The 35-year-old Bank of America (BAC.N) investment banker who died from a blood clot earlier this month wanted to leave the U.S. bank because he was working more than 100 hours a week, according to an executive recruiter who spoke with him about seeking a new job.
100? Wtf?! How is that even legal?
‘EXEMPT’. there’s no cap on salaried employees
There is a cap on salaried employees but the cap is focused on contiguous hours worked and, AFAICT, no managers have ever been held responsible for not noticing people are working that many hours - the cap is usually enforced by workers saying “Fuck you I’m going home to eat and sleep” and being immune from retribution (not from the fuck you part though).
There are also a lot of laws around workplace safety that may kick in - I worked at a game studio and our boss started paying for cabs home after 7 PM after someone complained about our neighborhood getting noticeably less safe after the dinner rush for restaurants ended. They did that voluntarily but a labor lawyer I’d spoken to after speaking with my coworker said we’d likely be able to legally compell them.
In most of the United States this is partially true: your fixed salary cannot be docked for failing to work overtime, but you can absolutely be terminated for this reason, or any other reason, or no reason at all.
You can also be offered a new job at a lower fixed salary going forward. But the fixed salary cannot be changed for periods that have already been worked.
Even in at-will employment states this is untrue… or, rather, you can be fired for any reason but it won’t be without recourse. If you’re not given a reason for dismissal but that dismissal happens right after you request FMLA leave, or announce you’re pregnant, or request reasonable accommodations for a disability, or head home after an unsafe amount of working hours… yea, your employer can fire you but it’s likely you can sue them. With all things lawyer it depends on specifics. But non-shitty labor lawyers work on commission and should be willing to review your case for viability for free.
If you were fired for an illegal reason, you probably have a better case than you think.
Salary. It’s how they enslave you.
Been there, done that. Salaried workers have no limit on how much they can be required to work without additional pay.
I’ve always treated salary as basically the idea that I should average about 40 hours of work a week, but that I get to determine if I need to work 80 one week and then 20 for two or whatever. When it’s time to grind, I grind, and then I pull back on my hours. I don’t ask for permission, I simply manage my own time.
I’ve been fairly fortunate it seems. I got called in once for not showing up to work for four days. I explained I did six hours of remote work during those four days related to staff questions and projects, but that I had worked seven straight 12-hour days the week before. I was then told how much the person I was talking to works, and I said they should probably take some time as well, and I ended the meeting.
As far as I’m concerned, having a salary means you don’t have to pay someone to make sure I’m getting my work done. I manage my own tasks, I manage my staff, and I manage my hours. If they have a problem with that, they can take a flying fuck at a rolling donut, and I will go elsewhere to work.