On The Job
From the April, 2004 press release:

"Working overtime by its very definition means someone is working hard, going above and beyond the call. Here in Illinois at least, a good day’s work still means a good day’s pay," said state Sen. Barack Obama (D-Chicago), chief Senate sponsor of SB 1645.

If you don't live in Illinois and have people like Barack Obama looking out for you, good luck with getting that overtime.

A lot of people don't understand what this overtime thing is all about. Why not just take the comp time and enjoy it? To that I say, comp time is great if you already have money, and it isn't done at your employer's whim, up to (I believe) a year after you did the extra duty -- when the company may even have gone out of business, or you've been promoted or shifted into a job where you can't carry the time with you.

But the biggest problem is that most people need the overtime on top of sometimes having to work a second job. The new federal law also makes it easier to reclassify someone as "exempt" (i.e., they assume you live and breathe your boss's life for him), and can now take away overtime more easily for trumped up reasons.

When Edwards spoke in Milwaukee yesterday, this was one of the issues that got the strongest response. I was glad to see that someone was alert, because WaPO reports that on the remainder of his trek through Wisconsin, he's been hitting this theme hard.

So now I'm off the clock. Bloggers are exempt. On the other hand, all my time is comp time right now.

- posted by Cynthia @ 11:20 PM | | | Link |