At 05:29 PM 3/31/98 -0600, Michaele and David Haynes wrote:


>Surely you are not suggesting that you can make your secretary work for 50
>hours a week and pay him only for 40. If you believe this is legal, I
>think you are mistaken. Salaried vs. hourly has nothing to do with it.

        No, I am not. You can't make anyone who is not an "exempt" employee work
beyond their normal work week without some compensation.  If you read my
post carefully -- or perhaps I was unclear in using "salaried" vs "hourly"
imprecisely -- we are saying much the same thing in different words.

>The only employees working in museums who are exempt from wages-and-hours
>regulations (that require compensation (in time or money) at
>time-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40 in a week) are those in 'bona
>fide executive, administrative, and professional' positions. For
>definitions of these terms and a whole lot more about these regulations,
>check the Department of Labor web page
>www.dol.gov/dol/asp/public/programs/handbook/minwage.htm
>You have to follow a few links to find what you are looking for, but it's
>pretty intuitive.

        I am familiar with the definitions and am also familiar with how they are
applied and a relatively large proportion of employees in museums -- as
compared with for-profit businesses, for example -- are classified as
"exempt" as professionals.

>I can't find a regulation on volunteering by non-exempt staff, but I
>remember a big problem several years ago after our public TV station had
>one of its bi-weekly fund drives. The regular staff 'volunteered' to work
>very long hours as a donation to the station. The Department of Labor was
>not amused, and, if I remember correctly, assessed a large fine.

        As I said, "volunteering" can be a slippery slope because it would have to
be truly voluntary for non-exempt staff and there could easily be the
perception of coercion, however mild, that would make it less thna voluntary.


William H. Mulligan, Jr. [[log in to unmask]]
Associate Professor of History
Director - Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute
Murray State University - Murray, KY 42071-0009
Phone:(502) 762-6571 Fax:(502) 762-6587
Pogue Institute web site:
http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/Bill.Mulligan/Index.htm
Personal web site:
http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/Bill.Mulligan/mull-pers.htm