IBM Sued for Not Paying Workers for Overtime

IBM was sued in federal court today by three current and former employees who allege the corporation refused to pay overtime to “tens of thousands of rank-and-file employees.”

"They were forced to work overtime without being paid in a manner that is required by the state and federal laws," attorney James Finberg said.

Lawyers said they are seeking millions of dollars in back pay for employees of the world's biggest technology services provider based in Armonk, N.Y. They are also considering punitive damages.

Experts speculated that the practice of not paying overtime to workers who deserve it was widespread in the technology industry.

"In the last couple of years, there has definitely been an increase in the number of wage-and-hour actions brought on behalf of computer related employees," said Oakland attorney Jeff Ross, who is representing 840 engineers working for applications software maker Siebold Systems Inc. in a pending overtime class action.

Employees allege they were forced to work more than 40 hours a week, and were called in on weekends without getting overtime pay.

I don’t think this situation is specific to the technology industry. I’ve always worked at small firms, and most people were salaried long before they should have been so the employer could avoid overtime pay. Those who were paid hourly were given the old “we don’t approve overtime pay, so if you work longer than 8 hours, it’s your choice” song-and-dance, knowing full well that most employees would have to work more than 40 hours every week to get through their work loads. Frankly, everyone I know who works at any type of corporate job faces the same thing. Left with the options of not finishing your work to prove a point (and getting shit-canned), suing your employer, or just sucking up and dealing, most people choose the last of those three equally undesirable options. Or go somewhere else, where they find themselves in the same situation.

This is the big secret behind American productivity going up with fewer workers, especially in small companies. Someone quits, or someone gets fired, and they don’t get replaced. Their work gets divided up among the remaining staff, and the extra cash goes in the coffers. Everyone I know at a corporate job complains about how they’re part of a skeleton crew—and don’t get paid for overtime.

It’s a despicable practice, largely ignored in discussions of workers’ rights, which is, in itself, an issue that barely gets lipservice even from our allegedly liberal Senators and Reps these days.