Introduction
There are many types of jobs in the United states of America, the federal principle statute that guides the wages paid against the hours worked is very critical to many employees and employers. It stipulates that there should be fairness in work and pay respectively. The focus on Fair Labor Standards Act should ensure that no one is discriminated in levels of payment and the work that is done (Rootham, 2007). However, many shrewd employers are unfairly treating their employees by underpaying and refusing to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Although there are many jobs that pay in wages and are hourly or weekly most of the jobs are formal and requires salaried workers. However, the FLSA was put into legislation for the employees who work on wages and are protected from exploitation and discrimination by the employees especially in regards with the pay(FLSA essentials, n.d.)
Mining operator job and FSLA
I work as a crew operator in a mining company. The company deals with exploration, mining and selling of natural gas and minerals and has been operating for quite some time now. As an operator in this company, we work in shifts but a consecutive workday of seven days. The plant operators are required by the company’s policies to work from Mondays all the way to the other Monday. However, the company changed the rules of engagement and decided that the operators will work from Sunday to Sunday (Rootham, 2007). The changes in work week means that there are communicated in the company’s memo but the overtime won’t change.
Due to this changes, the operators complained about the ability of the company to sustain itself while also paying them their dues. The company policy to change the work schedule is correct but will negatively impact many peoples salary and the family constitution. In making sure that the FLSA laws set up by the federal government are followed, there are given changes that are simply unjustifiable and will probably face resistance by the operators. The first one is the reduction in overtime period or hours. The second one is because the company will split the work week into two payroll period. However, the company justified the proceedings by saying that it was more efficient to work in single workweek and that it managed to reduce the cost of overtime due to administrative efficiency(Cordelli, n.d.).
The operators noted that the company was only paying them twenty four hours in overtime and that they worked for more than eighty four hours within the single week. To them this was a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for the company to change the workweek schedule and hence purposely connived to deprive them of the overtime payment.
The company policy to change the work schedule is correct but will negatively impact many peoples salary and the family constitution. However, the FLSA was put into legislation for the employees who work on wages and are protected from exploitation and discrimination by the employees especially in regards with the pay. According to the federal FLSA Act, the company must pay for one and half times the regular rate of the employees for the hours worked in excess of forty hours in a week. An employee must be paid the premium amount that is expressed in terms of the regular rate of pay(FLSA essentials, n.d.). Under the current arrangement, the regular pay will vary from week to week therefore decreasing the number of number of overtime that is actually worked on by the employees.
Compensatory time
This is when a company decides to pay the employees of their overtime with compensatory time rather than the overtime pay. However, this only depends on whether the company is a public or a private company. Private companies cannot pay for overtime that is required by the FLSA while the government can. . According to the federal FLSA Act, the company must pay for one and half times the regular rate of the employees for the hours worked in excess of forty hours in a week.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the job should be non-exempt. Public employees under the FLSA Act have the legal obligation and right to use the accrued compensatory time in a reasonable and given time. Additional overtime worked on must be paid in cash. It is illegal for a company to deny the workers the money earned on overtime and is in contravention of the federal FLSA Act . it may face various legal suits for contravention but the best balance in this is to follow the law that governs the employment (Day, Hakola, Kahlos & Tervahauta, n.d.).
References
Cordelli, R. FSLA and its application to local governments.
Day, J., Hakola, R., Kahlos, M., & Tervahauta, U. Spaces in late antiquity.
Federal labor laws. (2014). [New York].
FLSA essentials.
Rootham, C. (2007). Labour and employment law in the federal public service. Toronto: Irwin Law.
