Google's Second-Class Citizens 320
theodp writes "Valleywag reports on a new caste system at Google, which will mean compulsory lunch breaks, two additional unpaid 15-minute breaks, limited OT, and e-clock punching for those reclassified as hourly workers starting April 1. Could be worse, though. Google also offers gigs through WorkforceLogic (the company that helped Microsoft deal with its pesky permatemps), which come with a guarantee of unemployment after one year. Guess that's what passes for the Best Employer in the US these days."
That's fed law. (Score:5, Informative)
What a fantastic non story.
Yeah .. that's how it works. (Score:3, Informative)
The year-long contracts thing has been done-to-death in the employment world, especially in tech employment. This is nothing new or special, either.
Gah (Score:3, Informative)
Re:That's fed law. (Score:5, Informative)
Oh come on... (Score:3, Informative)
Duh, it's the law (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Duh, it's the law (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, like not being 'exempt' from overtime pay.
Re:Time to Sell the GOOG stock.. (Score:3, Informative)
Now on the other hand, I think pissing off your employees may well reduce motivation and productivity enough to offset much of the savings (particularly in a creativity-driven place like Google). I know they're the hourly folk, and I know it's federal law (though the law doesn't say anything about where they have to eat -- if they want to eat at their desk and are thinking about work while they do, I think that's still okay by law). And it could well be that we're talking more about grunts than creative types. But I can't imagine that it's worth the savings to have your entire support staff grumbling and calling your decisions "retarded."
It seems like such a strange morale killer that I wonder if they're cracking down now so they can respond to employee wishes and retract it all later to great fanfare. I'm not typically a conspiracy theorist, but this one seems so different from how Google is rumored to operate.
Re:That's fed law. (Score:4, Informative)
I've worked at several companies where they made everybody "salary" to avoid paying overtime, even though legally they were in the wrong. Some employee waits until he has a new job, then reports the former company and often recovers quite a bit of money as well as forcing the company to start paying overtime to everybody else entitled to it.
Re:That's fed law. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:That's fed law. (Score:5, Informative)
I know that the paid breaks as a postal worker did not come from the US Government being nice. They were a result of Postal Worker Unions negotiating benefits.
Labor Unions have forced a lot of companies into giving their hourly employees benefits not mandated by law.
Short on details (Score:4, Informative)
The story is so short on details it's hard to form any opinion. For example, how many people will be affected and what kind of jobs? Are we talking 100 people? Are talking about jobs that may be temporary by definition (receptionists, contractors, etc.) or unskilled labor (janitors, garage attendants, security guards). Other companies like HP have had the same issues with "permatemps" and how to properly classify them. Other than linking to the same company as the Microsoft fiasco, it really serves no other purpose than to take a cheap shot at Google.
In the MS case, MS had people working at the same jobs as skilled salaried employees for years. But what irked the judge in the case what Microsoft did in the case. As soon as the lawsuit was initiated, Microsoft lawyers drafted an agreement that they tried to get all their temporary employees to sign that would relinquish all their rights to sue Microsoft for labor violations. It was insinuated that those who did not sign could not work for Microsoft. The judge sua sponte quashed the agreements. In the end, the courts ruled that they should have had rights to participate in the employee stock option program.
Blame the Law and Laywers, not Google... (Score:3, Informative)
Previously, many high-tech companies classified effectively everyone as "exempt" as a way of avoiding overtime. There are major law firms who make money suing such companies, their adds are all over BART in the bay area.
This is simply Google actually complying with employment law, reclassifying a large number of employees as nonexempt, so they either have to get paid overtime or go home.
I made more hourly... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:That's fed law. (Score:5, Informative)
Having your job classified as exempt from FLSA laws carries with it a certain status, though. Employees like to be "salaried," and not have to fill out an hourly timesheet, even if filling out a timesheet means the occasional opportunity for overtime.
Re:Crybabies (Score:3, Informative)
California labor code requires employers allow one 30-minute lunch break (unpaid) and two 10-minute breaks during an eight hour day. Whether an employer pays the employee during the short break is up to the employer (most do), but not allowing breaks at all will generally result in a law suit.
Re:Remember when (Score:3, Informative)
Anyone remember when a worker would just go in, get hired by a company, and work for them? Now it seems like everything but the most professional jobs are getting outsourced either oversees or to temp, staffing services, and contractor agencies. How many people here still work for companies where the secretaries and janitors (sorry, don't have the inclination to use the newer politically-correct terms) actually are full-time, fully-vested, non-contracted company employees? I'm praying there are are least a few of you who do.
In part, you can thank the well-meaning labor laws passed in the last 30 years that
1) basically make it damn near impossible for an employee to fire anyone for cause, and
2) put the burden of the government's failed social programs onto employers
In addition:
3) It's much easier for managers to hide financials from upper management and board of directors when using contractors, salaries are hard to hide.
4) It's a popular way of doing 'try before you buy' - companies don't want to be stuck practically forever with an underperforming employee, so they want you to do contractor or temp status for a few months before signing you on as an employee.
For good or bad, there are a lot of reasons companies use contractors. And as you're seeing here, it's not limited to the low end of the totem pole - I've seen six-figure contracting jobs (and been offered some). Personally, I'm not interested in that sort of thing. Especially when any relocation is involved - no way I'm moving across the damned country for a 3-month tryout.
Re:That's fed law. (Score:2, Informative)
In maryland, an employee has no right to any sort of break, sick time, vacation. Not even a lunch break - unless it's agreed to in the employment contract.
Most everyone is employed "at will", meaning you can be fired for no reason at all (except for federal statutes prohibiting firing based on race, sex, refusal to commit crime, etc).
The only exception here is employees under 18 are entitled to a 15 minute break (unpaid) for every 5 hours of work.
The only right an employee has is the right to quit.
Re:That's fed law. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Blame the Law and Laywers, not Google... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:my problem with the Google work environment ... (Score:4, Informative)
Of course it's great to have a separate work and home life. It's also very difficult to keep up a >50 hour work week without negatively affecting productivity or happiness in general. In no way or form does Google demand 24/7 attendance or disallow employees from going home. For that matter, i don't even know who would order me to stay at work later. If anyone had the balls to do that I'd quit.
Just for a data point (yes, anecdotal, I know) here is my typical work week:
- Monday and Tuesday: ~10am-7pm. Most of my in-person meetings take place on these days, so I try to keep normal hours. Also, dinner is served at 6:30. Sometimes I might stay another half hour or hour and have dinner with a teammate before leaving the office.
-
Wednesday-Thursday: Noon to ~10pm. I try to get as much of my coding done, and this tends to be easier and interruption free in the afternoon and evenings. Since I'm staying late, I run my daily errands in the morning or sleep in and come in at noon. On some occassions I'll stay later than 10,
-
Friday: Noon to 4pm. By Friday morning, most of the work I want to get done for the week is completed, so I want to relax. I'll sleep in a bit, and come into work just to check in with random people. There's a higher propensity for goofing off on Friday, but at the same time I'd rather just goof off at home, so I try to only stay for about 4 hours. At 4pm there's a TGIF session where they make announcements and serve up wine and beer. If it's interesting, I'll stay, but I'd rather get started on weekend plans.
Co-workers around me will sometimes have grossly different schedules. It's mildly annoying sometimes when you *really need* to get ahold of someone, but there is a lot of respect for the personal life of others and you learn to get by without always relying on others. There's no way in hell I'll call a co-worker's cell phone unless there is an extreme, dire, emergency.Re:Reclassified Though!?! (Score:3, Informative)