I’m salaried, have been for years. Some weeks I work 40 hrs, others, 60 hrs. I am on call every third week 24x7 and get called quite a bit “after hours”. It’s part and parcel for what I do. However, I am well compensated so my employer is happy with the labor/work I provide and in turn I am happy with my compensation. If I was not, I would look elsewhere for more suitable employment. Why does the government need to get involved in any of this????
It is a matter of staying ahead of the game. If you aren’t valuable to the company they will take steps to increase your value or get rid of you. One way to increase your value is to make you work more hours.
If you are valuable enough, you can tell them “no”, but that lowers your value pretty quickly. Bottom rung white collar workers have a lot worse deal than top blue collar workers.
Every time I have found my position, skills or talent becoming less valuable I have taken immediate steps to change the situation. A lot of people are unable or unwilling to do that and all the government intervention in the world won’t help them.
Thanks. That's exactly what I was going to say. The only thing I'd add is that I'm pretty much being paid for what I know, not what I do on a daily basis. It's when the excrement hits the rotary impeller and revenue is on the line that it pays off for the company.