This American (Working) Life

Back then, people would immigrate to New York with their American Dream taking up their minds and would expect the doors of opportunity to open for them but the only way they can access this is by working hard. Today, the American dream still exist and anyone can access to it, yet some struggle to achieve their dreams.

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.

The United States has a history of changes to the minimum wage law. “Early in the administration of the FLSA (Fair labor Standards Act); it became apparent that application of the statutory minimum wage was likely to produce undesirable effects upon the economies of Puerto Rico and the Virgin islands .In 1949, the minimum wage was raised from 40 cents and hours to 75 cents an hour for all workers. A 1955 amendment increased the minimum wage to $1.00 an hour with no changes in coverage. The minimum wage increased to $2.00 an hour in 1974, and $2.10 in 1975, and $

Concerning the wage rate, the United States government has intervened to maintain a lower limit on the hourly wage rate of a worker’s labor by implementing a price floor known as the minimum wage rate. This legal floor on the market price of labor sets a minimum hourly pay rate for workers in the United States. Effective July 24, 2009 the federal minimum wage rate is $7.25; in states that also have minimum wage laws the employee may be subject to both federal and state minimum wage laws, in which case they are entitled to the higher minimum wage rate (U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, 2011). Since the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was created in 1938 the federal minimum wage rate has gradually increased from $0.25 in 1938 to $7.25 present (U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, 2011). Although continuing to increase the minimum wage rate may include potential positive factors, it would hinder the U.S. economy overall.

Though it can be legitimately argued that the fundamentals of America have always remained constant, Jackson Lears’ theory about the radical transformation of post-1877 America is largely correct. With the advent of ferociously competitive industrialism, aggressive expansionism and an urban rush of the likes never before seen, the late 18th century indeed marked a period of great change, for better or worse.

In 1938, the first national minimum wage laws in the United States were passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which served as “a floor below wages,” to reduce poverty and to ensure that economic growth is shared across the workforce. Today, many people who work for companies that pay at or near the minimum wage and remain near or below the poverty level rely on government health and food security and income programs to supplement their living expenses. Since 1938, there have been many additional policies to the Fair Labor Standards Act that have changed many things, such as increasing the national minimum wage numerous times to the currently salary level, which was set in 1997. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 was a policy to change the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three additions, which began in July of 2009. (http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/minwagebwp.pdf)

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.

The "American Dream" is marked as unattainable in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. This is mostly shown in the case of George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife. These characters all have admitted to thinking about the "American dream" concept, and the freedom to pursue happiness and their dreams.

On Saturday, June 25, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 121 bills. Among these bills was a landmark law in the United States’ social and economic development—Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) or otherwise known as the Wages and Hours Bill. This new law created a maximum forty-four hour workweek, guaranteed “time-and-a-half” for overtime hours in certain jobs, banned oppressive child labor, and established the nation’s first minimum wage. By definition, a minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement (such as one with a labor union). Throughout the years, the minimum wage has been a central debate topic for the socioeconomic world and now in 2014, the debate has broken through the surface once

for better things and places somewhere else is rational in all of us, but should not overwhelm us to the point that where we are presently may be better and is the place where we belong and truly makes us happy. (Donkin 298-99). The drive for economic growth has led to disastrous results as workers have less leisure time, and companies have developed a dog eat dog persona leading to stock market crashes, employee contractions, and other deleterious effects. (Donkin 303-07). Juliet Schor, author of The Overworked American wrote about how work has minimized the leisure time for most working people in America. (Donkin 302). The great Mexican artist illustrated in his murals that the search of a better life ended up as being confined as prisoners of the exploitation within the automobile factory (Donkin 301). Computers and new technology has changed the way we live is comparable to the change brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Cell phones, the internet, tablets voice mail, and e-mail has transformed the way people communicate and has changed the landscape of how people work. (Donkin 305-07). Martin Luther King Jr. warned that while technology was advancing, the spiritual and moral ways people are treat each other were being diametrically opposed to each.

The possibility of economic mobility is a widely shared belief in the United States. A central part of the American Dream is the belief that with hard work anything can be achieved. In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, Shipler states, “The American Myth still supposes that any individual from the humblest origins can climb to wellbeing… The myth has its value. It sets a demanding standard, both for the nation and for every resident. But the American Myth also provides a means of laying blame” (Shipler 5). In addition, evidence suggests this deeply held belief is not accurate. Over time, fewer Americans control more and more of the nation’s resources and wealth, and as the gap between the rich and poor has increased, economic mobility

Taking a closer look at the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, American workers were struggling to find jobs following World War 1 due to the number of immigrants. Yet, still today, American workers are struggling to find high paying jobs which are still partly due to the number of immigrants and refugees coming into this country daily. Relatively speaking, the minimum hourly wage over the past 70 years has not increased greatly, MacLury (1998) in 1938 it was of .25 cents and upon reaching the latest of 7.25 dollars in 2009. Over the years, lawmakers continue to change the verbiage of the FLSA, with former President Obama, Lee (2015) mad a challenge to congress, which is to live on 15,000 dollars a year. Additionally, in order

While smaller businesses operating on tighter budgets may find it expensive to pay overtime, the bigger companies with few employees on the managerial positions are capable of paying for overtime for the employees whose category will fall below the minimum exempt. Furthermore, all the options available for employers to handle the proposed rule should it come into effect will still benefit the American worker. One remedy is to follow the law and raise the annual salaries of employees who are overtime-exempt which will motivate workers who are already earning a salary close to that minimum (Rossheim, 2016). The second option is to re-classify workers as no-exempt, a move that would see the workers who are earning below the proposed exempt minimum qualify for overtime pay or reduce the workload for employees so that they only work for 40 hours in a week (Rossheim, 2016). The last option would be to hire more workers and avoid paying overtime which is a good move in providing employment for the unemployed. It is evident that the options available for employers would work towards improving employees’ welfare as well as saving the organization from the challenges of low remuneration.

In 1938, the first national minimum wage laws in the United States were passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which served as “a floor below wages,” to reduce poverty and to ensure that economic growth is shared across the workforce. Today, many people who work for companies that pay at or near the minimum wage and remain near or below the poverty level rely on government health and food security and income programs to supplement their living expenses. Since 1938, there have been many additional policies to the Fair Labor Standards Act that have changed many things, such as increasing the national minimum wage numerous times to the currently salary level, which was set in 1997. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, from the United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, was a policy to change the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three additions, which began in July of 2009. (U.S., 2009).

The American Dream has long been held with high regard by the people of the United States. The human experience within the American Dream varies, but was founded with the intended goal of the pursuit of happiness; it involves freedom of opportunity to the individual and the availability of upward socioeconomic mobility due to one’s successes. The experience is similar to other individual’s in many ways through these guarantees, because all have protection of their individual rights and protection of their property. The political and economic opinions of John Locke and Adam Smith contributed greatly to the implementation of free markets, and the development of competition in relation to economic success. This Dream is inherently related with a democratic political system and with a free market economy, but also with the religiosity that the Dream was founded within. Judeo-Christian values have been held important by American thinking for just as long as the Dream has been recognized. The American Dream, although originated within religious tones, boasts freedom of religion and is one of the rights promised to the individual. This Dream could also be interpreted as promising procedural rights, as its free economy and democratic nature was developed to set certain limits to the government by due process and powers invested in the people. However, it is important to recognize the United States was the first nation to assure the right of education to its people, a known