"The Left, The Right, and Worker's Rights"

Research, Analysis, and Deductions.

Topic: Bush and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which includes Overtime Pay

Backdrop: Non-Professional Automotive Workers and Union Electricians I teach: "Bush wanted to take away our overtime pay, so we're voting for Kerry."  I knew nothing about this issue, and so took their word for it, and began this research convinced the Republicans and Bush were surely the bad guys this time, that this surely could not be just another Liberal myth, and that I was going to vote for Kerry, because 'Bush was against worker rights, and was only for his rich friends', as my liberal students stated it.

Liberal Statement:

Research:

Observations/ Deductions/ Conclusions:

"Bush tried to get rid of overtime."

Research: From the Dept. of Labor: Full FLSA rights (includes overtime pay): non-management employees in production, maintenance, construction and similar occupations such as carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, iron workers, craftsmen, operating engineers, longshoremen, construction workers and laborers are entitled to minimum wage and overtime premium pay under the FLSA, no matter how highly paid they might be.

Overall "Bush tried to get rid of overtime" is simply another Liberal myth, if not a bald-faced lie, created by and intended for the uninformed masses. Looks like my liberal automotive workers and union electricians were wrong.

No Overtime Pay: executives, administrative, professional and outside sales employees, and certain computer employees.

So it turns out is was the Labor Department simply updating an antiquated regulation that referred to extinct jobs like key-punch operators, and it remains consistent with the original rules as far as separating professionals from labor, and giving labor extra compensations.

Definition: An 'Executive': The employee must be compensated on a salary basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week; The employee’s primary duty must be managing the enterprise, or managing a customarily recognized department or subdivision of the enterprise; The employee must customarily and regularly direct the work of at least two or more other full-time employees or their equivalent; and The employee must have the authority to hire or fire other employees, or the employee’s suggestions and recommendations as to the hiring, firing, advancement, promotion or any other change of status of other employees must be given particular weight.

Conclusion: Only the grossly uninformed would vote for Kerry, or protest this regulation modernization.

Definition: 'Administrative': The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week; The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers; and The employee’s primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance.

Definition: 'Professional': The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week; The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment; The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

Definition: 'Outside Sales': The employee’s primary duty must be making sales (as defined in the FLSA), or obtaining orders or contracts for services or for the use of facilities for which a consideration will be paid by the client or customer; and The employee must be customarily and regularly engaged away from the employer’s place or places of business.

Definition: 'Computer': The employee must be compensated either on a salary or fee basis at a rate not less than $455 per week or, if compensated on an hourly basis, at a rate not less than $27.63 an hour; The employee must be employed as a computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer or other similarly skilled worker in the computer field performing the duties described below; The employee’s primary duty must consist of: 1) The application of systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications; 2) The design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications;

3)  he design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems; or 4) A combination of the aforementioned duties, the performance of which requires the same level of skills.

Definition: 'Journalists/Reporters': Relying upon federal case law, the final regulations clarify that employees of newspapers, magazines, television and other media get overtime if they only collect, organize and record information that is routine or already public, or if they do not contribute a unique interpretation or analysis to a news product.

Definition: 'Veterens': (get overtime) No amount of military training will satisfy the requirements of the learned professional exemption because the exemption applies only to employees who are in occupations that have attained recognized professional status, which requires that an advanced specialized academic degree is a standard prerequisite for entrance into the profession. The employee’s primary duty must be to perform work requiring advanced knowledge; The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

Definition: “blue collar” (get overtime) employees gain the skills and knowledge required for performance of their routine manual and physical work through apprenticeships and on-the-job training, not through the prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction required for exempt* learned professional employees. (*no overtime)

Definition: 'Nurses': Registered nurses who are paid on an hourly basis should receive overtime pay.  However, registered nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board generally meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption, and if paid on a salary basis of at least $455 per week, may be classified as exempt. Licensed practical nurses and other similar health care employees, however, generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals, regardless of work experience and training, because possession of a specialized advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry into such occupations, and are entitled to overtime pay.