Lowes and overtime.

[Changenow]

My friend was just hired by Lowes Home Improvement as a "specialist." What is "special" about a specialist is that it is an exempt position allowing Lowes to schedule 60+ hours a week with no overtime pay. Other than being "special" this job is identical to those which employee who works the floor and are paid hourly.

How do they get away with this?

[dsc]

1. tell your friend to send a thank you card to Bush

that is how they are getting away with it. He changed the rules defining which employees get overtime and which don't.

[brainshrub]

2. God I hate corporate America.

@#$%ing bastards. Do you know how many people died so that we could have overtime?

Your friend is an idiot if he does not sue.

[vetwife]

12. Good Luck suing..They cheated me out of 15,000 on cleaning svcs.

Back in 1986 I had a commercial cleaning business and stripped and waxed their floors, for 4 of their businesses. The were never on time when they paid. And the last two months all four stores never paid. Their home office was in Florence. S.C. and my lawyer did not do squat ! If it were now......I would go after them big time..I have learned a thing or two since then.

[NewJeffCT]

3. I've been working much unpaid overtime for more than a decade

Even when I was making $25k a year out of college, I was considered exempt.

At least you're not working at Home Depot!

[JanMichael]

4. I was under the impression that HD was pretty good employee wise?

Did I hear wrong?

[2Design]

7. HD major repub support Lots of money to the repubs

[JanMichael]

9. I'm aware of that. What I was inquiring about was wages and benefits.

Even some dimwit repukes are capable of being manipulated into paying decent wages:-)

[NewJeffCT]

16. I think they used to be great to work for

They used to be great, from what I heard, - employees got stock options, vacation time bonuses for good service, etc - but, those good things have been stripped away in recent years.

And, Home Depot gives big money exclusively to RepubliCONs.

[Ernesto]

17. The last straw for me was an employee of Lowe's

He explained that He was very happy since leaving HD. Told me that HD was the "walmart" of home improvement stores.

[theoceansnerves]

5. they get away with it

by forcing every other small hardware store out of business. some here express disdain for home depot's large donations to bush and suggest shopping at lowe's, but in my estimation lowe's is no better when it comes to the effect on the community when they move in. especially if they are going to exhibit hiring practices such as those.

[WLKjr]

13. Its the same way with Wal-Mart

People always complaining it's putting people outta business. The Walton's and thier CEO's from what I understand are Republican donors. So who is really destroying America?!?!?!?!

[napi21]

6. Your friend need to check with the Dept of Labor wage & Hour

division. There are very specific requirements that need to be met before a position can be exempt. This is Federal Law, not state so it doesn't matter where you live. Also remember that Lowes is part of the Walmart empire!

I don't remember the exact wording of the law anymore, but essentially it say the person occupying an exempt position must either be a Professional, or supervise others to include authority to hire and fire. There's more to it than that, but that's the guts.

There are lots of employers out there that try to get around this, and WM is no exception. Check with your DOL to get this resolved.

[WLKjr]

14. No it's not

Lowe's and Wal-Mart(although buildings look alike) are not one empire. I had to do some research on this one becuase I had a bet going with a manager I work with, she lost, lol.

Just go check stock ownership(which determines who has the power) and you'll notice some similarities but nothing saying thier one conglomerate.

[newsguyatl]

8. don't know which is worse

home depot ceo STRONGLY supports bush, as do most of its execs... i'd said i would stop going there, and instead go to lowes, now not sure what to do.

[RedEarth]

10. A few months ago, someone on DU referred to Lowes hrs. as "Chinese

overtime". Same type of story as your friend.....60+ hours/week and no overtime. I used to shop at Lowes, however, after reading that post I now shop at Westlake/Ace Hardware.

[AP]

11. Do people understand the economics of overtime?

The less free time you have every week, the more valuable the remaining time you have becomes. That's why employers should be required to pay a premium once you you start giving over more an more time to them.

The costs of giving up more and more of your freetime are noneconomic (what's the cost of spending less time with your kids or not getting to go out to dinner and a movie, or socialize with friends?) but they're economic. You end up forgetting to pay bills, or you have to pay premiums for things because you have less time to plan.

[Tellurian]

15. Lowes Overtime lawsuit

Curious if this is an entrapment ploy or the real thing:


Lowes Overtime Violations Class Action

A group of current and former Lowes employees have started a class action lawsuit. If you are a current or former Lowes employee, you may be entitled to overtime payments through this lawsuit.

The lawsuit was brought after a team of attorneys investigated Lowe's practices and concluded that Lowes systematically fails to pay proper overtime to its employees.

A number of Lowes employees have already signed up for this case.

http://lowesclassaction.com/