to give voluntarily!

    I remember years ago doing that, when I really loved my work and didn't care. Besides, I liked all the cool stuff I got to play with and the really neat server and top of the line PC on my desk with a spifftacular monitor and video card and even a cordless mouse. Then something happened, they realized I would do anything they wanted as along as I had the toys. Eventually I put in 16-18 hours days and began wrecking my health and I wouldn't qualify for any extra pay anyway because I was salaried, not hourly. The expectations piled up with the work load and I found I had scant time left to experience the joys of doing neat projects or learning new tools and languages after work, because I was burning out big time. Then they outsourced the jobs and said, "It was a good thing, win-win" Well, that might have been true because the contractor, if they signed me, wouldn't allow their employee to be treated like I had without them getting some really fat zorkmids for the above and beyond. I didn't sign with them and left.

    Now it's kinda back to the old thing, hourly and no budget for overtime so don't ask for it, but if something really does need to get done???

    BTW we don't have a lot of positions here where you'd get overtime or benefits for that matter as many are 4 hours/day, which even with a little overage wouldn't hit the 32 hours where benefits are required to be given. (Rhetorical question-<)The real puzzle is, why can't we find good workers?

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:It's All A Mystery... by EtherMonkey · · Score: 5, Informative

      Salaried means that you get paid the same fixed ammount no matter how much you work, whether it be 10 hours a week or 100. Of course what ends up happening is that they shovel so much work on you to do that you end up having to work more than 40 hours a week to do what is expected of you, otherwise you get fired.

      No, that is not necessarily true. Whether you are exempt from overtime really depends on how much self-determinism and supervision goes with your job. If get to select your own assignments and deadlines, are essentially allowed to work on your own with little supervision, do not have to meet any production quotas or work on a rigid schedule, then you are probably exempt from overtime.

      However, if your supervisor assigns you projects with deadlines, or requires to you record your time and can penalize you for failing to meet a minimum quota, or you are required to be "at work" according to a fixed schedule, then you are probably NOT exempt from overtime.

      I suggest you read Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA before wrongfully concluding whether you are exempt or not.
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      --- A man with a briefcase can steal more money, than any man with a gun. [Don Henley]
  3. Re:Affect IT Workers? Not Too Many by TheFlyingGoat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm a salary employee who averages around 40 hours a week. When it gets really busy I sometimes work as many as 60 hours. My employer knows this and gives me an extra day off after putting in a long week. It's been slow lately so my boss has allowed me to leave early the past few days. In return, when it gets crazy around there I won't mind having to stay around late or coming in on a Saturday. It's all about having a good relationship with your employer.

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    You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
  4. Who really wins.... by TastelessGarbage · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If you are wondering whether employees or employers are the bigger beneficiaries from the changes, try to identify a business or trade group that opposes the changes.

    You'll have to work overtime to find one.

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    That ain't liver; that's beef kidney!
  5. Management wanted OT... to cut their losses by stomv · · Score: 5, Insightful

    (Too late for mod points)

    Overtime laws exist because businesses wanted them. It came with the 40 hour work week. You see, unions were strong and getting stronger 100 years ago. They were winning 35 hour work weeks. Management pushed for labor protection laws in an effort to cut their losses to unions and to undercut the labor machine by giving them some of what they wanted.

    It worked. Labor unions maintained influence, but haven't been nearly as strong as they would have been had management not made concessions country-wide in the form of overtime laws.

    So... you can thank management for overtime laws, circa 100 years ago. Methinks if overtime laws disapeared, you'd see a surge in union membership... something that I doubt you'd be very interested in.