Re^3: (OT) my first fired experience

in reply to Re^2: (OT) my first fired experience
in thread (OT) my first fired experience

In the US, you can be pretty much fired at a whim. You can fired for no reason at all(companies get in trouble when you get fired for a specific reason that they are not supposed too. Examples would be sex, age, or race for example).

The thing is, if a company that fires you does not have a good reason, the state will pay unemployment benefits. Where do they get the money from? They charge businesses a fee, depending on how many people they employ and how often they fire someone. Companies that have a habit of firing people are charged a higher fee because they are putting a burden on the state.

For leocharre here, he mentioned that the owner is an accountant which probably he knows the rules better than most people. If this guy is the penny-pincher that I think he is, then he is trying to avoid having to pay that higher fee. It is a petty thing, but there are plenty of petty people out there.

Comment on Re^3: (OT) my first fired experience

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Re^4: (OT) my first fired experience by runrig (Abbot) on Jun 15, 2010 at 22:31 UTC
Also, if you've documented your hours, and you've worked but the company didn't pay for overtime, then you can take them to the state labor board to get back pay. Sometimes this can be one recourse for people in this position.	[reply]
Re^5: (OT) my first fired experience by leocharre (Priest) on Jun 21, 2010 at 13:46 UTC
Thing is.. As I understand it- past 40 hours one is a 'full time' salaried employee. This means the 'laws' about hours and overtime are fuzzy. That is, you are paid a salary- biweekly- but this is doesn't really define how many hours you work. It may be 20 hours one week, sixty the next. It's a give and take on being a 'full time' employee. This can of course be abused by a potential employer. Stating the job requires more time of work than 40- If you're not a full time salaried worker- And you work more than 40 hours, the employer is required by law to pay hour plus one half or some such number. Of course, not the case for a full time salaried worker.	[reply]
Re^6: (OT) my first fired experience by Limbic~Region (Chancellor) on Jun 22, 2010 at 01:18 UTC
leocharre, (IANAL) See http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime_pay.htm and http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17a_overview.pdf. In a general overview, the Fair Labor Standards Act says you are entitled to overtime unless you are exempt. You aren't exempt just because your employer would like to think so - you have to meet all the criteria. If you were paid an hourly rate and it was less than $27.63 then you are not exempt and are entitled to overtime. As a side note, you should ping the local Perl Mongers in the area (DC.pm, Baltimore.pm and CAMEL.pm) to see if anyone knows of any local jobs. I may know of something too - if you /msg me I can give you more information. Cheers - L~R	[reply]
Re^6: (OT) my first fired experience by runrig (Abbot) on Jun 21, 2010 at 16:42 UTC
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. There are rules/laws about who can be classified as "exempt" vs "non-exempt" (salaried vs non-salaried (or the other way 'round)), e.g., whether or not you supervise anyone is one of them. If the labor board decides you should have been non-salaried, then you get the overtime you've worked...the whole time and a half. Doesn't matter if you've worked 20 hours one week, You get paid an extra 30 for the week you worked 60.	[reply]

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