Should The Law Remain Unchanged

Even now major retailers, such as fast food industry, also want to pay the minimum that the state requires. “Consequently, a low minimum wage has long been a crucial part of the fast food industry’s business plan.” (pg73) In Fast Food Nation they even go have a system in put. They make sure most workers work forty hours a week and no more for after forty hours they have to pay overtime. They even go further making sure the employees work during busy hours and during slow hours they’re either let go to go home. “Managers try to make sure that each wrker is employed less than forty hours a week, thereby avoiding any overtime payments…the chains keep their labor costs to a bare minimum.”(pg74)

The Fair Labor Standards Act has been amended many times and is virtually an ever-changing law, however, it does not cover all employees. There are several classes of “exempt” employees, including salaried employees in the executive/managerial, administrative, and professional areas. Outside salespeople are also considered exempt. One of the issues facing companies today is knowing which employees are exempt and which are non-exempt. There are tests to determine if an employee is exempt. In 2004 the tests changed to a standard test, which is whether or not the employee’s salary is $455/week or greater and the duties test, which allows for exempt status if more than 50% of the work performed by an individual is “exempt work.” (Pass and Broadwater) Exempt employees do not receive overtime pay, which can be a substantial cost savings to a company. My previous employer required that an exempt manager close the center each night even though we had non-exempt team leads who acted as managers in most capacities. The reason was to avoid overtime costs.

How will the new FLSA laws affect you? If you are making $47,476 a year or less, the new FLSA laws require your employer to pay you overtime after you work over forty hours in a week. If you are making over $47,476 a year you will not be paid overtime because your are considered overtime exempt. Being overtime exempt means you make enough money for your employer to legally not pay you overtime.

Increasing the Federal Minimum wage to from $7.50 an hour to $15 an hour would be shocking to the US economic system but a proposal of an immediate increase to $10.50 an hour and three years later to $15 an hour has been suggested. (Pollin and Wicks-Lim 717) This would give the economy time to digest the increase in labor costs and

Over the last two decades, American workers have been clocking more and more hours on the job, and they now work more hours than workers in any other industrialized country. Annual work hours are 4% higher than they were in 1980, amounting to an extra 1 hour and 30 minutes at work per week, on average (ILO 1999). Workers are also clocking more overtime hours. Almost one-third of the workforce regularly works more than the standard 40-hour week; one-fifth work more than 50 hours. The growth in overtime work, while helping to drive the healthy growth in output in the U.S., has unhealthy social costs. It is taking its toll not only on workers, but on their families, communities, and, ultimately in many cases, patients, customers, and

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage that employers have to compensate the workers for their service. Currently the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However, many states also have their own minimum wage laws. In those instances, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages. In this paper we will discuss the brief history of the minimum wage law and its current legislation. We will also analyze the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage, and the merits of each argument.

If you own a business that has employees (other than yourself), you may, at some point, need the help of a Fair Labor Standards attorney. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938, established minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor standards affecting full- and part-time workers in both the private and public sectors. As an employer, you must adhere to the provisions of the FLSA or face these legal or criminal actions that only an experienced Fair Labor Standards attorney can assist you with:

Not getting paid for hours worked laws provide that employers must abide by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to ensure that all employees are paid for those hours worked. However, many states have their own state laws regarding overtime pay; but the FLSA sets the minimum standard. States can in fact provide additional financial compensation to employees above the FLSA if they choose to do so.

Umesh Regmi Dr. Lisa Moody English 101 Section 54 22 November 2014 Time for a Raise “A family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. That’s wrong. Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty.” —President Barack Obama. For the purpose of keeping America out of poverty and increase consumer purchasing power in order to simulate the economy, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the law of minimum wage on June 25, 1938 as a part of the Fair labor Standards Act of 1938. The first minimum wage was $0.25 an hour, which is equivalent to $4.18 in today’s dollars. Started from $0.25 an hour, the minimum wage was raised to $7.25 per hour on July 24, 2009. Although the minimum wage has been increased to $7.25 an hour, the value of it has fallen sharply over the past forty years. In 1968, the federal minimum wage was $1.60 an hour, which translates to $10.90 in 2013 dollars. One of the most important reasons behind declaring the minimum wage law is to ensure that even the lowest-paid workers would receive an adequate level of pay. Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage raise in 2009 was way lower than it was in 1968. The law that promises to pay its workers sufficient money for their living has failed in past decades. In order to adjust the minimum wage to the inflation, to improve the living standard of the people, and to boost the overall economy of the country,

However, the Director of Nursing and Management are exempt, but the higher salaries they paid to management will still probably be much higher than their hourly counterpart. Because of the enormous earning of upper management Companies are justified in not paying them for overtime

Minimum wage is a problem, but most don’t want to raise it. Raising minimum wage will be a big problem now and including the future. Raising minimum wage is a problem depending on a social hierarchy. For many years the U.S had had many protesters and this is a problem according to state officials. Family's around the world are surviving on as little as 4.25 an hour in this case people have to survive off of food stamps and family members. Job owners can choose to higher the pay due to a raise in the company or a downgrade will determine whether they will make below minimum wage. Minimum wage should be increased from 7.25 to 9.00 an hour because of the over qualified, educated, and experienced Americans who are now relying on minimum wage jobs as a result of the struggling economy. Also, increasing minimum wage could help stimulate the economy. But, in order to get the economy back on track the spending power must be in the hands of the Americans who in fact, spend. With today's tough job market most job seekers are willing to acquire positions they are considered over qualified for, even if it means taking a pay cut. Therefore, an increase in minimum wage will ensure that low wage over qualified workers have the means for vital necessities like housing, food, transportation and health care. Last year, more 200,000 Americans with college degrees were working minimum wage jobs due to our struggling economy. Furthermore, an increase in minimum wage would help stimulate the economy by multiplying consumer spending without expanding the state

With this overtime occuring often, it is impacting the quality of life of this particular employee which must be examined by upper management and a decision must be made to improve the process in a more efficient manner in order to reduce the overtime days.

In 2014 President Obama directed for the regulations on overtime to be updated, from there came the Overtime Rule which allows for anyone making under 50,000 dollars a year, on salary, and working more than 40 hours a week to get paid overtime. Essentially “working extra hours= extra pay”. (The Overtime Rule, 2016) This new policy will impact the middle class population and “… will extend protection to 4.2 million workers across the country” (The Overtime

Since we do not know what Jane Swift’s current salary is, it is difficult say whether or not her salary meets the current threshold for the salary test for overtime pay. The current regulations state an employee must earn at least $455 weekly to be exempt from being paid overtime (Schreter & McCutchen, 2016). The new Department of Labor regulations will increase this amount to $913 weekly in the near future. Jane states that she spends more than half her time at work performing duties that non management activities. According the law, it requires the duties assigned to the employee to be at a managerial, administrative, or executive level (Bryniarski, 2016). The employee must spend the majority of the time at work performing managerial level

The previous salary threshold that determined whether an employee was entitled to overtime pay was certainly outdated. Being that the majority of workers made over the $23,660 threshold, most American workers weren’t eligible for overtime pay even though their salary alone was barely a living wage. The new FLSA rule provides those who need additional money to support their lifestyle an opportunity to dedicate more of their time to their company in exchange for a fair rate for those additional hours. While this situation may not seem positive to employers, it certainly creates a better work environment for employees. This rule gives the employers the option of either hiring more workers to make sure every essential task is complete or pay those