Posts Tagged ‘ Wage and Hour ’

8 Things an Exempt Job Status Deprives you of…

October 15th, 2013. By AbiK

A lot of questions we receive here at LawyersandSettlements.com have to do with employment…things like what counts as on-the-job harassment, whether or not someone is owed overtime pay, and questions about wrongful termination. One of the trickiest areas of employment though has to do with misclassification—i.e., whether someone’s position is considered exempt or non-exempt. We discuss misclassification in greater detail on our Unpaid Overtime-Employment info hub on our website. But beyond what most people consider to be the difference between exempt and non-exempt—that exempt jobs don’t qualify for overtime pay while non-exempt ones do—there are other things you should be aware of if you’ve recently been switched over or promoted into an exempt position.

Exempt positions tend to be ones that pay a salary rather than an hourly rate. For many, the chance for what could be a higher rate of pay and no longer “working on the clock” makes pursuing exempt positions worth the trip. Here though are eight protections that an exempt job status deprives employees of—provided by the State of California Department of Industrial Relations (you can find this info at your own state’s department of labor).

8 Things an Exempt Job Status Deprives you of Protection for…

overtime premium;
minimum wage;
reporting time pay;
requirement of records under the IWC Orders (but not records required by the Labor Code);
requirement that employer furnish uniforms and equipment (except, of course, that any expenditure by an employee is recoverable under CA Labor Code Section 2802).
requirement that meals and lodging amounts be limited;
meal period requirement;
rest period requirement;

Tags: Employment, Labor Law, Unpaid Overtime, Wage and Hour
Posted in Emerging Issues, Employment | No Comments »

Ms. ‘Lean In’ Sheryl Sandberg Called ‘Exploitive’ over Unpaid Intern Job

August 14th, 2013. By AbiK

Say it isn’t so! You have to love social media—where everything you (or your hired minions) say can, and will, be held against you. Enter Sheryl Sandberg, author of the much-talked-about “Lean In” book and COO of Facebook. Ms. Sandberg, herself, did not apparently say anything on Twitter, but one of her minions, Jessica Bennett—who ‘heads up editorial’ for Ms. Sandberg’s Lean In team (whatever that really means) did tweet something about an available gig as an unpaid intern on the Lean In team.

That was on Tuesday. Today, according to a post over at Gawker, there had also been a post by Bennett on Facebook that offered up the gig.

Ordinarily, it might sound like a great opportunity. But, given how much Ms. Sandberg is probably reaping financially from both Facebook and her book sales, why is the job “unpaid”? And isn’t it a bit at odds with the whole Lean In female empowerment thing? Take risks! Sit at the table! Seek challenges! But, by the way, if you’re goal is to sit at MY table, don’t expect to receive a dime from me.

Not to mention, last we looked, an intern is supposed to be learning something on the job—this job description sounds like the Lean In team is looking for more of a seasoned pro. Here are the requirements for the unpaid intern:

“Part-time, unpaid, must be HIGHLY organized with editorial and social chops and able to commit to a regular schedule through end of year. Design and web skills a plus!”

You have to love the chutzpah there. Note to Ms. Bennett: Merriam-Webster defines “chops” as “expertise in a particular field or activity”. Hmm. That would seem to be at odds with the requirements of an unpaid intern who would typically come to a company in order to be trained on-the-job.

Oh, but it’s all for the prestige of getting dumped on to promote Leaning In!

For kicks, here’s the image of Bennett’s Twitter post that appeared over at Gawker (note the comments):

Here’s some advice for Ms. Sandberg and her Lean In team: practice what you preach…walk the talk (ugh, hate that saying but the shoe fits) and pay your damn interns. Otherwise, maybe you should refund everyone who bought your book; after all, it’s starting to sound a bit like consumer fraud…

Tags: Employment, Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg, unpaid interns, Wage and Hour
Posted in Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues | 1 Comment »

2 Ways Working Over 8 Hours DOESN’T Mean California Overtime Pay

March 22nd, 2013. By AbiK

Ever wonder what non-exempt work situations do NOT qualify for overtime pay? While there are fairly stringent laws and guidelines in place for what requires California employers to pay overtime wages, there are a couple of situations where, as a worker who puts in over eight hours on a given workday, you are actually not eligible for California overtime pay. Let’s take a look at both examples, which are explained in more detail (and a bit more jargon) at the California Department of Industrial Relations DLSE section on their website.

1. Make-up Time.

If a non-exempt employee requests time off that will be unpaid, he/she can “make up” that time and it will not be considered eligible time for California overtime pay so long as these requirements are met:

The employee may not work more than 11 hours on another work day, and he/she may not work more than 40 hours in the workweek to make up for the time off. The make up time, in effect, is an equal “swap” for the time the employee would’ve normally worked within the same workweek.
The time the employee missed must be made up within the same workweek.
The employee needs to provide a signed written request to the employer for each occasion that they want to makeup time.
Employers cannot encourage or otherwise solicit an employee to request makeup time.

2. Alternate Work Week Arrangements.

It’s common practice in some industries for a non-exempt California employee to work an alternate workweek schedule. One of the most common arrangements involves working a 4-day-a-week, 10-hours-per-day schedule (typically called a “4/10” schedule). Alternate work week arrangements require a formal agreement and adherence to certain California Labor regulations (see DLSE overtime exceptions).

As long as the employer has complied with all regulatory matters, an alternate work week employee is not owed California overtime pay for working more than 8 hours in a workday (due to the alternate work schedule), so long as he/she does not work more than 40 hours during the workweek.

For more information see our California Labor and California Overtime pages.

Tags: Alternate Workweek Schedule, California Labor, California Overtime, Makeup Time, Overtime Pay, Overtime Violation, Wage and Hour
Posted in Emerging Issues, Employment | No Comments »

Publix Unpaid Overtime Class Action: What is Chinese Overtime?

May 1st, 2012. By AbiK

Chinese what? Ok, you’ve probably heard of Chinese water torture. And Chinese New Year. And Chinese take-out (personal fave). But Chinese Overtime?

Yes, Chinese Overtime. If you’re in a job in which the work hours tend to fluctuate each week and you get overtime pay, then you may have heard it referred to as either variable workweek overtime pay or half-time overtime pay.

The department managers and assistment managers who make up the class in the Publix managers unpaid overtime class action lawsuit probably don’t care what the heck it’s called—they just believe they’re getting screwed out of pay. And, if you understand how Chinese overtime works, they’re kind of right.

So here goes: a Chinese overtime primer for those who haven’t had the pleasure of being paid this way…

In some jobs, the hours tend to fluctuate each week. Busier weeks call for longer hours; quiet weeks call for shorter hours. Many times when a job’s hours fluctuate, an employer will pay salaries based on a fixed salary for those fluctuating weeks. So the base salary—the straight-time pay—is the same each week even though the hours may in fact fluctuate.

The upside is that when there isn’t much work, the worker gets paid the set straight-time amount. Sort of a mini-coup for the worker, right?—work less, get paid the same.

The downside, however…well, let’s just say the Publix managers have been living more of the downside (allegedly) than the upside and that’s why they’ve filed the Publix class action lawsuit.

Here’s an example of how it would work–it’s tricky so try to hang with me. Say you’re paid $200 a week as your fixed salary. So regardless of whether you work 22 hours or you work 46 hours that week, you’re getting paid $200 for the week. However, if you worked the 46 hours, you’ve worked overtime and should get overtime pay. And this is where it gets tricky..

See, because you were ALREADY PAID straight time pay for those six hours according to how your pay is calculated (i.e., you get a fixed salary no matter how many hours you work), you won’t get time-and-a-half pay for your overtime hours. Those six hours are paid at only HALF your regular rate–which in management’s eyes is time-and-a-half because they’ve already paid you your fixed salary for those six overtime hours.

Nice deal, eh? Hell yeah for the employers–not so for the employees.

Tags: Chinese Overtime, Employment, Fluctuating Work Week, Overtime Pay, Publix Lawsuit, Publix Overtime Class Action, Unpaid Overtime, Wage and Hour
Posted in Class Action, Emerging Issues, Employment | 22 Comments »

Metallica Drummer Accused of Stiffing P.A. Settles Lawsuit

November 17th, 2011. By AbiK

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recently settled a wage and hour lawsuit that had been filed by a former personal assistant, Steven Wiig. Wiig claimed a whole bunch of labor law violations: years of unpaid overtime (years!) along with alleged state and federal labor violations, breach of oral contract and continuing wages.

Yep, your run-of-the-mill California overtime lawsuit… NOT! We’re talking METALLICA!

Now, “Metallica” tends to conjure up headbanging images—think Beavis and Butthead (heh-heh)—and a lot of what some folks would call noise. Case in point, their live “Enter Sandman” video showcases some of those whiplash-inducing moves the band is famous for—and famous they are with that video alone having over 52,000,000 views on youtube. They’re the stuff of (hard) rock legend…off to never-never land! (In fairness, they’ve got some memorable ballads in their repertoire as well—like “Nothing Else Matters” (see video above)).

Ok. So they’re rock stars. And unless much has changed in the last oh, fifty plus years, rock stars tend to be magnets when it comes to wannabes wanting coveted jobs like “personal assistant”. Hell, it’s a twenty year old’s fantasy…screw getting a desk job after 4 years of hitting the books. Hit drop/add with the emphasis on “drop” and hit the road. Yeah, you’re down with the roadies, groupies, parties and perks. The all-access pass to backstage glam and prestige…you’re with the band now, man…(& you can advertise that fact with the t-shirt at right, at zazzle.com).

Oh wait—you expected to be paid on an hourly basis as well? And given a bonus each year? Ahh, but see—as with any situation where supply exceeds demand, prices get driven down. Lots of available labor? Labor gets cheap, right? And maybe that’s when labor starts to get—or at least feel—abused.

Hey, you wanted to be with the band…

So here we are with Lars Ulrich getting sued by his personal assistant. It’s an interesting case—similar to the PR hacks complaining not long ago about their compensation—because clearly this guy, Wiig, put up with the deal for “years” (2001-2009). A decade. Why hang so long in a gig that you think is screwing you over?

According to the Marin Independent Journal, Wiig acted as Ulrich’s chauffeur, managed his art collection, handled his scheduling and “other tasks and errands” upon request. That translated to around 70 hours a week, which was upped to 80 hours a week when Metallica was on tour.

Wiig claimed he performed those duties for $45,000 a year. He also claims to have had a verbal agreement (red flag!) for annual bonuses. Of course, according to marinij.com, Ulrich’s side claims Wiig received $110,000 a year before bonuses, free rent and a free car. I suppose only the tax man knows for sure (wink-wink).

At any rate, the two sides have settled (terms not disclosed). My guess is that Wiig came out ahead on this one—but what to do now? Oh yeah, write a memoir “Snared: My Life with Lars Ulrich and Metallica”.

Tags: California labor law, Lars Ulrich, Metallica, Metallica Drummer, overtime lawsuit, Overtime Pay, Unpaid Overtime, Wage and Hour
Posted in Celebrity, Emerging Issues, Employment, lawsuits | No Comments »