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Are there any good studies on OT law trade-offs? Since at steady state the result is capping employee hours at 40, this type of law seems good for workers that

Are there any good studies on OT law trade-offs? Since at steady state the result is capping employee hours at 40, this type of law seems good for workers that want to maintain such a cap and bad for those that want to earn more.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
There is nothing stopping people from obtaining other sources of income if their one employer is unwilling to pay them 1.5x their regular payrate.
- usaar333 3y ago
  Yes there is. In practice, many jobs have considerable fixed overheads to both employer and employee to you can't be hired for say under 10 hours a week. For instance, when I had a nanny, absent OT laws, optimal hours for both parties were 45/week. OT laws shifted my preference to 40. There is no 5 hour a week job my nanny could get given fixed overhead.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    That is a good example, and 40 is an arbitrary line to draw. However, absent universal basic income, I do not see an easier way for the government to establish a minimum quality of life at work, at least in terms of hours worked.
    - johnnyanmac 3y ago
      Smoking hot take but: lower the line to 30. 80 hours a week is an absurd amount of your week taken up working and it is nearly impossible to fit in a M-F schedule of 16 hours between 2 employers. two 30 hour jobs come down to 12 hour work days. Which sucks immensely but is manageable. Especially between a day and night shift. Then again, asking for 30 hours is also like asking for a 33% pay raise. But there are very slow movements towards 4 day/32 hour work weeks, so maybe this will be a thing in due time.
quickprop 3y ago
[flagged]
- usaar333 3y ago
  > Another way for the people who do the work and create the wealth to keep more of it would be for their hourly wages be raised, instead of the profit being expropriated by some heir who wants to fly on a private jet to Bali. This law has no impact on basic profit incentives. The response is work hour reductions.
OkayPhysicist 3y ago
The big upside to federal overtime protection of the 40 hour work week is that labor activists stop throwing dynamite at the police and rail bridges. The 40 hour work week was fought and died for.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

There is nothing stopping people from obtaining other sources of income if their one employer is unwilling to pay them 1.5x their regular payrate.

usaar333 3y ago
Yes there is. In practice, many jobs have considerable fixed overheads to both employer and employee to you can't be hired for say under 10 hours a week. For instance, when I had a nanny, absent OT laws, optimal hours for both parties were 45/week. OT laws shifted my preference to 40. There is no 5 hour a week job my nanny could get given fixed overhead.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  That is a good example, and 40 is an arbitrary line to draw. However, absent universal basic income, I do not see an easier way for the government to establish a minimum quality of life at work, at least in terms of hours worked.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    Smoking hot take but: lower the line to 30. 80 hours a week is an absurd amount of your week taken up working and it is nearly impossible to fit in a M-F schedule of 16 hours between 2 employers. two 30 hour jobs come down to 12 hour work days. Which sucks immensely but is manageable. Especially between a day and night shift. Then again, asking for 30 hours is also like asking for a 33% pay raise. But there are very slow movements towards 4 day/32 hour work weeks, so maybe this will be a thing in due time.

quickprop 3y ago

[flagged]

usaar333 3y ago
> Another way for the people who do the work and create the wealth to keep more of it would be for their hourly wages be raised, instead of the profit being expropriated by some heir who wants to fly on a private jet to Bali. This law has no impact on basic profit incentives. The response is work hour reductions.

OkayPhysicist 3y ago

The big upside to federal overtime protection of the 40 hour work week is that labor activists stop throwing dynamite at the police and rail bridges. The 40 hour work week was fought and died for.