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Author Topic: Overtime compensation laws Benjamin J. Kepner Film Handler Posts: 15 From: Muskegon, MI, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 11-28-2003 11:29 AM                     I just spent about an hour doing a search of the site trying to find an answer to this and I couldn't find anything that satisfied me. Is there a federal law that exempts movie theaters from paying their employees overtime compensation? If so, does this law supercede state laws that apply to overtime? (I know minimum wage laws are whichever is higher) Can anyone point me to a site or law that states this, I am just not willing to accept the explanation anymore that "it is just the way the movie industry is". I know that Michigan state law exempts entertainment and amusement establishments from paying overtime if they meet all the follow guidelines: 1. Open to the general public at a fixed location 2. It is open primarily to provide leisure activities to those that attend 3. It is open no more than 7 months out of the calendar year Now it is number three that really makes me wonder. The only theaters (at least in Michigan) that should then be exempt for paying overtime then would be seasonal theaters such as drive-ins. Can anyone provide me with anything that would show otherwise?  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-28-2003 11:49 AM                     I read an article in the local paper a while back where a parent wrote in asking if her daughter should be paid overtime since they were working her 45+ hours a week at the movie theater. The columnist (in the business section) replied that places such as Disneyworld and other "attraction" venues ARE exempt, but movie theaters are not. At least, that's what the state law says. All the corporate and manager types like to think of their theaters as "a snack bar that happens to show movies" then so be it, and pay me overtime. If not, then make up your mind. Regal paid me overtime, but Carmike did not, so I made it VERY clear that I refused to work overtime if I wasn't going to be compensated for it. It worked out for the most part, but I ended up having to leave a few shifts early at the end of the week. Sorry folks, this is time out of my life that I'm giving up to make you money. If you don't want to pay me extra for staying extra, then I won't... =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Kyle Watkins Expert Film Handler Posts: 185 From: Stuart, FL, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 11-28-2003 01:52 PM                     Thomas, Florida is exement form paying overtime, i went thew countless phone calls with the labor board on this matter. Now this was 1999 and 2000, wether the law change since then I dont know. Kyle  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 11-28-2003 03:33 PM                     Check out the FLSA - there is a federal exemption from overtime obligations specific to movie theatres. That, not your state's statutes, is the ultimate authority. (FLSA.org)  |  IP: Logged Dennis M Dow Jr Expert Film Handler Posts: 141 From: Bloomfield NJ USA Registered: Oct 2003 posted 11-28-2003 03:49 PM                       My company pays us OT even tho our contract does not require it... guess they figure easier to pay than to fight  |  IP: Logged Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-28-2003 04:18 PM                     As I understand it, in California, over 40 hours in a week is overtime PLUS over 8 hours in a shift is overtime PLUS if you work then leave and then come back the second shift is overtime. Unless, of course, you're salary. Then you're screwed sideways. (Moving to Ground Level)  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 11-28-2003 07:01 PM                    so I made it VERY clear that I refused to work overtime if I wasn't going to be compensated for it. Were you on salary? If you were an hourly employee by law you must be compensated. The question at hand is whether you would get paid at 1.5X your normal rate. But even if they don't pay overtime they still have to pay your normal rate if you are an hourly employee.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-28-2003 07:43 PM                     In the case of employee rules...I can think of no case when the most restrictive rules dont apply. In the DC metro area...DC as always been a over 40 hours must be paid at 1.5X pay...even though the neighboring jurisdictions did not have that clause. DC isn't even a state and that rule must be followed. Steve  |  IP: Logged Kris Brunton Expert Film Handler Posts: 108 From: Napanee, Ontario, Canada Registered: Apr 2000 posted 11-28-2003 08:02 PM                     I beleive in Ontario overtime must be paid out at 1.5x for those exceeding 44 hours in a week. Then you have salary employees and 60 hours in a week is not unheard of.  |  IP: Logged Philip Wittlief Film Handler Posts: 57 From: Chicago, IL Registered: May 2003 posted 11-28-2003 08:25 PM                        I know in the Indiana state code 'motion picture theater' is exempt from the overtime law.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-28-2003 08:27 PM                    State law for kentucky is you must be paid overtime if you work over 40 hours. Movie theaters are not exempt.  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 11-28-2003 09:06 PM                        State law does not trump Federal labor law, except if the State pays higher. However, there is a Federal exemption for Motion Picture Theater employees from overtime pay. The general labor law rules are here: General Info on the Fair Labor Standards Act Q&A here: Q&A The list of exemptions is here: FLSA Exemptions  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 11-29-2003 12:26 AM                    Sounds like a question for a lawyer because there is nothing in there that says that a state cannot have greater requirements than the Feds. Indeed, it specifically says they can for minimum wage so wouldn't the same theory apply to the OT rules, that is, if the state says everyone must get it even if the feds don't require it, then they must be paid, no? Note that the list of exemptions is a list of exemptions from the FLSA (federal law), variously for minimum wage and/or overtime. It doesn't say anything about short circuiting state laws.  |  IP: Logged Rachel Craven Madam Moderator Posts: 2190 From: Pensacola, FL Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-29-2003 02:15 AM                     I made many phone calls on this subject with the labor board back in Massachusetts. Movie Theaters are exempt from paying overtime. They also have different hours that young employees (14-17) can work compared to 'normal' jobs because of theaters odd hours. That was a couple years ago, and no - I don't remember the exact hours.  |  IP: Logged Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-29-2003 08:23 AM                        SC is a 'no overtime pay' state also. No overtime pay meaning no 1.5x pay rate after 40 hours. I was under the impression that NC was also, but a few years ago (3-4) parents of a UA employee in Wilmington, NC sued the company after their kid did not receive OT pay. They won the judgement and OT pay was retroactive for him for the time that he had worked OT. I'm not sure what happened with anyone else whom had worked OT with UA in NC. I have employees who hit around 40 a week and I have exchange students who ask for 65/week. While I can hear soem of you screaming at how unfair that may be, it is their choice to work such as they pay to come here and seemingly are quite happy to work at the theatre for me, or at least they "act" that way.. I'm almost 100% sure that if we were required to pay OT there would not be a soul who would get more than 39 hours. You know, like Wal-Mart. Keep the hours down and skirt bennies... To clarify what TMP commented about Carmike... he received pregular hourly wages for OT hours worked, he just didn't recieve an accelerated wage. Soem like it, some don't but we all know that most of us aren't in the exhibition end of the business for the money now, are we?  |  IP: Logged

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