Labor law in the US

Labor law in the US is bare bones and essentially assures people are paid for their work.That's about it.

On the Department of labor (DOL) web site it states:

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or federal or other holidays. These benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee's representative).


You can add the 12-weeks of unpaid time authorized by the family and medical leave Act., too. Women who were pregnant could use this time to care for their newborn child. it could be also applied to families with members who were severely ill.

However, you must have worked at a companies with 50 or more employees fir 12 months to be eligible for the 12-weeks. 

Yet the GOP threw a sissy fit when Congress introduced this act.

This is why more private sector labor unions are needed. Employees need paid vacations, paid sick leave  and holidays. They also need to be able to file grievances against stupid managers who are using bad judgment or violating the law.

Unfortunately, the union movement is very weak in the US. Most of the unions are public sector. Private sector unions only account for only 6.9 per cent of the labor force.

Labor unions help he Democratic Party win elections, but the Democrats rarely return the favor to labor. This is one of the reasons that private sector union movement is so weak.

Now the Republicans like Scott Walker are attacking the public sector unions as well.

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WIN: Wal-Mart will pay nearly $5 million in owed back wages

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Another day and another investigation into the practices of the World’s Largest Retailer. Jesse Russell reports:

On the heels of allegations that Wal-Mart may have sought to cover up bribery in Mexico, the world’s largest retailer is now being required to pay nearly $5 million in back wages and damages.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced yesterday that an investigation revealed that Wal-Mart had denied more than 4,000 employees overtime.

The Labor Department alleges that Wal-Mart had misclassified asset protection coordinators and managers

In their vision center as salaried employees exempt from overtime paid as guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The allegations go back to 2007 and Wal-Mart said it took corrective action at that time. The company was also hit with a civil penalty of more than $450,000 due to the repetitive nature of the violations.

This is a common problem in small business but less common in large corporations. To increase productivity and avoid hiring new workers, corporations will authorize overtime for existing workers.

Eventually the corporation will become concerned about overtime costs and they will say no further overtime is authorized. Management will assume that productivity will be maintained , but it will take a drop.

In the last stages of this corporate pee-pee dance, one of the wise guy executives will suggest reclassifying hourly workers as mangers so overtime doesn't have to be paid. 


Bad idea!


Under wage and hour laws, a a manager supervises other people and runs a unit in the enterprise. 


However, there are exempt jobs from this labor rule law like teachers. Managers who make less than $455  a week or less are also eligible for overtime. There are a lot of  other "ifs, ands or buts" under the Fair Labor Standards Act: see http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17a_overview.pdf

source: Workers Independent News

graphic: Garrett Law
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WIN: Home Care Workers Could Soon Have Minimum Wage And Overtime Protections

12/15/2011

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Some basic labor protections could soon be extended. Jesse Russell reports.

Home care workers could soon have the same minimum wage and overtime protections as most occupations. The Obama administration announced on Thursday that it planned to propose regulations that would put those workers, currently classified in the same category as babysitters, under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In a statement the President said, “They work hard and play by the rules and they should see that work and responsibility rewarded.”

For nearly forty years home care workers have been under the “companionship” label which is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Some basic labor protections could soon be extended. Jesse Russell reports.

Home care workers could soon have the same minimum wage and overtime protections as most occupations. The Obama administration announced on Thursday that it planned to propose regulations that would put those workers, currently classified in the same category as babysitters, under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In a statement the President said, “They work hard and play by the rules and they should see that work and responsibility rewarded.”

For nearly forty years home care workers have been under the “companionship” label which is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Home health care is a big indistry in Florida where there are numerous home health care aide jobs. Undoubtedly, Gov. Rick Scott will not see this "worker friendly" change as "business friendly." 

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