But right here in Washington state, there’s a loophole that lets companies get out of paying overtime — no matter how many hours you work. They simply have to pay you a salary and claim the nature of your job makes you “exempt” from overtime… and then they don’t have to pay you an extra dime if you work more than 40 hours in a week.

Technically there are rules about what kind of jobs can be exempt, but usually your employer is the one who tells you whether you get overtime or not. If you think they’re wrong, you maybe could file a claim over that classification. But unless you have a lawyer on retainer, in the day to day reality of the workplace, your employer gets to decide.

The good news: the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) is working on new rules that could finally close the overtime loophole for hundreds of thousands of salaried workers.

We’re asking the state to require that any worker who’s paid less than three times the minimum wage (about $75,000 a year) gets time-and-a-half if they work more than 40 hours a week — regardless of whether or not they’re hourly or salaried, and no matter what fancy title their boss gives them.

It may seem weird to think of a salaried worker getting overtime pay, but as recently as the 1970s, more than 60% of salaried workers got time-and-a-half when they worked overtime. Now just 7% of salaried workers do — and it’s not because people are working less.

Workers won the 40-hour workweek a long time ago. It should be the standard, not the exception. Some jobs may require long hours, but if an employer expects someone to work more than 40 hours a week, they should be expected to pay accordingly.Workers are human beings, and our time counts, too.

workingwa.org

 

Now available for download and streaming, The Last Guardians takes viewers to the Ecuadorian Amazon to further understand the struggle of indigenous community members as they defend their land and culture against the threats they face from extractive industries.

Filmmakers Joe Tucker and Adam Punzano interview leaders of the Sapara and the Kichwa of Sarayaku – long-time Amazon Watch partners – who provide a first-hand account of the current climate and environmental justice crisis in the Amazon.

Through storytelling, these representatives relate their everyday struggles as the Ecuadorian government continues to back oil companies whose activities deforest the Amazon, poison the water, and destroy homes and families.

But all hope is not lost, as the film clearly demonstrates. Cameras capture how Sapara and Sarayaku communities are working to protect their territories and cultures and highlight the central role that resilient indigenous women leaders play at the forefront of the struggle.

 

Friends —So, the other day we were at a federal Department of Labor “listening session” about overtime rules. Some of the business lawyer types there were insisting that people who work long hours for low salaries don’t actually want more money OR more time. What workers really want, these corporate lawyers & lobbyists insisted, is the “prestige” of being called salaried. That didn’t sound quite right to us. So we thought we’d ask:

Which one would you prefer?

More money or more time

More “prestige”

Cast your vote, then let us know — how does your work schedule work for you?