Question 1a
The open discussion of salaries dispensed to workers in an organization increases a perception of fairness as well as collaboration. Transparency regarding the total pay received improves work environment for employees and their respective employers. Wage related secrecy often culminates in the inability of workers to compare their earnings with that of their peers. In some instances, it culminates in complaints of underpayment. Under such circumstances, workers may start grumbling about discriminative job practices. The United States has implemented various regulations conferring some privileges to employees with respect to pay discussion (Burkus, n.d.). For instance, Vanity Fair publication of a memo under the title ‘ Forbidding Discussion among Employees of Salary Received ’ led to actions by Dorothy Parker, Robert Sherwood as well as Robert Benchley to change the magazine’s perception on how employees treat payment related information.
In most cases, pay secrecy enables organizations to save money as a result of information asymmetry. Thus, parties indicate different information levels during negotiation processes involving hiring or even promotion discussions. Moreover, it also affects the conversations held annually with respect to pay increment. Information asymmetry acts as a means of sabotaging economies and indicates an increased capacity to foster a complete failure in respective markets. A survey focusing on 70,000 workers conducted in 2015 indicated that ⅔ of the respondents felt that their salaries required some improvement albeit their company’s effort to make payments at respective market rates (Burkus, n.d.). In addition, they communicated their consideration of quitting from their organizations at a rate of 60%. In some cases, the phenomenon provides a basis for ignoring market discriminations owing to the limited information in circulation particularly between men and their female counterparts.
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Question 1b
The phrase ‘ living wage ’ focuses on the amount of money required by Americans to acquire necessary provisions including food, housing, childcare, transportation, healthcare (which comprises of insurance premiums as well as the expenses emanating from the acquisition of Healthcare). The value applicable in such cases varies between states. It excludes the expenses attributable to entertainment, unpaid vacations in addition to leisure activities. Moreover, living wages fail to include the allowances set aside as savings and alludes to a reduction in luxurious indulgences. Furthermore, it also depends on the characteristics of the households involved. The Living Wage merely establishes a baseline which guides the criterion used in dispensing salaries. Legally, the minimum wage applicable per hour in the United States is $7.25 (Ravenscraft, 2019). However, New York offers a compensation of $15 every hour as its minimum rate. Similar provisions also apply in Seattle.
Moreover, the guidelines issued by the federal government with respect to poverty indicate that households comprising of two individuals acquiring less than $16,910 annually can be categorized as poor. Combating poverty in such a scenario requires one of the individuals to acquire a position which enables them to amass $8.13 per hour (Ravenscraft, 2019). Currently, 17 states avail minimum wages which indicate a higher rate in comparison to the value. Calculating living wages mandates a keen comparison of the annual salaries applicable to various industries. Moreover, it also provides a prerequisite of evaluating data contained on sites which include PayScale , Glassdoor as well as Salary.com . Glassdoor’s tool known as Know Your Worth enables individuals to evaluate their compensation packages with respect to their job titles, experience and location.
‘ Applying the Law ’
Question 2: 14.1
The ruling issued indicated that the workers’ movement was limited by the employer in readiness for work-related events (Armour & Co. v. Wantock, 1944). More specifically, Justice Jackson stated that employers have the capacity to hire individuals to do nothing while waiting for a job-related phenomenon to arise. Furthermore, assuming a stand-by capacity in an organization often culminates in idleness of some sort.
Question 2: 14.5
The provisions relating to on-call workers predominantly rely on the categorization as restricted or non-restricted employees. Restricted employees require payment for the hours worked on call. On the other hand, non-restricted workers do not demand compensation with regards to the required waiting time. In Owens v. Local (1992) the plaintiffs were compensated predominantly relying on the terms initially agreed with the defendant. In addition, the FLSA 29 U.S.C. § 207(a) (1) indicates that compensation applies in circumstances where waiting time pertaining to on-calls solely benefits employers and their businesses.
Question 3: ‘ Key Terms and Concepts ’
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 - It relates to a labor regulation implemented in the United States implementing minimum wages for workers and ‘ time-and-a-half payments ’ made for overtime hours.
Minimum wage - It relates to the lowest amount of remuneration that employers can remit to employees legally.
Overtime - It relates to the time an employee works which adds to their normal hours of dispensing job related responsibilities.
Enterprise coverage - According to the FSLA, it connotes a situation in which over two interrelated organizations become categorized as a single enterprise.
Covered enterprise - It relates to a scenario in which an enterprise operates under the FSLA’s guidelines.
Individual employee coverage - It only applies in the absence of enterprise coverage and employees can ascribe to the provisions contained in the FSLA particularly where they regularly indulge in Interstate commerce.
Opportunity wage - It often comprises of lower amounts in comparison to minimum wages commonly offered to individuals aged below 20 years for their work.
Federal minimum wage - It relates to the pay floor established by the federal government at $7.25/hour.
Tip credit - It provides an allowance for tipped employees to acquire a pay lower than the prescribed minimum wage in the circumstance that tips could boost their earnings up to the recommended minimum amount.
On-call time - It relates to a requirement by employers for their workers to remain in the establishment’s premises or at their respective homes making it easy for their organizations to reach them when they are needed.
Meal periods - They relate to unpaid periods of over 30 minutes which accrue to non-exempt employees required to offer their services for not less than six hours.
Rest periods - It relates to a paid break of more than 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked.
Sleeping time - It refers to a duration of 7-9 hours to ensure the health of adult workers.
Exempt employee - The term relates to workers excluded from overtime pay as well as minimum wages.
Non-exempt employee - It refers to a category of workers who qualify for the minimum wage rate established by the Federal Government.
Administrative employee exemption - It relates to job classifications which fail to qualify for minimum wages, the regulations pertaining to overtime hours and other non-exempt employees’ privileges.
Learned professional exemption - It relates to professionals whose employment attracts a salary above the FSLA’s threshold which applies to exemptions weekly or even annually.
Highly compensated employee exemption - It relates to a category of workers excluded from overtime payments.
Computer professional exemption - It connotes workers excluded from acquiring minimum wages, the prerequisites associated with overtime laws and rest periods.
Outside sales representative exemption - It relates to a situation in which the FLSA provisions exclude the professionals from acquiring standards pertaining to its minimum as well as overtime wages.
Portal-to-portal act - The regulation protects employers for engaging in preliminary and postliminary activities after completing the principal obligations pertaining to their employment contract.
Training time - It relates to a schedule developed to enable workers to acquire work-related skills.
Integral and indispensable - It relates to a test applicable in determining an employee’s compensability.
Principal activity - It connotes undertakings which increase a given unit’s total value.
De minimis - It relates to a legal concept in which the respective courts refrain from indulging in trifling matters.
Compensatory time off - It relates to the time off issued by employers as part of their extra compensation package I want overtime payments.
Liquidated damages - It relates to the damages which accrue to injured parties as designated by various parties during the formulation of a contract and becomes applicable upon its breach.
Mass layoff - It relates to circumstances in which an enterprise sends home over 50 workers at a specific time.
Reduction in force - It relates to separation from employment opportunities owing to monetary constraints, limited work opportunities, establishment redesigns and the elimination of specific positions.
Worker adjustment and retraining notification - It relates to a regulation implemented in 1988, to ensure the protection of workers, their families as well as the surrounding communities making it mandatory for employers with over 100 employees to issue 60 calendar-day notifications of organizational closures in advance.
Federal Insurance contribution act - It refers to payroll contributions by the American federal government to offer benefits such as social security in addition to Medicare.
Federal unemployment tax act - The regulation allows the government to levy taxes for the acquisition of revenue to cater for unemployment insurance.
Safe Harbor - It refers to a regulation which exempts given acts from violating specific rules.
Section 530 - It relates to a legal provision that protects businesses from specified liabilities or making payments especially where an individual provides compliance proof with respect to the law in good faith.
References
Armour & Co. v. Wantock, 323 U.S. 126, 65 S. Ct. 165, 89 L. Ed. 118 (1944).
Burkus, D. (n.d.). The Public, the Political System and American Democracy [Video file]. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.people-press.org/2018/04/26/the-public-the-political-system-and-american-democracy/
Owens v. Local No. 169, 971 F.2d 347 (9th Cir. 1992).
Ravenscraft, E. (2019, June 5). What a 'Living Wage' actually means. New York Times. Retrieved from .https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/smarter-living/what-a-living-wage-actually-means.html
