And yet, unpaid IT overtime continues to be a problem, and the culprits are not just the small, start-up outfits where cash is in short supply. The big boys are just as likely to overlook the overtime issue, hoping that the privilege of working at such a high-end company with such name recognition will outweigh any wish for an employee to claim what is rightfully his.
You know how it works. The Next Big Project That Will Set The Computer Industry On Its Ear is in the final stages of development, and The Team is encouraged to put in the time to see it through on deadline. Yes, The Team. You will be known as a member of The Team that was responsible for giving birth to The Boffo Software that will be on everyone's operating system in two years. Pretty heady stuff, you must admit.But wait a minute. You're probably working well above and beyond the call of duty you agreed to. And who will get credit for this? The company, the brand name that's on the data CD, not you. The Project Manager, who puts in perhaps just as many hours as you, chanting the mantra that she would never ask you to work harder than she is prepared to work herself, probably has options you could only wish for: a higher salary, performance bonuses and stock options.
All you're left with are bags under your eyes and a family that never sees you. A family that may never see you again, if you wind up driving off the road after dozens of hours staring glassy-eyes at a computer screen, finally released to the glare of dawn and the rattletrap you call a car. And did they promise that one day YOU would be driving a Porsche Cayman too?
Sure...
Never forget that managers are heroes in the eyes of their superiors, and companies are heroes in the eyes of their shareholders for controlling costs. It's not revenue that generates the profit, insomuch as cost control. Pay you overtime? How about time in lieu (which you'll never see), or some other kind of freebie like a day with the family to a theme park that your employer received as a PR promotion?
Every company has an overtime budget. But those budgets are guarded as if they were gold, as this is the Dreaded Uncontrolled Cost. And once the budget is spent, who knows how high it will go?
Ever consider that your functional group manager has performance incentives built into his contract for finishing the year under budget? Not spending the overtime budget is one of the quickest ways to get there.
However, that's not fair to you. Nor is it healthy. And reminding yourself day after day that 'it beats digging a ditch' or worse, being constantly reminded by a superior that 'there are other places you could go to work for, y'know, if you're not happy here...' does little to help your confidence.
READ MORE LEGAL NEWS
IT and computer professionals, including computer programmers, computer system analysts, computer programmer analysts, application analysts, software engineer, system engineer, systems specialist and others in the field have been allegedly denied overtime by employers operating under the mistaken (or convenient) view that those job classifications were exempt from overtime provisions.
However, that may be in contravention of State law. IT professionals are therefore encouraged to know their rights, claim from their employers what is rightfully theirs and avoid consenting to work additional hours without due compensation.
Should you have to litigate in an effort to realize overtime wages owed, proceed with the assurance that the law is on your side.