There will be a huge spike in these violations if Mittens Romney wins the election. His corporate friends will have total free range to end the following: labor laws,the minimum wage,OSHA,the EPA,and child labor laws for starters. Welcome back to 1910,like sweat shops? Coming soon to America the "good: old days of 80 work weeks,slave wages and unsafe working conditions with no pesky labor unions to interfere! Enjoy!!!!!!!

Tom, unfortunately, we will always have these underpaid workers because they don't like to see anything taken out of their checks, and most would rather be paid in cash. What they don't realize, until its too late, is that when they want to retire they realize that the Social Security they expected or are eligible for will not support them, because neither they or their employer has paid into the fund. They have not paid into a pension or contributed to a 401K and have not saved any of the money they earned. They also haven't admitted to themselves that the subpar wages they received were based on "Union Wages" which were reduced by their employer, who deposited the extra cash into their own personal pockets and laughing all the way to the bank. How else would they be able to have vacation homes in the tropics, travel the world and have offshore banking accounts ??? It certainly didn't come from their own personal physical labor, and sweat (unless you call shielding profits and not paying their fair share of taxes; "WORK")

Of course, Mitt backs the Ryan plan which gets rid of the National labor Relations Board.

Profit before people.

Figures.

The system is weighted in favor of the employer who will use that advantage to his benefit. If one studies history they will see that current conditions are in a direct parallel with that which brought about organized labor at the turn of the last century. The principal advantage employers currently have is 15-million unemployed in the labor pool that will submit to abuse just to get a job. The disadvantage for those employed is that if they stand up for their rights, they most likely will be dismissed in favor of one of those 15-million. There is absolutely no sustainable argument that unions have not abused the system themselves, but the pendulum swings in both directions.

I didn't read all the comments here - but I can attest to the fact that this is NOT just an issue with low wage employees. In fact, I would argue that the problem gets worse as the pay rate goes up. And when you are a salaried employee, the expectation for many companies is that you work for as long as is required to get the job done.

My wife just went through this with her employer, where not only was her pay reduced 20% after a job change within the company (forced upon her by the inept ceo), their expectations are that she do both the job duties she had previously and those of the person she replaced. It's a no-win situation that she will fail at even though she's working 12 hour days and on weekends in an effort to just catch up. They understand she's going to fail as they've set it up this way.

And legally, she has little to no recourse. So what do people in situations like this do other than seek employment elsewhere.

The reason a 40 week was instituted was for the worker to be rested a preform his job more efficientley. If he couldn't keep up because of an increase oof work load they were to hire another employee to pick up the slack. Now with the GREED element the employee wants overtime and the employer wants to work you without either no pay or pay you under the table. Either way the employee gets screwed.

Welcome to the United States of Corporate America. Now that we've almost succeeded in dismantling the unions (you know, those nasty little buggers that always want decent working conditions and fair pay) and on the verge of buying outright the presidency of the United States, we'll be able to pay everyone the new minimum wage, to be decided by our bought and paid for congressmen and women. Oh yes, P.T. Barnum, you were right. There IS a sucker born every minute. And in these corporate ran states it seems that there's an abundance of suckers. So we'll keep feeding out that B.S. about "job creators", and keep demanding our tax breaks while we screw our employees and make them smile and say "thank you".

Just save up your proof and collect documentation for every time the company has done this and get your buddies to do the same. Get a nice healthy pile going and when you have a new job ready report the whole pile at once. You will get your money and they will get fined for each offense and the fines are not cheap.

As CEOs and business heads see their salaries and benefits skyrocket,the average American worker is making less for increased work. These are Romneys 1% friends who are destroying the Middle Class, cutting jobs,benefits and sending them out of America because their greed has no limits and they only care for money. Money is their God,and talk about not supporting America! Evil,greedy,souless 1%.

So is there a clear legal definition of an exempt versus non-exempt employee?

How about calling all staff RNs supervisors because they are responsible for the CNA working with them and give them a salary - no overtime. I am not lazy. I bust my butt to give quality care and document it. Sometimes you have to stay past your shift. The CNA gets overtime. The LPN gets overtime. I get additional duties because I am the RN. And FYI - there is a real supervisor on duty. Also they want you to help out in a pinch and be a team player but then pay you the same hourly rate as your base salary. Why? A loophole somewhere allows it and they save money. Companies do not care about employees. They care about the bottom line. If cuts need to be made - they start with those making the least. Top heavy management still gets theirs. Greed will cause the next revolution.

A lot of the K-Mart Republicans that are touting root-hog-or-die capitalism are going to get very skinny when it comes about.

Illegal labor or call it slave labor or cheap labor anyway you look at it it is eating away at our economy like termites. We are turning third world they all know to come here soon to get amnesty and our entitlements as they reap the benefits of our screwed up government policies.

The bottom line is that this article is about workers not getting paid for working. I didn't read anyting in the article about Obama, unions or facebook.

Was this article written by someone who worked overtime? The title doesn't make sense....."Pulled some OT?More and more, the means working for the boss for free"

Hey job creators you have had over 10 years of big tax breaks where are all the jobs you've created? Overseas you say! Thanks for being so patriotic! Nothing like holding Americas Middle Class hostage and playing your little game of blackmail with American jobs. Such great Americans and Christians too! Burn in Hell you bastards!

Our worldly warm welcome man Obama with his Clinton save the world policy is getting a bit too much to pay for.

The future generation will be worked to death never to retire. Blame Obama ! Ohh I mean GW ! . Or just blame it on the Euro and big bank freaks. the NWO ! People do not matter these days only profits matter. Yes we are mad ..Do you ever plan to uhhhh do anything with your life in this dog eat dog over populated rat race . One day at a time ..

Its like with housing... the only ones buying them up are investors..who are in turn renting them out...great bailout plan...bail out the folks who created the massive housing fail d/t greed and trickery.

That housing fail was deliberate...shook the tree...middle class was getting too powerful, more than any other time in history..middle class was thriving until boom bust..it was a well orchestrated plan.

I worked for a catholic facility that a few years back a management company took over. They changed the employee handbook and made us all sign a form saying we can be fired at a given notice for any reason. They repeatedly told us to do the right thing and we would be alright. They increased managers and decreased hourly staff and doubled up the jobs we used to do. They passed on more of the managers previous paperwork to the hourly staff. These managers suddenly became "hands off" managers who rarely helped and often sat in meetings or in their offices. I watched one chase down a Nurses Aid who was busy with another patient only to tell her to go wipe a mans runny nose when she was finished with the other patient. With the increased work load alot of people skipped their lunch breaks and the two 15 minute breaks we all managed to take before the change. They threatened employees with absolutely no overtime. The managers were instructed to write people up for ridiculous things. Some quit while others like myself stayed on till I found a better job. Most of the 20+ year employees like myself have left there for better working conditions elsewhere. Before leaving I noticed my co workers clocking out then going back to work for the lunch break. I also noticed them clocking out at the end of the day then going back to finish up the increased work load. I know this is still going on because I am in contact with a few of the original crew that is still there. They also did away with the employee match tax excempt retirement program. They told employees there vacation and time off had to be pre approved while few were. When they were approved they had to wait for months on end. I know because I was forced to wait 3 months and had to pay a higher rate for airfare then I would have had they informed me sooner. These were only a few of the unfair practices I witnessed. Prior to this I was not much of an advocate for employee unions but I am now. I recently heard they fired most of the managers now and have hired less experienced ones to replace them. Once upon a time,I used to love working there. Everyone was helpful and understanding and the patients recieved good care with plenty of help. This organization unfortunately has become a greedy non profit that is very much for profit. A real shame.

here in PA.certain jobs by PA law..mine included..it's up to the employer if they want to pay overtime...and the company i work for doesn't want to so the employee gets screwed...gotta love our overpaid PA gov't crooks...always looking out for the working class.but it's a great state for welfare...but that's another story...

For a good example of The Future, look at Caterpillar.

Caterpillar posted a record profit of $4.9 billion in 2011. Their CEO received a sixty percent increase in pay.

Meanwhile, rank-and-file workers are being asked to take a six-year wage and benefit freeze.

Guessing if they strike in protest, Caterpillar will simply build a new plant in India or China, and fire them all. If fact, asking for a freeze in the face of record profits actually seems like a calculated plan to get workers pissed off so they are more likely to strike, then they have the excuse they need to close a few plants stateside.

So long, middle class, it was nice knowing you.

GOP retirement plan: work until you die,no retirement for you! Enjoy! This as the CEO lives even better because he doesn't have to pay retirement benefits. And these CEOs are the people Rightwingers support and admire. Like these people they have no soul,many lack a brain too!

Thank God we don't have unions anymore. If we did, Romney would have to downsize his yacht by twenty-five feet and use that extra cash to pay his employees!

The problem is there are ten more waiting out there for your job. These illegal foreigners are very hungry for anything willing to work harder and longer . This puts a strain on all of us . Americans are being pushed out by the worker bees. A type of foreign invader like clams and carp finishing us off one at a time.