My Second Blog - Labor Law Talk

I want to talk about labor laws. The labor laws in this country need help. Let me paint this picture for you.... An employee has worked for a company for 15 years, being a model citizen, doing whatever needed to be done, including occasional overtime. This particular employee is classified as "exempt". What does that mean? It means he is not paid for overtime. So a new boss arrives, and says "You are expected to work 60+ hours a week if you want to work in my department", and "You have to work starting this Saturday". Employee says "No Way". New boss fires employee. Employee is denied unemployment insurance compensation.

Don't think this can happen? Think again. The labor laws that govern many white-collar workers in the US are extremely skewed towards the employer, not the employee. Based on what I can interpret, the only part of the laws that favor the exempt employee is that an employer may not deduct from their pay for missed time if they work any part of a pay week. So basically if you go to work on Monday, stop to pick up a quart of milk on the way home and get run over by a beer truck while walking to your car, end up in the hospital the rest of the week, you will get paid for the entire week.

There is one caveat, however.

If you happen to have vacation time available, or "personal time", as my company calls it, the employer can use it to offset your time out. How can they do this? They can do this because your "personal time" or vacation time is not viewed as compensation. So basically, there goes your trip to Aruba you were planning in 4 months.

To put it simply, if I understand the laws correctly, if you are an exempt employee, you are basically an indentured servant the rest of the time. Employers that want to get rid of you can tell you to work around the clock without pay beyond your normal shift, and if you refuse they can fire you and you are not eligible for unemployment.

So with corporate greed being as widespread as it is, more and more Americans are working longer and longer days, largely uncompensated. Spending less time with their families, and enjoying life.... just another reason why the divorce rate is so high, our kids are out of control, and generally, America is becoming less of a nice place.