That way, if workers logged 80 hours in two weeks, they would not receive extra pay for posting 50 hours in one week and 30 the next. The latest attempts by industry groups to tinker with overtime protections have got union groups up in arms. Courtney says high-tech consultants who are paid by the hour can endure long gaps in unemployment during the year, as they finish one project and begin the search for another. The computer consulting association, whose 500-odd members typically handle pay and benefits for the tech workers they place at client firms, has long favored the technical exemption, and with good reason. Firms that misclassify employees can be forced to pay back overtime wages for two or three years, often for an entire category of workers.
Companies also can be on the hook for lawyers fees.
Observers say the bill is unlikely to go far on its own, but it has a fighting chance to succeed if it gets tacked on to other bills that would open up the labor standards act for review, such as minimum wage legislation. Other entrepreneurs are trying to get on the boat, too, including Craig McBurney, who runs a software shop and a charter yacht business in Old Town Alexandria. McBurney says he s working out the kinks, but that he expects to begin offering free rides for techies interested in throwing out a line for a new job early next month. Among the groups slated to attend are the National Science Foundation, Spectrum Systems Inc., and the Loudoun County government.