John Landsberg is reporting employees at the KC Star were told they will not have access to their work email and won't be allowed to check phone messages while on unpaid furlough. Apparently the company doesn't want employees to come back later demanding to be paid for work they did while on furlough.
Click here for the story.
Update: a reader says the Star is
following federal law here and points to Employment Law Blog, which posted
this info:
... And while those exempt folks are on furlough, they cannot be sending or answering email or checking their voice mail. Otherwise they are "working" and must be paid their full salary.
..
8 comments:
Federal Law is the issue here, not McClatchy:
"It gets thorny with exempt employees (those workers who are salaried and are not eligible for overtime under federal or state law). The law requires payment of full salary for any work week in which a salaried employee performed any work. Therefore, any furlough would have to be for at least an entire week, not just one day of the week. And while those exempt folks are on furlough, they cannot be sending or answering email or checking their voice mail. Otherwise they are "working" and must be paid their full salary." (http://djillpugh.typepad.com/employment_law_blog/2009/08/work-furloughs-can-my-employer-do-that.html)
For those interested, the U.S. Department of Labor recently issued a helpful FAQ on furloughs and other reductions in pay issues - http://lawyersusaonline.com/wp-files/pdfs/furlough.pdf
Yup, Federal law. That's why the company prefers vacation burn and other ways to cut overhead. Lots of Fed rules to follow on furloughs. It'll be a nightmare because reporters don't work like factory workers who punch in and out.
Can't blame them. They know that hiring affirmative action, illegal alien loving, welfare parasites means that they will sue or make claims at the drop of a hat. The first thing Yale Ahaintgettinajob would do is answer an email from an ACORN tipster and claim he was on the clock.
Would we notice any difference in the end product?
Absolutely not.
This is a federal law - get your facts straight before you put these kind of things up
Believe me when I tell you it is all "cover your ass" BS. They may tell you not to work but they expect you to. If you don't your not part of "the team" and you will be moved out.
Been there one that.
This is such old news. MW must be starving for anything to report. And FYI at my newspaper (where all full-time people have been taking furloughs since April) we are playing by the rules. Furlough is not a gimmick to get people to work without paying them. Go sell your cynicism somewhere else.
9:35 Way to go.
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