4 ms·

Sure, that might be what your employment contract says, but the vast majority of people in the US (probably including you) work at-will, where your employer can

Sure, that might be what your employment contract says, but the vast majority of people in the US (probably including you) work at-will, where your employer can fire you for (almost) any reason. So although your employment contract might not say it, your employer can tell you "I need you to be available to take my calls 24/7 or you're fired".

roenxi 3y ago
Are they proposing to change that though? If you've already agreed with your employee that you're working a 40 hour week and they have the power to just change the deal mid way through, making the deal more explicit won't change the dynamics. They may as well have a law saying "your employment contract (still) outlines the conditions that you work under". Ie, they're not changing anything. There is already a piece of paper saying what your work hours are, and calling it a "right" instead of a "contractual obligation" doesn't impact the power balance here, at all. If an employee can't hold them to contract they can't hold them to any other law either. Having a contract that outlines a 40 hour work week is already about as strong as it gets that the deal here is a 40 hour work week. I don't see how to improve on that. Calling the contract something else doesn't seem like it has a lot of impact.
- Izkata 3y ago
  Exempt salaried employees don't track hours though.
- Paul-Craft 3y ago
  You're completely missing the point. You're obviously from somewhere civilized, where ordinary employees get actual, spelled out contracts that specify how many hours they're to work each week. US employees don't get that sort of thing. At best, we get a not-actually-a-contract "offer letter" that says something about here is the job you're being offered, the salary, and the job description (generally including the weasely phrase "other duties as assigned." Because we don't have binding contracts with our employers, we don't even have that baseline of "a contract that outlines a 40 hour work week."
  - Terr_ 3y ago
    Trying to close the circle here, there are exceptions to at-will (e.g. discrimination laws) but AFAIK this bill [0] does not add "less than perfect responsiveness" to that list of improper reasons. Instead it provides a mechanism for employees to complain to government authorities who can fine the company. [0] https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2751/id/2965645 https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2751/id/2965645

roenxi 3y ago

Are they proposing to change that though? If you've already agreed with your employee that you're working a 40 hour week and they have the power to just change the deal mid way through, making the deal more explicit won't change the dynamics. They may as well have a law saying "your employment contract (still) outlines the conditions that you work under". Ie, they're not changing anything. There is already a piece of paper saying what your work hours are, and calling it a "right" instead of a "contractual obligation" doesn't impact the power balance here, at all. If an employee can't hold them to contract they can't hold them to any other law either. Having a contract that outlines a 40 hour work week is already about as strong as it gets that the deal here is a 40 hour work week. I don't see how to improve on that. Calling the contract something else doesn't seem like it has a lot of impact.

Izkata 3y ago
Exempt salaried employees don't track hours though.
Paul-Craft 3y ago
You're completely missing the point. You're obviously from somewhere civilized, where ordinary employees get actual, spelled out contracts that specify how many hours they're to work each week. US employees don't get that sort of thing. At best, we get a not-actually-a-contract "offer letter" that says something about here is the job you're being offered, the salary, and the job description (generally including the weasely phrase "other duties as assigned." Because we don't have binding contracts with our employers, we don't even have that baseline of "a contract that outlines a 40 hour work week."
- Terr_ 3y ago
  Trying to close the circle here, there are exceptions to at-will (e.g. discrimination laws) but AFAIK this bill [0] does not add "less than perfect responsiveness" to that list of improper reasons. Instead it provides a mechanism for employees to complain to government authorities who can fine the company. [0] https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2751/id/2965645 https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2751/id/2965645