Following Wage Laws is Cheaper than Trying to Beat Them
Television networks and production companies behind some of the biggest names in reality programming - including "The Bachelor" and "Trading Spouses" - agreed on Wednesday to pay $4 million to writers and editors who claimed in a lawsuit they routinely worked 12-hour days or longer without overtime pay or meal breaks.
The settlement, three years in the making, covers an estimated 400 reality show employees who worked on programs for FOX, ABC, CBS, Turner Broadcasting System and the WB Broadcasting Network, among others. The nonunion workers, known as "story development employees," claimed supervisors made them turn in blank time cards or fill out their hours weeks in advance and always doled out the same weekly pay regardless of hours worked.
Lessons for all businesses:
Following the law ends up being cheaper than trying to bend it. We get calls every week involving businesses that were caught trying to game the overtime and wage rules. All I can do is shake my head when I hear the imaginative way the employer thought they would beat the labor laws as to overtime and wages. In one case, a retailer created an entry level "intern" position for new salespeople, paying them just $200 per week for full time work. The employer was certain that because these were not "real" employees, the wage laws didn't apply and they could be paid less than minimum wage. In another case, an elder care company thought it could pay its night shift employees for just eight hours even though they were working 12-hour shifts by telling them they should sleep four out of the 12 hours. These creative approaches often work in the short term because there are always people willing to work for less than the law requires. But that same employee will suddenly turn very strict on the law, right about the time he or she is fired. Then the company ends up paying all the past wages and overtime (up to three years!) plus heavy penalties and attorney fees.
