California law may exempt game programmers from receiving overtime pay [update]

by Ben Gilbert on Apr 6th 2009 5:30PM

Do you work in California? Do you program games? Do you make over $75K a year? Well, it may be time to seek employment in another state, friend. ~~As of today,~~ California Assembly Bill 10 ~~has gone into effect and~~ means the future of game development in California for some may be marred by brutal crunch times with no compensation for overtime hours.

Amending the existing overtime laws and clarifying exemptions barring certain employees from receiving overtime under various conditions, AB 10 seeks to lower the number of lawsuits taking place in the state under previous guidelines. Joystiq's Law of the Game author Mark Methenitis explained the downside of the amendment to us this afternoon, saying, "Practically speaking, that means if you're a dev with a salary of $75K, you can't claim overtime during crunch, which means the developer is more likely to use crunch cycles."

Game developers looking to leave the state may want to inquire with ~~2K Boston~~ Irrational Boston -- we hear the company's hiring!

[Update: Please pardon the confusion, dear readers. To clarify: California Assembly Bill 10, did, in fact, go into effect during October 2008. We have not -- as some emails have suggested -- become trapped in a time warp, perpetually repeating the day every store in town was inexplicably out of napkins and dill pickles.]

[Via superannuation]

Source

Tags: ab-10, assembly-bill-10, california, crunch, game-programmer, mark-methenitis, politics

Reader Comments (79)

Great, more government in private business.

Arnold signed it into law, so I guess he didn't have a problem with it.

RE: "Great, more government in private business."

No. California MANDATES the payment of overtime to NONexempt employees. What this bill does is make MORE people exempt (Ergo fewer government mandates). It's the opposite of what you said.

Ben, you may want to confirm that Massachusetts has stricter overtime requirements as applied to computer professionals. California's Wage and Hour Law is *broadly* considered the strictest in the country (the most generous to employees). I would be surprised if this amendment (arguably a clarification) will make California significantly less attractive to employees than other states.

Hell, why even let the workers go home?

Actually this is less government in private business.

If they didnt make the law in the first place, they wouldnt be reversing it now....

So repealing a law requiring OT is more government in private business?

Go read atlas shrugged again.

No thanks, troll.

What I wonder is, are other industries in the same situation? Is the 75K-earning banker exempt from collecting overtime too? If so, this is fair (comparatively). If not, then what the hell?

So I'm a troll because I just pointed out how you're not making any sense?

The idea is that the gov is no longer forcing employers to pay OT. They still have the option to do so, it's just no longer law. They now have more options. More options = better for the business. This is what people who don't want gov in business want. It's like if the gov said you don't have to obey traffic laws. That's not more gov in the roads, it's LESS.

Yeah, thats why. Thanks for the advice, advice dog....

Drink antifreeze

Take a nap

Use Tobasco

As Eyedrops.

Psycho, I take solace in your ad hominem attacks on anyone who disagrees with you. They demonstrate acquiescence to the complete nonsense of your comments.

The real question is why Joystiq doesn't have a "block commenter" feature.

I could troll you by calling Psycho an idiot, but it's not trolling when the statement is cleanly true.

While I don't agree with what Psycho said in general, he is in fact right about lasersanchez trolling the Joystiq comments.

Depending on the forum/blog, I can barely tell the difference between being a troll and being a normal active user. I just figured my comments were taken as more light hearted disagreement and/or bad jokes than fun-hating attacks. I'd probably spend less time on here if Joystiq had some sort of nested commenting system.

Oh god, aren't most studios located in CA?...

D'oh!

damn thats fucked up....

whats more fucked up is the fact that you guys found the PERFECT image for the situation......

Aaaaaaand you can hear the sound of EA Executives creaming their pants. It's great to see who the government is actually representing here. So...you want to cut down on law suits, huh? How about....encouraging the companies to treat their employees fairly by imposing laws that will protect the worker and not the businesses that are either breaking the law or using loop holes to mis treat their employees to their benefit.

Congratulations California Legislators on this most epic of failures.

It's the Walmartification of the game industry, just like every other industry and nearly every other facet of life in America. It's the golden rule: those with the gold make the rules.

Ain't it depressing?

It was the best of times...it was the BLURST of times?!

Question: was Leland Yee involved somehow?

oh my god, i absolutely love your avatar!!!

/patapon mega-fanboy

Leland Yee is a Democrat. Seems unlikely he would give more freedom to businesses to overwork and underpay their workers.

Most professional jobs don't pay overtime, so this really shouldn't be a shock to anyone. Corporate American workers, "white-collars," have never received overtime. It's no different in public accounting, investment banking, finance, marketing, etc. etc. I was actually surprised to hear that they received overtime. I have a friend working in TX as a game developer, works more than 40 hours a decent amount of the time and doesn't receive overtime. There's a reason it's called a salary and not an hourly wage.

I see you also have common sense. We should be friends.

Because this law has something to do with salary employees...

Correct. This (months old) clarification/revision simply details the types of computer professionals that are treated as salaried employees vs. "hourly low-level workers." There is absolutely nothing unusual about people with science degrees who are getting paid upwards of $75,000 (sometimes eclipsing the six-figure mark) receiving a salary instead of "clocking in and clocking out" every day.

Well, when you pay your workers $75,000 a year, I'm pretty sure they're salaried employees, not hourly.

In Alberta, professionals aren't entitled to receive any overtime pay by law. This includes Engineers (me), Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, etc. I did as a courtesy receive overtime pay from my employer when I was an hourly contractor, though they didn't have to by law. Now that I'm a salaried employee, I don't receive anything for overtime, except (unofficial) days off in lieu.
So to programmers in California I say, boo hoo, go enjoy your beautiful weather.

I work anywhere between 50-90 hour weeks. I'm an architect, so I assume that's a white-collar job. I'm a salary employee, but I'd be damned if I don't get overtime for the extra 10-50 hours I put in. I shouldn't be expected to keep working past my 40 hours and not get compensated. Whatever it is that you're doing, you may want to re-think it.

@nsdex I work with quite a few skilled trades guys that crack 75k easily, and they're hourly employees. Hell, I could probably reach up there if I don't turn down any overtime for a year, and I'm hourly.

But don't worry, you don't have to read the linked document above to find out that this law pertains to hourly employees.

GENERALLY: This is a very complicated area of the law, and I'm noticing some confusion in the comments. I will try to explain.

An "exempt" employee is not owed overtime. Generally "exempt" employees are paid an annual salary, and not "by the hour."

THE OLD LAW: The way the law USED to be, programmers were exempt if they met a long list of requirements INCLUDING a salary that equated $36/hourly. (This does NOT mean they were paid by the hour. Just that their salary equated to that amount).

THE PROBLEM: Let's say an employer pays $80,000. Sounds like they are following the law, right? (40 hours/wk * 50 wks/yr x $36=$72,000. Plenty of wiggle room!). But what happens employee put in an extraordinary amount of hours (or claims to)? Let's say 2,290 hours (45 hours/wk, except for 2 mos. @ 60 hours/wk).

That employee is no longer making $36/hour. He's making $34.93/hour and can sue the company.

THE AMENDMENT: The amendment makes it a bit less of a trap. It tells companies "OK, if you're paying over $75,000, you're in the clear."

Hope that helps.

I appreciate the clarification, darkseid. :)

This bill was put into effect last October.

Eh, I've seen an accountant work 16 hour days for the first 2 months of the year without a day off, then worked the rest of the year with 80 hour weeks. No overtime, and they made less than $75,000.

And I'm sure his family and health didn't suffer as a result. Screw it, let's just work more hours with less pay!

You think this is bad? I work in Vancouver, Canada, and here, there was a bill passed in 2001 (i think) that states that ANYONE in the tech industry (including videogames) is exempt from OT. We are the only industry here that's NOT ESSENTIAL (ie. doctors, nurses, teachers), that is exempt from the labour code. We are currently exempt from the following:

- No paid OT (i've been working 70 hour work weeks)
- No mandatory meal breaks
- No mandatory 8 hours between shifts
- No mandatory days off for holidays

This needs to change, as so many companies out here take full advantage of this, essentially getting slave labour. Funnily enough, EA of all places follows the labour code, even though they don't have to.

If you want OT, find an employer that pays it. I got paid OT for years even though I was exempted by law as an Engineer. To me, this is like bitching about the minimum wage. Just because there is a minimum wage imposed by Gov't, doesn't mean an employer can't pay more. I've never needed the Gov't to ensure that I get a fair paying job. It's up to me to ensure I get a fair paying job, and refuse the jobs that aren't fair.

@AirIntake:

Well said! If you think you are overworked and underpaid, you are perfectly free to quit and find a better job.

to AirIntake: So you're actually of the impression that minimum wage has no effect on the wages other people make? So the people working at McDonald's aren't buying cars or video games, thereby have no effect on your job or anyone else with a job that pays higher than minimum? I won't argue the whole "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" way of thinking. Hell, if it works for you, keep at it. I just don't feel like it will always work for everyone. People with debt, kids, and other things to worry about (not saying you don't have those things) sometimes don't have the luxury of time to find another job or become upwardly mobile by furthering their education, learning new skills, or networking. Also, with companies not hiring, they can wait out longer and hire someone who is willing to work for less. I feel many businesses can afford to wait longer than the majority of us can wait without getting a steady income.

To the above poster, my recommendation: unionize, or do as AirIntake suggests.

@ lasersanchez: Don't even joke about unionizing. That shit ain't funny, man.

Not a joke. Unions (despite a few problems) rule.

Unions don't care about you. They care about your union dues so they can use it to push the political agenda of the union leaders. If Unions did care about their workers, they would not allow to them demand exorbitant and unsustainable wages and benefits from their employers, thereby ensuring their future joblessness by bankrupting the business or state government they work for.

Because Unions clearly never care about the companies they work for and would never make concessions in order to help keep that company afloat. Also no company that has ever employed a union-based workforce has ever stayed afloat for several decades.

Unions ARE Democracy in the workplace; there is no better alternative.

@AirIntake: "I've never needed the Gov't to ensure that I get a fair paying job. It's up to me to ensure I get a fair paying job, and refuse the jobs that aren't fair."

Good luck doing that when nobody's hiring, and everyone who IS hiring pays only table scraps because they can get away with it due to laws written by and for the corporatocracy.

C'mon, lasersanchez, I woulda thought a fellow commie-pinko-socialist such as yourself would be all over this guy about the "boot-straps" argument. We both know how laughably wrong these supply-siders are when they say they've never needed government to ensure these things. Without government we'd all still be picking grapes for 5¢ per basket, or the videogame development equivalent thereof.

I don't have a problem with the "boot-straps" approach short term and for individuals, which was the man's suggestion to the original commenter, but you're right about the picking grapes for a nickel analogy. For whatever reason it's easy for people to overlook past achievements of governments/unions such as establishing the 40 hour work week, the 8 hour work day, eliminating child labor, creating a safe work environment, increasing the minimum wage (which assisted in increasing the average wage), etc., etc. But hey, unions are the ones killing business, like those union run banks we had to bail out that one time.

@Airintake

I don't know if you've heard, but there's massive unemployment right now. Most non-professionals will take whatever work they can get, and given the unemployment, most employers would pay them next to nothing (if not for the MW).

That would mean that, despite working as much as they can, their standard of life would be dismally poor, with no hope of betterment. And they can't "just quit", because jobs are a rarity. If not for the MW, jobs would stop you starving, but that's about it.

We've advanced as a society to such a point where we don't need to let people suffer like that.

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California law may exempt game programmers from receiving overtime pay [update]

Reader Comments (79)

Posted: Apr 6th 2009 5:38PM bmill3 said

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