Steven Greenhut on California Union Hypocrisy Over 'Flextime'
California legislators routinely tout the state's economic prospects by noting its success in spawning innovative technology and "green" industries. That may be true, but these and other companies must struggle under a labor code designed more for fast-food workers and last century's assembly lines. At issue are California's rigid overtime rules, which require companies to pay hourly employees time-and-one-half not only for time worked in excess of 40 hours a week — but for time worked beyond eight hours each day. As the state's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement declares, "Eight hours of work constitutes a day's work". But, writes Steven Greenhut, what works in the view of a Sacramento bureaucracy isn't necessarily what works for others.
