Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I wonder what some of our seasonal restaurants will do that work salaried managers 70/80 hours a week???
I don't know, pay them maybe? I actually support this 100%. I've been abused by this crap as a worker and I see companies abuse classifications all the time. Not only should they reduce who is considered exempt, but they should dramatically ratchet up enforcement and penalties for companies that violate the law. This thread is a perfect example of the "law & order" crowd and their hypocrisy. They love the law when it is used to punish people they don't like, but they loath the law when it prevents them from abusing and exploiting workers to enrich themselves.
Interesting that you mention Restaurant Impossible and the fate of many mom and pops. The same holds true in a lot of businesses. My most recent place of employment - a failed machines hop - meant the same fate you describe. Inept leadership destroyed the place, yet to the bitter end the "leaders" ignored reality and kept trying to pass the buck to those beneath them.
If a "leader" is unable to take accountability for their actions, separate facts from "I want this - NOW!" and LEAD, they have no business raking in the big bucks.
That is the reason I avoid mom and pops. Personal experience has shown me these are America's worst run organizations, and while 9 in 10 fail, even more deserve that fate.
I don't know, pay them maybe? I actually support this 100%. I've been abused by this crap as a worker and I see companies abuse classifications all the time. Not only should they reduce who is considered exempt, but they should dramatically ratchet up enforcement and penalties for companies that violate the law. This thread is a perfect example of the "law & order" crowd and their hypocrisy. They love the law when it is used to punish people they don't like, but they loath the law when it prevents them from abusing and exploiting workers to enrich themselves.
Basically. When confronted with corporate corruption and abuse that skirt the edges of what is technically legal, such as most of the Housing Bubble, they'll prattle on about the letter of the law (laws that are often written by corporate lobbyists!) and not the actual spirit of it, thus defending corruption. And yet, when the letter of the law expressly forbids corporate corruption and labor force exploitation, they'll take the other side of the debate and try to defend bad behavior with the "spirit of capitalism" or some nonsense. In short, whatever it takes to defend those with the most money, the most power, and often with zero accountability for their behavior. The final irony is that these types often hate government since "it's too big and powerful" and yet are fine with big corporations filling the exact same role of being too large and powerful. Power corrupts, and that applies to governments, corporations, religions, and individuals and everything else - no one is exempt and checks and balances must be applied to all in power.
This is huge news, and I'm directly affected by it.
I make slightly more than $455/week in a full-time exempt salaried position. I spend probably 20% of my time in an executive role and 80% in a non-supervisory role.
I also work 70+ hours per week, so that most weeks I am making less than minimum wage. I've always thought it was absurd that companies and organizations can get away with this, and it looks like they might not be able to for much longer...
My opinion is that if you are hourly you should get paid overtime, however I believe that a more precise definition of overtime needs to be established nationally. I mean, I have worked at places where overtime is anything over 8 hours in any given day regardless of total hours worked per week, and, of course, I have worked in places that had the typical over-40/week overtime. I have also worked a job that paid triple-time for any time worked after midnight regardless of total hours worked prior to midnight and I worked a job that rolled overtime hours into the next week and paid overtime based on anything worked over 80 hours in the pay period...even though this was illegal.
I also worked one job that was exempt from paying overtime.
Honestly, what I believe will happen with this EO, and this is especially true for those fast-food and other restaurant managers, is that they will be sent home the second their time cards are at 40 hours for the week. It will be cheaper in the long run for companies to simply hire one or more employees to pick up the slack instead of paying overtime. On one hand this is a great way to encourage business to hire more employees, on the other, it will mean a reduction in pay for many employees.
The same thing goes for many managers at airlines, I know someone who worked for a recently bankrupt airline and they were expected to work 12-14 hour days, 6-7 days a week with no overtime, no comp time, etc and were told "well you're a manager you are expected to put this job first" It was ridiculous. People quit/got fired because they couldn't have time off for their kids graduations, weddings, etc. I hope this would take care of stuff like that.
Heck, everyone was doing a hell of a lot better when Clinton was in office.
Totally agree with that statement! I've said it many times even though I didn't really like him all that much. The 90's were great! It was an employee's market and if you didn't like your job or they treated you bad, you could have another job lined up within a week.
If we were back in that economy, I wouldn't have any problem getting a new job much faster than I am in this current climate.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,641 posts, read 12,013,125 times
Reputation: 9891
Restaurant managers get screwed by the exempt status, too. They are under constant pressure to keep labor down (especially when food prices rise). What does that mean? Send home the supporting staff and have the managers do everything from washing dishes to bussing tables to seating customers and put in 80-hour work weeks for the same salary. Absolutely ridiculous.
Restaurant managers get screwed by the exempt status, too. They are under constant pressure to keep labor down (especially when food prices rise). What does that mean? Send home the supporting staff and have the managers do everything from washing dishes to bussing tables to seating customers and put in 80-hour work weeks for the same salary. Absolutely ridiculous.
Hopefully, via EO the outrageously low $455 threshhold is raised..big time. Ca's is $800, and IMO, $900-$1k per week should be the absolute minimum threshhold nationally via EO.
$455 is a clerk with a manager's "title". It violates the spirit of the law.
I'm not an Obama fan, but this one issue I give him credit for attacking.
WHERE did this moron (or liar) ever see someone supervising 5 people who swept floors and stocking shelves 95% of the time. And yes, I worked in the grocery business.
Actually, this happens a lot in security and janitorial work. The employee spends more than 90% of his or her time doing lower-level work, but he/she is responsible for overseeing the people who are working with him/her and/or acting as a liaison between management and line employees. They are often called a "lead." However, I have never personally seen anyone in this type of position classified as exempt because they either make too little to be classified that way or they are paid by the hour. Also, I've worked with crew leaders and shift supervisors at fast food restaurants who spend the vast majority of their time doing line work instead of supervising.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
