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overtime for computer professionals
``` [From CuD 9.92.]
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Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 21:05:37 -0800 (PST)
From: "T.L. Kelly"
The WSDMA, a "labor" organization, has quietly asked the Washington Dept. of Labor and Industry to strip computer professionals making over $27.63 an hour of their overtime.
Furthermore, the proposed law is written in such a way as to exempt "Any employee who is a computer system analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, software developer or other similarly skilled worker" even from the minimum wage provisions of Washington state law.
If approved, the law will be adopted Dec. 31, 1997, and become effective Feb. 1, 1998.
The WSDMA's largest member is Microsoft, the largest employer of computer contractors in the region with an estimated 3-5,000 such employees. The company recently lost a labor case brought by a group of contract workers. It is the company's acknowledged policy to employ contract workers to avoid the cost of benefits, vacation, etc.
Recent applicants have confirmed to me that Microsoft explicitly requires all contract workers to work "a minimum of 50-55 hours a week".
The Boeing Company is also a member of the WSDMA.
The WSDMA's legal move was kept secret. The "request" was not reported in the local press until the day AFTER the public comment period had ended. The author of that story has acknowledged he learned of the proposal in October, but did not cover it because he "didn't appreciate the significance". One wonders how he manages to cross the street successfully.
The "public" hearing was scheduled for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving from 10 am to noon -- in Tumwater, WA, several miles south of Olympia. The vast majority of the state's contract workers live in Seattle and neighboring communities far to the north.
The WSDMA's own street-level membership was not informed of the move, let alone invited to comment.
It should be noted that computer professionals are already barred from labor organizing by a Cold War-era federal law. It seems the time has come to work to get that law overturned on Constitutional grounds. But first...
THE PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE OVERTIME LAW HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL DEC. 19 -- NEXT FRIDAY.
Management and owners have had nearly two months to comment, we have less than a week. Please make it count.
Comments can be sent to Linda Merz of the Washington State Dept. of Labor and Industry at (360) 902-5403 or merl235@lni.wa.gov
Please be clear, relatively brief, and most importantly courteous (even if firm).
Comments of up to 10 pages may be faxed to (360) 902-5300 or snail mailed to:
Greg Mowat, Program Manager Employment Standards Department of Labor and Industries P.O. Box 4-4510 Olympia, WA 98504-4510
Below is an excerpt from the proposed law, HOUSE BILL 2209. As you can see, it applies to just about anyone working in the computer and web industries.
(source: http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/w128-535.htm )
(1) Any employee who is a computer system analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, software developer or other similarly skilled worker will be considered a "professional employee" and will be exempt from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Washington Minimum Wage Act if:
(i) Applying systems analysis techniques and procedures to determine hardware, software, or system functional specifications for any user of such services; or
(ii) Following user or system design specifications to design, develop, document, analyze, create, test or modify any computer system, application or program, including prototypes; or
(iii) Designing, documenting, testing, creating or modifying computer systems, applications or programs for machine operation systems; or
(iv) Any combination of the above primary duties whose performance requires the same skill level [...]
RESOURCES ONLINE
News Stories (both of 'em -- literally)
Temporary software workers to lose OT http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/temp_120597.html
Software temps gain time to fight OT changes http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/temp_121097.html
Info from WA State Dept of L&I http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/over.htm http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/w128-535.htm
HOUSE BILL 2209 as posted on the WA Legislature Site http://leginfo.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/house/2200-2224/2209_022697
WA Legislature Site http://leginfo.leg.wa.gov/
WSDMA http://www.wsdma.org ```
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