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