Law question

[Hoober]

Anyway, I don't call the shots so I can accept it or leave. My co-worker has a meeting this afternoon with our boss and his boss. We'll see what happens.

I had a boss that sounds real similar to what you describe -- best friend one day, real horse's ass the next. I ended up finding another job and leaving, and extremely happy I did. In my exit interview I made it clear to HR what I thought of my supervisor.

He ended up getting fired less than a month later.

Those were much better economic times, though. Good luck.

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
Here's some clarification:

I'm not asking this so that my co-worker can SUE SUE SUE!!! What I'm asking is if he says "I want that off because you said it wouldn't be on reviews" and the boss refuses does he have the law on his side or not?

And here's an update:

My co-worker IM'ed the boss this morning and said he'd like to have that email attached to his review. The boss flipped out on him and came into his office and started yelling at him. Said that the co-worker knows he has an "hours issue" and that from now on any changes he makes to the network must be approved by him first.

Now, I know what you're thinking next -- "the co-worker must have done more than clock out a few mins early to warrant such a response." You'd be partially right. One of the oddities about my boss is that one day he'll be joking around with you and treat you like his best friend. The next day he'll be yelling and screaming at you for something insignificant. As someone else said about him "he's the kind of guy that likes to think he has the longest dick in the locker room."

Anyway, my co-worker is not perfect. He was promoted to be a network technician from help desk and expected to learn on the job. He has done so very well and, after a year, is close to getting his CCNA.

The "hours issue" the boss was referring to I can only imagine is because the co-worker has called in sick more than average, but not enough to warrant discipline. However, for every 4 minutes he clocks out early, there is an instance of him working over VPN at night, coming in to fix network issues after hours, or coming in early. So what the big "issue" is I'm not really sure.

I'm a server guy and can empathize. I spend 2-6 hours every week patching servers, doing work after hours, etc. on top of my 40 spent sitting in my desk. Most days I work through lunch as well. A typical week for me is 48-50 hours. I got talked to a few weeks ago because I occasionally leave a few minutes early. Didn't think anything of it until this came up.

I'm in agreement with others that as a salaried employee one is paid to do a job. IMO so long as one is available (near a cell phone and internet access) in case something happens and is present for meetings, it shouldn't matter how many hours a person works or where they do it from. I'm expected to work over 40 hours without batting an eye so why should working 38 be a big deal? Why doesn't the door swing both ways?

Anyway, I don't call the shots so I can accept it or leave. My co-worker has a meeting this afternoon with our boss and his boss. We'll see what happens.

I only have the time to read the first paragraph from this:


IMHO it's too late for your friend to do jack squat. He's probably going to get canned, and even if he can get HR heavily involved then it's only a matter of time before it happens.

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

Originally posted by: fisheerman

Originally posted by: aceO07
If the coworker's performance was so good that he deserved a raise, then it's crappy that they used the excuse of 4 minutes. If it was really that good of a performance he should have argued it. Would be lame for the boss to keep saying '4 minutes late' to excuse every improvement.

The mere fact that they have installed a timeclock ought to clue you in that they (management) isn't trying to prove a case to other higher ups. They are documenting things that they need in order to justify letting someone (you?) go.

It is necessary in case of lawsuits.

Management has someone in mind for the chopping block. If I were you I would be clocking in 15 minutes early and staying 15 minutes late every single day.

good luck

-fish

This, most definitely.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Originally posted by: dullard
I believe the law is a little fuzzy in your situation, but you might want to look into whether you and your coworkers qualify for overtime. By law, certain salaried workers are owed overtime if they are clocked in/out. If I understand it correctly (I'm not an expert so look this up), you are owed overtime even on a salary if you :

1) Clock in/out
2) Make less than $100k/year base salary (before bonuses and other compensation),
3) Are not an executive, administrator, or professional.

The fuzzy part of the law is that some network people are professionals and some aren't. I think because he doesn't yet have his CCNA, he can more easilly claim that he isn't yet a professional.

If this applies to you, then bring it up to your boss. When faced with the idea that he may have to pay every employee hundreds/thousands of dollars of overtime each month, your boss will likely VERY QUICKLY eliminate #1 (clocking in/out). 4 minutes here or there is nothing compared to having to keep track of and pay overtime for salaried workers.

1.) Nothing in the FLSA prevents an employer from requiring an exempt employee to clock in and clock out. This does not change the exempt status. Just because you clock in/clock out does not mean you are non-exempt.

2.) The $100,000 (in total annual compensation, by the way) is a classification of exemption. Just because you make below that does not mean that you lose your exemption.

3.) Not true. While those are three classes for exemption, there are others as well (including the "Highly-Compensated" exemption in #2)

You have your executive exemption, administrative exemption, learn professional exemption, creative professional exemption, highly-compensated employee exemption, computer professiona; exemption, and outside sales exemption as standard exemptions. There are other specific exemptions as well.

Him having a CCNA or not means nothing, as the duties test is applied to his job function.