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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: Movie Theatre Circuits Fined For Child Labor Violations
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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 03-10-2011 06:38 PM
quote: Frank Angel
Not to seem snarky here, but the Feds don't seem to agree with you. Isn't it precisely MARCUS Theatre Corp. who the Feds are going after here for their non-comliance with child labor laws?
Yes, Marcus was one of the companies audited, but I was specifically responding to the accusation by John of "working present employees to death." Trash compactor and motor vehicle violations are not the same as excessive hours. Child labor violations make you think of rows of children in a sweat shop being worked like slaves. This was not the case. Why did they go on a mad hunt for trash compactor violations? I don't really know. Why was Marcus one of the chains? Nobody knows that either. Marcus has had no accidents relating to compactors by anyone of age, much less someone under 18. Maybe one of the other chains had an accident and they decided to make it a mission. One they're in your building they inspect everything they can and rack up as many fines as possible. That's how they stay afloat, after all.
quote: Bobby Henderson
Actually, the thing I have been seeing is managers and assistants -basically anyone on salary and exempt from overtime being over-worked and constantly under pressure from the higher ups to keep cutting payroll further and further and further.
You are absolutely correct on this, Bobby. Last I knew, Carmike was requiring 50+ hours per week from their salaried managers and they also give salary to assistant managers and require them to work far more than 40. I will add that I do not know of this to be a problem with Marcus.
quote: Steve Guttag
Why should Cinema (or anyone else, for that matter) be exempt from getting overtime pay?
My understanding is that this is because of the massive seasonal swings theatres experience. My employees actually enjoy the option of working 45, 50, or even 60 hours per week over their Christmas break. They're not doing anything else anyway and if we had to pay overtime, we would probably be like Wal-Mart and not allow anyone to work more than 39.5 hours. In fact, Wal-Mart writes you up if you go over. In addition to the safety concerns of factory labor, overtime laws were intended more for businesses with benefits because they didn't want to hire additional employees and have to pay those benefits. At a theatre with part-time, minimum wage kids, there are no benefits so it doesn't matter.
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John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 889
From: Freehold, NJ, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 03-11-2011 09:09 PM
Hold on there Chad. Are you saying that you allow employees to work 50-60 hours during busy periods and you don't pay them overtime?
I have two problems with this if true. First, in New Jersey, hourly employees are entitled to overtime if they exceed 40 hours, That's the law.
Second, for those employees working over 40 hours a week, just how productive do you think those people are after working one and a half times the hours of a normal week (60 hours)?
And as far as scheduling overtime for employees, you can knock Walmart all you want, but that only seems like a sensible business practice to me in order to keep labor costs down.
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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 03-12-2011 01:29 PM
Well said, Kurt.
John - First, I really don't care what New Jersey law is. I don't live in New Jersey. I know what Iowa law is, which is where I live and work. You seem to be the only one here that doesn't understand labor laws vary state to state.
Second, if you don't have people capable of maintaining productivity at a movie theatre pace for 60 hours in the same week, I'm sorry. From what I've seen on Jersey Shore that doesn't really surprise me. We don't have that problem here. If an employee asks for lots of hours, then their productivity drops, you can assume an observant manager is going to notice and correct it. Keep in mind these are not forced hours. My employees tell me how much they prefer to work, and we try our best to comply. 40 hours isn't some magical number. It's not like once you get to 41 or 45 hours you all of a sudden lose strength in your scooping hand. My productivity problems have more frequently come from employees working 20 hours per week, but choosing to go tie one on the night before an 8 hour shift.
Third, I'm not knocking Walmart. I'm knocking a law that forces them to make the business decision to restrict their employees to fewer than 40 hours. Like Kurt said, it just forces people to get a second job which accumulates more than 40 hours combined anyway, so you're drop in productivity theory completely falls apart.
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