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Supposedly, this new law "clarifies" the non-exempt categories of work that are entitled by law to get overtime. And of course, it recategorized many jobs, moving most engineering or development type work into management - because as we all know, people who are skilled labor or can be considered consultants can "manage" themselves. And as we working stiffs know very well, management is considered an exempt position, even if it is paid at an hourly rate for budget tracking on contracts. Oh, yeah - the new law is supposed to require that part time and temporary people be paid overtime as long as they're being paid hourly, no matter what their work status is. That's a plus for the WalMart closing cashiers that are locked in over 8 hours - however, it does nothing for skilled labor, which most of the so-called "middle class" is composed of.
Funny thing is, from what I've seen of labor laws existing prior to this(posted in every worksite by law in CA)- it was pretty clear who could be considered exempt and who could be considered non-exempt in terms of pay status. The other interesting consideration with these new rules is that it affects government work and "wage determined" contracts - long a sore spot to bottom-liner CEO's because most of them don't want to pay prevailing wages, especially in a tight job market when there are hundreds of desperate people applying for any one job - especially the mid-level and upper level skilled labor.
Before the economy tanked, a company would generally hire, say, a "Production Engineer" - a skilled, trained (college level), experienced worker; a professional - a starting pay of $25 an hour to go out and work/manage site jobs on a tightly budgeted series of projects over the life-cycle of a three to five year contract- where s/he could easily find her/himself earning between $50 - $90K a year due to the many 60-80 hour weeks that Engineer will have to actually work, lugging tools and test equipment in a possibly dangerous environment during those long stretches of hours as well as the laptop.
I've worked those hours before. One tires, one can make mistakes and/or get injured if they go on too long. One of the benefits of working those hours was the overtime, which not only acted as a "reward" for my sweat, blood, tears, and lack of family time, but as a check to my employer - they would always have to balance their budget and my working hours, and it would really, really have to be worth it to them to casually mismanage or underbid a contract so as to require me to work 7 days a week, 10 - 12 hours a day for the two or three months on site to get the job done.
Well, now - this law indicates that this skilled worker is to be treated the same as the marketing assistant who sits in his office doing an average of 40 hours a week with an occasional 5 or 6 hours schmoozing clients. So that Engineer - as well as the couple "Master Tradespersons" who work alongside him or her to get the job done will find themselves exempt - and their individual 540 man-hours of work over say 9 weeks will only net them the pay of 360 man-hours.
Maybe if they're lucky, they'll get paid comp time off...but I doubt any company will give a mid-level hourly employee 180 hours paid time off for any reason.
IMO, this is basically a way of getting rid of the fair wage practice levels for work as put out by the GSA - and probably a way of breaking the backs of those "wasteful" government employees that do menial tasks like going out to sites to monitor hazardous waste, survey air quality, install upgrades and field changes as well as new equipment.
To the investment class, labor is labor, no matter if it's skilled or general, no matter if you had to have years of schooling and 10 - 20 years experience in the field to qualify for requirements of the position. You've still been working with your hands, so it's not the same as having to go to a famous University and getting a 6-year Masters Degree in Business Administration.
Sorry the bitterness shows, but we've got a bunch o' bean counting weenies in our management hierarchy now because the current district head isn't comfortable with people that tell him the truth. So he gets bean counters to lay people off and hire new people in at lower pay than usual, and wonders why the work isn't getting done as well or is as profitable as it used to be.
In the technical field, short term gains by playing games with hiring, payroll and regular expenditures usually means long term losses. You've got to spend money to make money, and I've long wondered what MBA's have been learning since the mid-80's, because they don't seem to understand the quality that a good, motivated workforce brings to a company...
Haele
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