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Workers' Rights for Workforce Development Total Time: 1 Hour, 30 UNIT 3 – Wage and Hour Laws and Protection UNIT 3 Photograph by Robert L. Simpson Workers’ Rights for Workforce Development Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Wage and Hour Laws & Protection I worked at a cleaning company where I would work for another person who was the one who had the contract. I only worked for her on weekends. One time I told her I couldn’t work and when I returned to work she told me that she no longer needed me and never paid me the last week I had worked. I felt abused, as this person only paid me what she wanted and when she wanted and only gave me work when it was convenient for her. I was without work whenever she wanted and she never paid me the $90 she owed me. – Job-seeking client, February 2015 Copyright UIUC Labor Education Program, 2015 3-1 Workers’ Rights for Workforce Development WORKERS’ RIGHTS FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Purpose Publication Date This curriculum is based on learning in social, cooperative and This Workers’ Rights for Workforce Development active ways, with students’ questions and concerns as the center Curriculum is current as of December 1, 2015. focus. The teacher is a facilitator who inspires students to analyze, look for equality, find history, and speak in a strong and informed Preferred Citation voice. Our goal is to help you, as workforce development staff, Authors: Alison Dickson, Sue Davenport, and engage your students in learning that they have rights and that Marsha Love. there are resources accessible to them for help in protecting Workers’ Rights for Workforce Development: A those rights. They are not alone and there is strength in numbers. Practical Guide For Instructors and Job Seekers - Workers and their struggles are making headline news every day Illinois Edition. 1st edition. – from the Fight for $15 to striking school teachers to efforts to Chicago: Labor Education Program, School of extend overtime provisions to more Americans. Assistance can Labor and Employment Relations, University of come from fellow workers, unions and worker centers, lawyers and Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015. government agencies at local, state and federal/national levels. As a wide range of organizations, both private and public, engage Trainings in workforce development activities, this curriculum is flexible and Contact us about leading training sessions intended to be adapted to different kinds of programs, clients and at your organization or agency. local environments. Within an organization, job roles may vary, Contact Information but we believe that learning workers’ rights is useful for all direct service staff. As service staff learn more about workers’ rights, Alison Dickson they will see how their own work - as case managers, instructors, Instructor, Labor Education Program business service representatives - can be more effective with clients School of Labor and Employment Relations if they include workers’ rights. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (312) 996-2624 Disclaimer [email protected] The information contained within this curriculum is provided on an “as is” basis for general educational purposes only; it should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice. Individuals who use this information for any reasons other than for general educational purposes do so at their own risk. All warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, are disclaimed. Neither the University of Illinois, nor any of its units, programs, employees, agents or individual trustees, shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information contained within this curriculum. Also, none of these entities shall be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort arising in any way out of the use of the information contained within this curriculum. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the University of Illinois. 3-2 Copyright UIUC Labor Education Program, 2015 UNIT 3 – Wage and Hour Laws and Protection PURPOSES FOR PARTICIPANTS • Know current minimum wages and exemptions • Become familiar with local and national campaigns to raise wages • Learn sources state by state information on minimum wage and tipped wages • Know provisions surrounding overtime laws • Know what classifies as paid work • Tell difference between legal and illegal deductions • Identify common methods of wage theft ACTIVITIES 3-1. Who sets the wages? What influences how much you are paid? (10 min) Brainstorm and discuss to consensus 3-2. Minimum wages: Fight for 15 – Low-wage workers campaign for higher wages (15 min) Video and discussion 3-3. Overtime/Exemptions by law (15 min) Law, Q&A, discussion of personal experience 3-4. Paychecks: How to make sure you got what you earned (20 min) Comparison of sample complete/good paycheck and incomplete/bad paycheck 3-5. Wage theft role-plays (30 min or more) Brainstorm wage theft situations, role play wage theft, discussion HANDOUTS 3-1. The Union Difference – Weekly Earnings, 2014 3-2. Agricultural Workers 3-3. IDOL Poster 3-4. USDOL Minimum Wages by State, 2014-15 3-5. City of Chicago Minimum Wage Ordinance 3-6. Minimum Wage Mythbusters 3-7. Minimum Wage Buys Less Today Than in 1950 3-8. Aren’t You Tipped Off? 3-9. Overtime Exemptions – Federal and Illinois 3-10a. Understand your Paycheck! 3-10b. Bad Paycheck – What’s Wrong Here? 3-11. Limits on Businesses Using Payroll Cards to Pay Workers 3-12. Wage Payments and Collection Act (WPCA) Copyright UIUC Labor Education Program, 2015 3-3 Workers’ Rights for Workforce Development PREPARATION • Prepare flip chart paper for Activity 3-1 to post ideas about who sets wages and what influences pay. • Prepare flip chart paper for Activity 3-2 to post answers about minimum wage jobs and pay. • Prepare flip chart paper for Activity 3-4 to post payroll card discussion points. • Have video clips ready: • Activity 3-2. Low Pay is Not Ok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy9JsppEJR8 • Activity 3-4. Watch Ida King www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdEUWK8VdAo MATERIALS Flip chart paper Markers, pens Laptop with Internet access LED projector Photocopied handouts Index cards Tape USDOL calendars or other blank calendar pages RESOURCES NPR, Subminimum Wages For The Disabled: Godsend Or Exploitation? April 23, 2014. http://www.npr.org/2014/04/23/305854409/ subminimum-wages-for-the-disabled-godsend- or-exploitation Economic Policy Institute, It’s Time to Raise the Minimum Wage. April 23, 2015. http:// www.epi.org/publication/its-time-to-raise-the- minimum-wage/ 3-4 Copyright UIUC Labor Education Program, 2015 UNIT 3 – Wage and Hour Laws and Protection NEW WORDS Covered – Persons to whom a law applies. Exempt – Persons who are not covered by a particular law. Ex., the FLSA does not apply to managers with the right to hire and fire, professionals, or independent contractors. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to establish minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, state, and local governments. The law effectively established an 8-hour work day and a 40-hour work week. Long Duties Test: An employee who meets the salary level tests (s/ he is paid more than $23,600 per year, or $455 a week) is exempt from overtime pay only if s/he also performs exempt job duties. These FLSA exemptions are limited to employees who perform relatively high-level work. There are three typical categories of exempt job duties, called “executive,” “professional,” and “administrative.” See http://www.flsa.com/coverage.html for more explanations of exempt job duties. Minimum wage – The lowest amount per hour an employer can pay a worker. The federal minimum wage is $7.25. Minimum wage levels vary by state, county, city, and even by occupation. Local and state governments have passed their own minimum wage laws. Overtime – Hours worked beyond the weekly limit, 40 hours, which are paid at one and a half times the regular hourly rate. If the hourly wage is $10/hour, the overtime wage would be $10 + $5 or $15/ hour. Most hourly employees are considered non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards guidelines and must be paid at one and a half time the regular hourly rate for all hours worked over 40 in a given week. Wage – Amount of money paid to a worker per hour, day, per piece, or annually. Wage theft – Actions by an employer or employer’s representative to steal/keep earnings of a worker. Examples of wage theft include: not being paid for all of the hours worked; not being paid the legal minimum wage; not being paid overtime; illegal paycheck deductions including being charged for health and safety protective gear; not being paid benefits or time-off owed; not being compensated for costs associated with injuries or illnesses suffered on the job; and being misclassified as an independent contractor. Copyright UIUC Labor Education Program, 2015 3-5 Workers’ Rights for Workforce Development Activity Who sets wages? What influences how much you are paid? (15 min) Brainstorm and come to consensus 3-1 Instructor asks the two questions above: • Who sets wages? • What influences how much you are paid? Write people’s answers on flip chart paper. See if any of the following points are missing. If so, add them. Answer any questions. Owners: Company owner sets wages. Wants to maximize profit. Needs to attract necessary skills.
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