environmental consultans - overtime + Labour Laws

[mc0709]

Hi everyone,

I have a question for those of you who might work in the environmental consulting industry - there is a company that only pays "overtime" with 40+ CHARGEABLE hours...but it only pays straight time or banked time for those with degrees, and those w/ diplomas get time and a half - Is this legal?

This company has two offices in Alberta and some across the country as well, I know some people think they found a loophole or say that in the env. consulting field labour laws don't apply, but it still does not seem right to me. Most of us aren't professionals either (i.e p.eng), just people with general biology degrees or something. Their employees are getting missing out on a lot of OT pay...

[GreenLantern]

I am not an expert on the subject but that does not seem fair to me..

http://employment.alberta.ca/SFW/1470.html

Until someone else can lend an opinion the official word should be available there.. with a little digging.

[REDVAN]

I was always under the impression that people who work by the hour get 40ish hrs/wk and more is o/t pay, and those who are on salary are fu**ed.

That being said, I am on a salary where I'm supposed to be here 40 hr week and don't work that much.

[DuffMan]

The professionals would probably get paid better, and way better bonuses.
That's the way it is at the company I am at. Like 5% for non professionals, and 10 - 20 % for professionals.

[Cheese]

I think its BS tbqh.
Id call the labor board if I was up against that type of profiling and actually had proof.
Ive worked for consultants and now in the Energy biz and that type of situation never presented itself at all.
Hourly workers get OT after set time of 40x hours...OT is standard for all.
Base salary workers get that plus bonuses, and that should be based on your value to the company/job/project, not your degree. Base salaried employees generally work 1.5x the hours of hourly as well...at minimum.

[Ashartus]

This is pretty much standard practice in the industry, and would usually be specified in an employment contract (I used to work for a similar company and know people at most of the main environmental consulting firms). Also, labour laws generally explicitly exclude professionals, which is why the technicians get a better deal than the ones with degrees (even the non-engineers are usually considered salaried professionals if they have a degree - and biologists are eligible for formal registration as professionals in Alberta and BC). Some of the larger companies don't pay any overtime for professional staff, regardless of the number of chargeable hours worked (there's no actual legal requirement to pay overtime for salaried professionals). At least some companies pay their technicians for approved overtime regardless of whether it's chargeable or not though.

[mc0709]

Thanks for the replies. It still does not seem right though just because you have a degree you are considered to be under professional standing (especially if you are not registered under a "p." standing)



Quote from the Alberta Employment standards website


"
What is Overtime?

Except as noted below, overtime is all hours worked in excess of:

• eight hours a day, or
• 44 hours a week.

Overtime hours are to be calculated both on a daily and on a weekly basis. The higher of the two numbers is overtime hours worked in the week.
All employees, including those who are paid a weekly, monthly, or annual salary, must be paid overtime pay for overtime hours they work."


So if you are on salary, and you are not under a professional standing...you should be getting paid overtime. "http://employment.alberta.ca/SFW/1470.html"

[mc0709]

Also, has anyone ever actually talked to the labour board about the above issue?

[Pinner]

Aren't federal companies 50 hrs or 100 biweekly ? Something like that.

[Table 5]

nm

[carom]

I have been in the industry for a few years now and have worked at one of the largest international consulting companies out there and at a company with less then 20 employees. This is standard at all the places I have been and for most people I know in the industry.

I have not gone over the labour code, but the largest company I worked at is based in Alberta and I would guess they have a large team of lawyers that make sure they are compliant. I always thought they got around paying out over time if you are a professional (no time and a half) or part of management (nothing over and above salary + bonus). A professional generally consisted of someone who was just registered with a professional organization (MIT, student member, exam candidate).

The bigger companies tend to be better at squeezing every penny out of lower level employees, whereas the smaller ones do more for their employees when it comes to compensation.

If you want anymore info from me on this kind of stuff or the industry send me a PM.

[Ashartus]

From the employment standards:
22(1) An employer must pay an employee overtime pay of at least
1.5 times the employee’s wage rate for overtime hours.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an employer or employee who
has entered into an overtime agreement.

So basically if you have entered an overtime agreement (which you probably did when you signed your employment contract) that agreement takes precedence.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

From the employment standards:
22(1) An employer must pay an employee overtime pay of at least
1.5 times the employee’s wage rate for overtime hours.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an employer or employee who
has entered into an overtime agreement.

So basically if you have entered an overtime agreement (which you probably did when you signed your employment contract) that agreement takes precedence.

What he said. Find out if there is an overtime agreement in place. If not, call the gov to see what they say.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

What he said. Find out if there is an overtime agreement in place. If not, call the gov to see what they say.

Yeah, I'm an environmental consultant for a very large company and we have different OT agreements for the techs (people with college diplomas) and for the engineers and scientists (people with degrees).

Sometimes it doesn't seem fair because the techs do work hard, but hey.. they don't have the same charge out rates to clients or the crippling student loans that I have... so suck it.