Programmer Overtime: Time to Change the Law

Tampa, FL"I was employed by a major US supermarket chain and all the programmers worked a minimum 45 hour week," says Ray Hudson (not his real name pending a lawsuit). If we were based in California where overtime laws are more progressive, I likely would have been able to collect overtime."

"In Florida, all of us are classified as salaried employees, which means that we are exempt from overtime," adds Hudson. Ironically, Fortune ranked this giant grocery chain in the top 100 companies to work for in 2007. Perhaps programmers were not included in their poll.

"Most people I worked with were not in management, including myself. We didn't supervise any other employees nor did we fill out reports, but were still classified as exempt, and this policy is typical for IT workers all across the U.S.

"I recently quit working for this company and I am now hired as a consultant which means that I get paid for overtime over 40 hours per week, and I do the job that I am contracted to do. In my opinion, the laws regarding full-time employment and overtime were not well drafted to protect programmers and IT employees. Instead, the law was written intentionally to single us out from exemption for overtime."

LAS: Why would the law be designed that way?

"I believe that the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) lobbyists invest heavily into lobby activities and campaign contributions and they have enormous power over our government," says Hudson, "which means that the interests of corporations took precedence over workers. It's as simple as that—one way to keep salaries down.

LAS: Do you forsee a change anytime soon?

"I am hopeful that the democratic government will make changes in this area because they are more pro-labor (although these laws were drafted while Bill Clinton was president). If you look at the long-term wage growth of IT workers since 2000—when adjusted for inflation—salaries have remained relatively flat while the demands of corporations continue to increase," says Hudson.

This has created quite an imbalance, particularly regarding programmers nearing the end of their careers. The 50-plus age group has suffered from little or no overtime protection. Isn't it about time to change the laws concerning overtime? In every state?