Vivendi games unit sued in overtime dispute

[nobbie]

From the "Los Angeles Business" News:

11:28 AM PDT Tuesday
Vivendi games unit sued in overtime dispute

A programmer working for Vivendi Universal's Los Angeles-based games unit is suing the company alleging he was not paid overtime for extra hours he routinely works, according to a Reuters report Tuesday.

Neil Aitken, a programmer with Vivendi Universal Games for more than four years, filed suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Vivendi has not commented on the lawsuit.

Aitken's suit alleges he and co-workers regularly exceed 12-hour days but are not compensated for the overtime. In addition, he says management asks the "nonexempt programmers" to falsify timesheets to read 40 hours regardless of the actual time worked, the report said.

Last week, the Vivendi unit announced it was cutting 350 employees in North America as part of a cost-reduction plan. Its parent company, Paris-based Vivendi Universal, is one of the world's largest media companies.

LINK: http://losangeles.bizjournals.com/losangel...edition.html#20

[Cryptic]

And the blood runs green ...
:ph34r:

[channel1]

There are worse jobs to be working excessive hours at. Just think about all of the truck drivers who keep double log books. Especially when you see one barreling toward you on the highway :O

[nobbie]

And that's a reason why we should support betrayal and falsifying timesheets, right? ;)

[kandrathe]

Well, first a little cultural perspective. California has some of the toughest labor and employment laws in the US, and Silicon Valley is the most lawsuit plagued portion of the planet. So when I hear that an employee in Silicon Valley is suing their employer, I'm wondering how that is news? The gripe is about overtime pay and whether "salaried" persons should get it. IMHO, for a salaried person there is no reason to collect time-sheets. There is a need to record the time spent on projects, but only for project management. This software engineer is probably making in excess of 150K, and works in a job environment any one of us would give up a body part for.

I'm more concerned about blue collar joe schmoe who was injured on the job and is having trouble collecting his disability because $400/hr corporate lawyers have the case tied up for years.

Excerpt from employment law guide on overtime pay;

Thus, if you are exempt, you will not be entitled to overtime pay – exempt, generally means that you are a salaried employee or that you are an executive, administrative, professional, or outside sales employees. If you make high level decisions or supervise other employees, you likely fall under this category. Exempt employees also include farm workers, recreational workers, news people, employees of motion picture theaters, and certain computer specialist, so long as they are paid at least $27.63 per hour.

[Brista]

I don't know the law in California but in the EU we have a maximum legal working week. Companies are allowed to require their staff to exceed those hours only for a couple of restricted professions, otherwise they require consent from the employee

That might be a reason to collect falsified time sheets - to "prove" you're not exceeding legal working hours

I have to say that I'm very much rooting for the staff here. The staff are the "stars" of this particular branch of the entertainment industry. They don't get star wages, in fact I suspect they often don't get a decent wage for the level of expertise and the work they put in

I suspect that the games industry is long overdue better management, better benefits and better pay. These games bring in a lot of revenue, Vivendi in particular have found much worse things to do with their profits than pay programmers fairly

[kandrathe]

It is true. As a former "intellectual sweat shop worker" (25 years ago), I am for employee consent and reasonable working hours. I don't think it is healthy to work any sustained period of 80+ hours/week. I know it drove me insane. :)

GameSpot -- VU Games slapped with lawsuit

This GameSpot article seems to indicate that he was earning less than $44.63/hour.

I wonder if it is the Neil Aitken?

[CelticHound]

I don't know the law in California but in the EU we have a maximum legal working week.

I'll start by admitting this is anecdotal and hearsay, but when I was working in EDA, there were stories from an engineer working for a certain large French tech company (so not Vivendi) when a new (35 hour?) workweek law went into effect. Essentially, he was told "Yes , your workweek is only 35 hours now, but we still expect you to get the same amount of work done. How is up to you." The result being "voluntary" unpaid overtime.

kandrathe, I was always under the impression that games programmers made less than other programming jobs, because the coolness of the job itself was part of the compensation.

Also, though the CA laws seem tough, they've been loopholed for the lobbies that have spent the money to rent politicians. For example: http://www.andreas.com/faq-overtime.html

-- CH

[WarLocke]

This GameSpot article seems to indicate that he was earning less than $44.63/hour.

I don't know about you, but $40/hour seems very nice to me. <_<

[kandrathe]

kandrathe, I was always under the impression that games programmers made less than other programming jobs, because the coolness of the job itself was part of the compensation.

I think it is a supply and demand thing. Software publishers (esp. games) have a market where the supply of eager young, and even experienced programming talent is always high, while demand ebbs and flows with the entertainment industry (or, personal disposable income). Would I rather work at Blizzard, or Bank of America? Tough question. One offers a very cool environment, and recognition (maybe) -- and the other a stable, 9-5 desk job with sluggishly slow development on mind numbingly boring systems. At one you could get the axe at anytime for almost any reason, and the other you might work at for years without anyone even remembering your name.

At the Software Publisher where I worked, a number of people used them as a springboard into better jobs at JPL, IBM, Apple, etc. Many designers left and started their own brands. The work environments are very open, creative and innovative. The people were very cool. We also had a decompression chamber with leather couches, big screen TV, pool tables, ping pong, console games, and a heavy bag. There were meditation areas with fountains, and singing birds, etc. We had a free pop machine, and a free European beer cooler and always baskets of fresh fruit and healthy snacks -- all gratis. Once a month a bunch of us would "borrow" the company vans and do a field trip to the local cinema to catch a matinée new release. So, yes, I would say the intangibles were a nice perk.

Cheap houses in Silicon Valley are still >$1M, and the cost of living is considerably higher than the rest of the US. I lived briefly in Santa Barbara for a while, and I have many relatives and friends in the business. So, in my opinion, there is a real palpable atmosphere of "greediness" in many areas of California, and that extends into peoples personal expectations of one another and their employment.

[kandrathe]

Yes. :D That's about $93K/year. Seems high for the salaried vs hourly threshold.

April 2004 --On April 20, 2004, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced the final regulations governing overtime eligibility of "white collar workers" under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The regulations had not seen a significant revision during the last 50 years.&nbsp; Under the new FairPay rule, workers earning $23,600 annually or less are guaranteed overtime, which nearly triples the old salary threshold of $8,060. The change guarantees protection for 6.7 million low-wage salaried workers, including 1.3 million white-collar workers who were previously ineligible for overtime pay.&nbsp; In addition, the definition of "blue-collar" worker was more clearly defined to include police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and licensed practical nurses, specifically expressing their entitlement to overtime protection.

[tufchic]

My two cents... The first thing when evaluating when someone has worked full time or not is if they fall under "exemption" status. Meaning they are 1) technical - with a degree of some kind and 2) have managerial duties like the ability to hire and fire and that is their primary capicity. Many labor lawsuits have come up in recent years concerning this type of employment misclassification.

The next question is what are the Federal rules. That's easy. More then 40 hours a week and you are entitled to overtime.

Then, are you working in the state of California. Your rule of thumb then is the first of which occurs: 1) more then 8 hours a day and/or 2) more then 40 hours a week.

So, let's say someone worked a 42 hour work week but lived in Minnesota. They would have to check their state Labor rules. But, let's say Federal only applies. Ok now, they get 2 hours at time and 1/2.

Say they are in California. Scenario they worked 7.5 hours one day, 9.5 the next and 8 hours per every day for the weekly 7 day pay period. They would have worked 41 hours. They get overtime for the 1.5 of the 9.5 hour day. Docked 1/2 hour on the 7.5 hour day provided no hourly sick leave and paid time and 1/2 for the 1.5 hours of overtime on the 9.5 hour day. California only gets confusing because of this "daily" overtime rule.

In a Federal only, they just get 1 hour of overtime for the 1 extra hour worked for the week.

It's not really confusing if you apply the daily rule to the day and then the weekly rule to the weekly overall total. Generally, the daily rule always triggers the overtime in California rules.

Also, salaried employees are not exempt from overtime just because they are salaried. Only the professional class such as those with an actual degree i.e. doctor, lawyer, teacher, and/or engineer are exempt.

Always check with a labor law attorney BEFORE misclassifying an employee. Being your own attorney, makes one a fool for a client. The California Department of Labor will always err on the side of the employee in this situation and grant the back pay. You also open yourself up to lawsuits. By the time you pay for the lawyer to defend such a suit, you would have been ahead of the game by just paying the overtime in the first place.