Re: Today (Feb 26) IBM announcements

On Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:42:42 -0600, "Judson McClendon"
<judmc@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>"Robert" <no@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>> According to US labor law, programmers and systems analysts (not all IT
workers) earning
>> more then $27.63 per hour ($56K/yr) are NOT entitled to overtime pay.
(first link) The
>> 7,600 people who were reclassified and received a 15% cut as a result
of Rosenburg v. IBM
>> nearly all made more than the cutoff (third link below). They were not
programmers. IBM
>> claimed they were "professionals". The test for professional is:
>>
>> Work Requiring Advanced Knowledge
>> "Work requiring advanced knowledge" means work which is predominantly
intellectual in
>> character, and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of
discretion and
>> judgment. Professional work is therefore distinguished from work
involving routine mental,
>> manual, mechanical or physical work. A professional employee generally
uses the advanced
>> knowledge to analyze, interpret or make deductions from varying facts
or cir***stances.
>> Advanced knowledge cannot be attained at the high school level."
(second link below)
>>
>> Does production sup****t qualify as professional? Apparently the court
said no. The 7,600
>> reclassified were only 6% of IBM's work force.
>>
>> http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17e_computer.htm
>>
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17d_professional.htm
>> http://www.allianceibm.org/salarycomments.php
   search for "survey"
>
>Those laws do not *forbid* such people from receiving overtime pay,
>as your language above implies. The purpose of those laws is to require
>overtime pay for those who *do not* meet those criteria, not to forbid it
>for those who do. An employer may chose to pay overtime to anyone
>who works for them.

Contracting companies routinely pay for billable hours; straight time for
overtime. 

My POINT is, programmers making more than $56K cannot sue for overtime.
Sup****t people,
like the IBMers, MIGHT be successful.