Working 9 to 5 and...

(Intended to post this on Labour Day but the weather was so sublime, I played blog hookey.)

A young bank teller, Dara Fresco was the first person in an historic $660M class action suit against her employer, a major Canadian bank, for unpaid overtime. She was joined by over 10,000 of her colleagues.

Unpaid overtime is the dirty secret that drives countless front-line jobs. I'm not talking about 15 to 20 minutes cleaning up or finishing that last order; I mean the hour or more most days- hours that don't end up on the time sheet, and therefore, pay cheque. Since Dara and her colleagues filed, employees from two major global accounting firms initiated similar suits.

Workers of another large corporation have joined this trend, saying that they are given the title "supervisor" by the company, though they supervise no one, to subvert overtime rules.

The decisions, expected toward the end of this year, will determine how employers will act.

I learned, in my student days, that if time was either my own or my employer's. There was no grey zone that did not quickly devolve to exploitation. At the same time, I believe that companies do not universally intend to exploit. In one large corporation where I was a manager, a Vice President- a woman of courage and conviction- quickly assessed the situation and immediately shut down unpaid overtime.

If you're an employee, ask yourself, If it's not my time, whose time is it? If it's my employer's, am I being paid?

If you are an employer, ask, Am I paying overtime as defined by the labour legislation? Free-lancers also need to consider they contract and bill for hours worked.

I've seen abuses from the employee side. Some people work slowly, then say they require overtime, so that they'll make more money. Sandbagging is as odious as unpaid overtime.

Managers are not eligible for overtime; some companies have life-work balance policies and encourage managers to take compensatory time off, but few do so, either because of their own or others' censure, or the belief that mega-hours are a badge of commitment. I'll never forget the doorman I met when I worked for a hotel. He said in a thick Bronx accent, "They rent me, but they don't own me."

Since we've just celebrated Labour Day, let's renew our commitment to a fair exchange. "A day's work for a day's pay", my Dad always said, and I agree.