---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment On Dec 6, 2005, at 8:51 PM, Fred Sturm wrote: > Hi Wim, > I=E2=80=99m going to echo David. Why exactly do you want to be = exempt =20 > from coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act? The one thing that =20 > occurs to me is that you might want to on the grounds that you are =20 > a fast worker, and can get your job done in, say, 30 hours a week. =20= > And maybe that is realistic for you, based on your rather positive =20 > ratio of number of pianos to FTE employee. Of course, that could =20 > backfire: seeing you coming in only 30 hours a week, they could =20 > decide it=E2=80=99s a .75 FTE job. Exactly an argument FOR "exempt". > Or they could decide things need to be kept up better, and place =20 > bigger demands. I followed the development of the position Wim now holds when it was =20 open and had several email conversations with his former director. I =20= don't even know if Wim was aware of some of this. In May 2001, =20 before Wim took the position, the salary band topped out at $29,952, =20 and the school was getting no takers. The former local technician was =20= basically treating it as a part time, after hours job, making about =20 $27K and the school was getting what it was paying for. I was told =20 the dean was committed to somehow bump that salary from other =20 department funds and also secure a fairly significant contribution =20 from a local community organization which used UA's facilities to =20 supplement the salary to a level which would attract a qualified =20 technician who would have to relocate. So, at present, the school is =20= relying on non-state funds to make the salary respectable - something =20= which could discontinue at any time. I thought I had understood that =20= the position had to be made exempt at the time to accomplish some of =20 those goals, and so I've been under the impression this whole time =20 that Wim was already exempt. But rereading the writings of the =20 former director now, I may have misunderstood. In any case, the =20 intentions have always been to reclassify Wim's position to non-=20 exempt because their hands are tied in terms of improving the salary =20 otherwise. If it is like SC, there is no non-exempt classification =20 in a higher salary band you could squeeze the job responsibilities =20 into, even with the most imaginative language. The only way to make the salary more employee-retentive in some =20 systems is to move it to exempt, because salaries for the peeaner =20 tooners are set by people over in human resources whose aunt used to =20 play the peeaner at church and have the impression this high skilled =20 profession is a simple hobby taken up by old men after they retire =20 from a "real" job. (How many times have you heard "Are you still =20 tuning pianos?" and "Is that ALL you do?") I share the same concern =20 that Fred and Dave have expressed regarding expectations, overtime, =20 comp time, etc., when any of us attempt to make the move to exempt. =20 Yes, they can require you to work overtime without additional =20 compensation. But under the same rationale, a non-exempt employee =20 may be required to actually be present 40 (or 37.5) hours per week to =20= collect a full paycheck, whereas an exempt tech might be able to have =20= an agreement in place which allows more hours for moonlighting, as is =20= becoming common for some schools. That's how the rest of the music =20 faculty make time for their moonlighting. One thing we SHOULD have on =20= our side is that we work in a department of people which understands =20 the need for moonlighting because we don't have $200K/year salaried =20 professorships like the business/law/medical schools have. Most =20 everybody else here moonlights, or has done it. Even among those who =20= are 12 month faculty, many won't darken the doors of the building =20 between mid May and late August. And most of them use their =20 university studio illegally to moonlight, so if they want to say =20 anything about time commitment.... Either way, the position description needs to include language which =20 indicates a more professional, managerial type of position with =20 decision making duties and autonomy. Words like "design", =20 "implement", "execute", "strategy", "approves", "supervises", =20 "procures", etc., indicate a more managerial and autonomous nature =20 than "tunes & repairs, etc.", which sounds like there's a higher =20 level expert dictating our every move. Yes, that's what we do, but =20 we also make decisions about what to prioritize and how to address =20 issues like rebuilding and climate control -- all part of "designing, =20= implementing and executing a program". In reality, most of our =20 current descriptions indicate an employee who takes orders from the =20 piano faculty or department chair, who are regarded to be more =20 knowledgeable about how pianos work than the tuners are. In other =20 words, it is as if we are doctors taking orders from the patients. For example, I just saw a copy of a position opening (Stephen F. =20 Austin, 75% FTE-Part time, if any of you are interested) which reads =20 the following: "Perform routine semi-annual tuning of all pianos in =20 college,.., repair piano benches as needed, assist with piano related =20= purchases." Everything about that description is dictated and =20 controlled by someone else who might even be a saxophonist (no =20 offense to saxophonists - they know their instrument much better than =20= we do). The technician is not being regarded as the expert in this =20 language. Another problem on this job description: "High school diploma =20 required." Again, I mean no offense - I really don't think a college =20= degree is all that necessary to become a high level piano technician =20 either - but that wording in a job description automatically lowers =20 the salary by two full bands/grades. I do not know the solution for =20 this. Many of us are classified with carpenters, HVAC techs, or plumbers =20 because of the language in our position descriptions. But those =20 professions answer to a manager of some sort - an engineer or =20 supervisor who creates or implements the master plan. That's us! We =20= create the master plan! But there is an existing classification for =20 those supervisory positions in the other crafts which specifically =20 includes language that disqualifies someone who actually carries out =20 the plan. That's us too. We're in a very small box for which the =20 only escape sometimes is "exempt". My administrators tried and failed to have my position reclassified =20 to exempt this spring (I was reclassified into a different non-exempt =20= class in the same salary band, and the 2004 Labor Dept changes may =20 well explain why). If the Labor Department changes do in fact =20 restrict rare skilled jobs like ours from being reclassified, then =20 FTE piano technicians may well be getting the shaft. That was about =20 the only way many of us had to move our earnings into a range more =20 reflective of our successful private sector colleagues (unless you're =20= at FSU). > On the whole, I think the vast majority of us are well-served =20 > by being covered by FLSA, even if it is a bit of a pain to keep =20 > track of the clock (document). For some job description language, =20 > search the archives. I know a few have been posted, including some =20 > good material from Jeff Tanner. Fred, I think that was on the other listserve, but I'll reattach it =20 here. I do not know if my administrators used this description in =20 the reclassification application or not. I was NOT consulted during =20 that process. By the time I knew the application had been filed, the =20= jury had already decided a verdict. The format used in my attached proposed position description is =20 according to the template used by our HR department. The percentages =20= of time spent seem to be required by the job description format they =20 use. These were some of my ideas I threw out earlier, and all is up =20 for discussion. I like Alan's language as well. U of Iowa might =20 have the most appropriate job title I've seen: Piano Maintenance =20 Coordinator. In a perfect world, all state HR departments would have =20= a classification just for that title, with a salary range reflective =20 of national survey data, and actually be "commensurate with =20 experience". Until then... I've got to believe that some of us know some of these tricks, or at =20 least maybe are friends with HR personnel professionals who deal with =20= this kind of language on a daily basis. These are some of the kinds =20 of things we need to be dealing with as a group to improve our =20 collective lives. Jeff =EF=BF=BC Jeff Tanner, RPT University of South Carolina ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment --Apple-Mail-303-1057063271 An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/40/52/e8/fd/attachment.htm --Apple-Mail-303-1057063271 --Apple-Mail-304-1057063272 A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: PositionDescription.doc Type: application/applefile Size: 515 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/6d/62/42/6c/PositionDescription.doc --Apple-Mail-304-1057063272 A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: PositionDescription.doc Type: application/octet-stream Size: 35275 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/c4/75/63/d8/PositionDescription.doc --Apple-Mail-304-1057063272-- --Apple-Mail-303-1057063271 An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/73/01/e3/f5/attachment.htm --Apple-Mail-303-1057063271-- ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC