Overtime Pay Part 2: Revenge of the Administrative Assistants

October 18th, 2009. By Kristine B

Okay, so it may sound like a really bad, B movie. But the truth of the matter is that a lot of people are not getting their overtime pay because they have the words “managerial,” “administrative,” or “executive” in their job title. But those titles alone don’t make a person exempt from overtime. So for Pleading Ignorance this week, we’re looking at the ins and outs of exemption from overtime pay. 

To refresh your memory, last week we looked at the three questions that you must answer “Yes” to in order to be considered exempt from overtime pay—meaning if you answer ALL 3 questions with a “yes”, you are not entitled to overtime pay.

The first question is pretty straightforward… 

1. Do you make at least $23,600 per year (or $455 per week)? 

If “No,” then you are eligible for overtime pay and you needn’t go further. But, if you answer “Yes,” then move on to the next question… 

2. Are you paid salary? 

To be exempt from overtime pay, you MUST be on salary. Employees who are paid an hourly rate are eligible for overtime pay. Fair enough. However, just because you are paid salary doesn’t mean you don’t qualify to get the extra bucks if you work extra hours. Remember, you must have answered “Yes” to all three questions, not just the one about the salary.

The first two questions are pretty no-brainer—but the third question is where things get screwy because it can appear to have a lot of gray areas. But in reality, it’s pretty straightforward as well…

3. Are your main job duties administrative, professional or executive? Read the rest of this entry »

Prepaid Debit Road Test: Paying up front to get ripped off

October 18th, 2009. By Hunter West

Tyrell Blocker is a young fella with a family and doing the best he can. At 20 he has a newborn and all the responsibilities to go with it. 

What he doesn’t have is a bank account. He only has one piece of ID. The bank requires two, so what’s a young father to do? Head to the check-cashing place and hope to escape with the majority of your pay in your pants once you pay the fee. Or just maybe there is another way… 

Oh! But there is, says the prepaid debit card industry to the 80 million Americans who are classed as unbanked or underbanked. Just bring your paycheck to the Green Dot kiosk, or MiCash, or NetSpend, or AccountNow. Wal-Mart has one. 

Our boy Tyrell hooked up with Pay-O-Matic in Manhattan. Took his paycheck and bought a Pay-O-Matic card. Note that it’s HIS money on the card. The card is worthless until it’s pre-loaded with the client’s cash. Aside from operating the storefront, printing the cards and owing anywhere from a nickel to 20 cents to the owner of the logo that emblazes the card, card providers haven’t a whole lot to lose beyond any loss associated with a bounced paycheck or overdraft. 

But still, is that risk enough of a reason to charge more than two-dozen fees? That’s how many there are tagged to the Pay-O-Matic card. Poor Blocker didn’t know what hit him. As soon as he noticed the balance dropping like a rock every time he used his Pay-O-Matic card, even if he didn’t actually buy anything, he high-tailed it back to the kiosk to ask what the *@$% was going on. It was only then Read the rest of this entry »

Yasmin and Yaz Investors File Lawsuit

October 13th, 2009. By janem

Not only is Bayer likely going to shell out millions of dollars in lawsuits filed by Yasmin and Yaz victims, now its investors are bailing.

It’s bad enough that anyone could suffer serious side effects from Yasmin or Yaz, a drug they thought was harmless, a drug used by thousands and thousands of women to prevent pregnancy. Imagine how furious you would be, knowing that so many women have suffered from this birth control pill, and that you bought into it?

On October 13, yet another lawsuit was filed against Bayer, the maker of Yasmin and Yaz, claiming the company concealed Yasmin and Yaz side effects to boost sales. Bayer has been accused of misleading investors-in this case, two pension funds for firefighters and city employees in Pennsylvania–about the value of the company by concealing the drug’s increased risks of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, gallbladder disease, pulmonary embolisms and deep vein thrombosis (DVT).  By hiding the risks of side effects, the company allegedly defrauded investors by falsely estimating the value of the pharmaceutical company and its birth control products.

According to a report by Bloomberg News, there are currently at least 300 Yaz lawsuits or Yasmin lawsuits pending in state or federal courts throughout the US; at least 200 lawsuits over Yaz or Yasmin are consolidated in a federal MDL that is centralized in the Southern District of Illinois; and another 50 cases are consolidated in Pennsylvania state court in Philadelphia.

Green Dot Should Be Greed Dot

October 12th, 2009. By LucyC

Almost everyone has a tale of woe when it comes to fees charged by bank cards and credit cards, but what about prepaid debit cards—the new kid on the block? 

Reportedly, some 80 million Americans are using these cards in lieu of having a bank account— and it’s proving exhaustively expensive. Why? These types of cards automatically deduct a laundry list of fees, information on which may not be easily found, and which can result in a “Surprise!” zero balance. You know—you put $200 on the card, spend $150 and then go to make a $20 purchase sometime later only to have it declined due to insufficient funds. Where’d the remaining $50 go? To the card company—in fees. 

Take Green Dot . for example. Green Dot is among the largest providers of prepaid debit cards in the US. Here’s a list of their fees that are not put front and center on their marketing materials:  Read the rest of this entry »

A Fair and Just Legal System Also Needs Moderation

October 9th, 2009. By Hunter West

Important as it is for citizens to have legal recourse to sue in order to right a wrong, do you sometimes wonder if things are getting a bit out of hand? 

Case in point: in 2002 a detective with the New York Police Department (NYPD) accidentally shot himself in the knees while sitting on a chair and trying to holster his revolver. The following year he retired on a three-quarters disability pension and is now employed as a court officer in South Carolina making $24,000 annually. 

He also sued the City of New York and last November was awarded $4.5 million in damages by a jury. 

For accidentally shooting himself in the knee. For that kind money maybe we should all do that. 

Obviously, the former NYPD man found himself a talented lawyer who presumably argued that the revolver, issued by the department, was faulty. As the NYPD is an agent of the City, the Big Apple would be on the hook. 

Keep in mind that if we are injured, or victimized in concert with a situation or event through no fault of our own, we should have the right to seek compensation. 

Case in point: the scores of women who have unknowingly put themselves in harm’s way by simply subscribing to Yaz birth control. They believed Yaz (and Yasmin) to be a safe and effective oral contraceptive, only to find out the hard way about risks for life-threatening blood clots and thrombosis. Women—painfully young, healthy women—have died. 

And then there are the thousands of California workers who are robbed of their right to claim, Read the rest of this entry »