So it appears that the Republican zombie of ending overtime as we know it has reared its ugly head again. As reported in the American Prospect, the GOP is once again trying to convince people that allowing comp time will give them more flexibility in the workplace. This is nonsense, and a simple ploy that would allow companies to work their employees as much as they want without paying them in a timely fashion, or at all.
Of course, the legislation claims it will be the employee's choice to accept flex time, but do you honestly think companies aren't going to pressure the hell out of people to opt onto this scheme? If you don't think so, I've got some oceanfront property in West Texas to sfor ell you.
What I really want to point out is the dirty little secret they don't want to talk about, and that is the fact that this would open the door for a flat out wage theft epidemic. This would make it far to easy for companies to make the "honest mistake" of miscalculating how much flex time an employee has accrued, or to impose "use or lose" policies. Retail workers, whom often have blacked out sections on the calendar stand to be hit the worst, but millions of low wage workers who aren't able to keep up with their own calculations and records will be at the mercy of their employers to do the right thing. It is easy to see where this is headed.
If anything, this makes clear that workers need to join unions in order to protect themselves from these draconian policies that threaten their livelihood.
In Solidarity,
Joe Riedel
