Comments on: California Overtime Lawsuits Update

By: guest

guest — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:41:16 +0000

@#10. What will most likely happen if Big 4 have to pay overtime is that they will cut the base salary down, so the total they pay will not change. Back where I was when they eliminated overime in late 1990’s, they actually increased the base salary based on average overtime or so. In a bad economy as today, though, paid overtime will likely cause many partners and managers to prohibit their associates from working overtime, which will really bring to highlight individual skills – who can do the work in 40 hours and who can’t. Also, your manager will REALLY make sure you are spending your 40 hours productively. Bottom line, I don’t think paid overtime will be any better for associates than unpaid overtime.

By: screwyougt

screwyougt — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:56:58 +0000

‘Learned’ professionals, yeah right. Let’s call it what it is, exploited labor. I worked at GT in SF. Billed out at $125/hour and worked 3 straight months with no days off….my record was 75 BILLABLE hours in a week. I had zero control over my schedule. We would be packing up to leave at 8PM on a saturday and the in-charge would say ‘oh, I am going to need you guys to come in tomorrow too.’ I was effectively making $5, 6 an hour at one point…less than the mandated minimum wage for CA let alone San Francisco. Nothing is more profitable for public accounting firms than first and second year associates. Easy to push around, easy to exploit, easy to get rid of. I saw so much stress, drinking, drug use. Can’t wait for cash to get ripped out of the pockets of a-hole managers and partners. Hurry up 9th District court and clear the flight path for the rest of the class action suits lining up. Can’t wait for my SCREW YOU GT check in the mail!

By: guest

guest — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:30:04 +0000

Honestly, what business does the 9th Circuit have deciding this delicate point of CALIFORNIA law. People seem to think the feds are liberal out here– I disagree with that sentiment– but whatever happened to the policy that required the stupid feds to hang back and allow states to determine their own law? If this isn’t already a settled matter, then the 9th should ask the Cal. S. Ct. to weigh in. Until then, the feds should keep their grubby hands where they belong– on the balls of college kids caught sharing music over the internet.

By: guest

guest — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:53:49 +0000

@6 – I hope nobody’s taking tax advice from you.
@7 – Thanks for explaining that to 6 before I had to.

By: guest

guest — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:44:26 +0000

@6:
You obviously have a poor understanding of the tax law. Unreimbursed employee expenses may only be taken as an itemized deduction subject to the 2% AGI floor – therefore it is likely that they cannot be deducted at all.

By: guest

guest — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:17:00 +0000

@1:
Some accountant you are. Take the other 15 cents as an unreimbursed business expense and kwitcher bitchin.

By: guest

guest — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:40:09 +0000

I read the post. I also read the opinion. What interested me was the Judge’s ruling on page 43 that the plaintiffs could not get punitive damages because the plaintiff’s counsel did not address the issue in the motion.
Also, the Judge’s footnote on page 42 that “plaintiffs’ failure to address these issues is particularly noteworthy in light of the fact that the court granted plaintiffs’ permission to file a 55 page opposition to PwC’s motion” is quite striking.
This may be worthy of further investigation. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that somebody screwed up if plaintiffs’ counsel failed to address certain issues even after the judge gave them additional time.

By: guest

guest — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:53:58 +0000

so wait…
“PwC believes that its attest associates are professionals who spend the majority of their time engaged in challenging work requiring the use of their intellectual abilities, judgment and discretion.”
+
“and are therefore appropriately compensated.”
=
You do really hard work that requires alot of brain power, thus you are paid appropriately (as in, less than you should for killing your self in the 60 hr weeks the expect you to put in during busy season).
Glad they clarified “real professionals” are high class slaves

By: guest

guest — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:57:50 +0000

Radio station got communication on this. However it was sent from legal office so not sure anyone can share since it may very well be privileged? Ask Lat to weigh in…

By: ChicagoAccountant

ChicagoAccountant — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:41:21 +0000

I didn’t know where to email, so I’m just posting this here. Your Above the Law link is broken.

By: guest

guest — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:37:20 +0000

These people are screwing me.. now instead of extra time off I get paid overtime – seriously reducing me to an hourly employee. It used to be that if you worked extra you got extra time off.. now I work extra get bumped into a higher tax bracket and my firm makes extra dough off of me…
Oh and here’s another good one.. we only get reimbursed 40 cents per mile.. anyone else getting less than the IRS standard??