Because the threshold effectively does not exist, all an employer has to do is decide an employee’s job duties make them “exempt”, and then — poof — they don’t need to pay anything extra for any extra hours over 40 in a week.
Read Moreit meant moving up to full-time hours
Some people had other full-time jobs, so they were scheduled on the weekends. A couple other people were offered at least 25 hours/week. And for me and a couple other coworkers, it meant moving up to full-time hours. One of my coworkers had been working three different jobs before secure scheduling, and afterwards she was finally able to get a steady 40-hour schedule, so she was able to quit her other two jobs, which was a huge relief for her.
Read MoreTell L&I: Nobody should have to work without getting paid for it.
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.
Read More"We were generally required to work 45 hours per week or so, but could work as many as 70 to 80."
“Because it didn’t cost my employer anything to keep me working whatever hours they wanted, they didn’t have to take my time into consideration. And so they didn’t.”
Read More"my annual salary was $34,000 a year, with no paid overtime"
As a full-time employee in administration and development, my annual salary was $34,000 a year, with no paid overtime. I was responsible for training volunteers outside of normal work hours, working programmed events that took place from 6 - 10 PM, and administering our annual gala and other fundraising events associated with a major capital campaign, so I frequently worked overtime without compensation.
Read More
"In exchange, I worked 60-90 hours every single week."
"I was a chef/kitchen manager at a restaurant in the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle and got paid a salary of $29,000 a year.
In exchange, I worked 60-90 hours every single week.”
Read More"Businesses can never pay you what your time is worth — your time is invaluable. But they don’t even try."
They try to make folks exempt so they don’t have to pay extra. The way everything works, there’s so much turnover in doing the job. So if I can’t fill a shift any other way, then I have to fill in the shift myself. The shift has to be filled. If one of my hourly staff does it, it’s overtime pay. If I do it, it’s free for the company. But it’s the same shift.
Read More"don't be too hard on Amazon"
Amazon's newest cost-cutting measure seems to be replacing PR hacks with a hand-selected crew of warehouse workers who are taking to Twitter to defend their hero, "Mr. Bezos":
If the whole thing seems a little creepy, don't worry — it's all about efficiency. Social media crisis management is the perfect side gig for an Amazon worker: their bosses can make them Tweet from the nearest restroom and/or water bottle without wasting time on a bathroom break! (Just kidding. Probably.)
You might be thinking, hey, at least they're taking in some extra money to supplement the wages they're making at warehouses in places like Kent, WA (where Michelle and Phil work, according to their Twitter bios). Bezos must be shelling out some of the $143 billion he's worth for warehouse workers to spend hours shilling for him on Twitter — right? According to the "ambassadors," the answer is no:
Amazon's PR staff almost certainly gets paid in the six-figure range — so why are they making warehouse workers defend the richest human in the world for free?
Click here to Tweet at Bezos & his ambassa-bots: "Hey @JeffBezos, if you're going to ask your lowest-wage Amazon workers to spend hours defending you on Twitter, the least you could do is pay them for it."
Mr. Bezos probably has a few dollars to spare. He can afford it.
"No one should have to work 65 hours a week and get paid for 40."
When companies classify workers like me as "overtime exempt," they're basically getting free labor. There were days where I'd spend 14 hours at work instead of 10 because my night cook got sick. I ran through that restaurant like a hurricane, forgetting to take breaks, forgetting to eat even when there was food right in front of me. Someone had to pick up the slack, and since I was the manager, it fell to me. But it affected the entire staff — constantly working unpaid overtime put me at odds with my crew and made me a worse manager.
Read MoreInvisible to powerful: Domestic workers make history
Last month, Seattle City Council voted unanimously to pass a groundbreaking municipal Domestic Workers Bill of Rights which ensures nannies & housecleaners working in Seattle get the basic rights and benefits every worker needs, and creates a new way to set higher industry standards & make further advances.
Until now, few nannies and house cleaners have had access to basic rights and benefits. Some have even been excluded from the minimum wage. And there’s been no good way for workers to come together to set industry-wide standards and improve conditions.
The new Domestic Workers Bill of Rights brings domestic workers from invisible to powerful by:
Covering all part-time, full-time, independent contractors, and live-in domestic workers in the city — regardless of whether they are technically employed by an agency or a family, and regardless of whether they are classified as employees.
Ensuring all domestic workers are covered by the minimum wage and receive rest breaks.
Establishing a Domestic Workers Standards Board which includes workers, employers, and community representatives and has the power to establish industry-wide standards on wages, benefits, training, and other issues.
The Domestic Workers Standards Board is a breakthrough step for workers' rights in Seattle and across the country — a new model of worker power being led by women and people of color who have been too long excluded from other basic legal protections.
Here's how it happened.
We organized.
Nannies, housecleaners, and other domestic workers with Working Washington, Casa Latina, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance have been organizing for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for more than a year.
We shared our stories.
We publicly kicked off our campaign in December with a major event where elected officials heard from nannies and housecleaners and signed on in support of a citywide Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.
We showed our numbers.
In March, we assembled a large-scale display of diapers and gloves at Seattle City Hall, representing each of the housecleaners and nannies in the Seattle area — one diaper for each nanny (about 8,000), one glove-finger for each house cleaner (about 7,000). We also released a report analyzing the conditions facing domestic workers in the city.
We broke down doors.
In June, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda introduced a breakthrough Domestic Workers Bill of Rights — so we broke through some doors of our own at City Hall!
And we made history.
Passing the Bill of Rights means domestic workers in Seattle have ended their exclusion from basic labor standards. They've won important new rights and protections. And most importantly, they've won a whole new model of worker power — a first-in-the-nation Domestic Workers Standards Board which empowers workers & employers to come together to effectively set industry standards on wages, benefits, training, and other issues.
This is a huge step forward. It’s another breakthrough victory for Working Washington members. And just like $15, secure scheduling, paid family leave, and other historic steps for workers rights, it shows how much we can accomplish when come together, speak out, and take action.
Thank you to all the Working Washington members who have gotten us to this point. And if you’re not a member yet, now is the perfect time to join!