Protect your time

The Contract Actions Team has asked all L.A. Times Guild members to file for overtime when they work over 40-hour work weeks as one of many collective actions aimed at helping bring our 18-month long contract fight to a close. If you work more than your scheduled hours, we are asking you to ask for the overtime you are due. 

We want to clarify why we’re asking you to do this. The idea of asking for overtime is difficult for many of us to swallow. We’re journalists; we do this because we love it and we think our work matters.

But we need to take steps to make management feel a sense of urgency at the bargaining table. 

This can work. But it only works if we all do this together. 

Why 40 hours?

Our contract says the full-time work week is 40 hours, but the truth is, this paper runs on unpaid labor. Almost no one on staff works a strict 40-hour week, comp time is rarely ever paid out at the rate it should be and overtime is a bird so rare as to have almost never been sighted. This is wage theft, but it’s also accepted practice. 

This action is a pressure tactic that we know can work, as the ask is simple: If you want our time, pay us fairly for it. In fact, this is already the law. It’s just that workers and managers at the paper don’t always follow it.

We want to start to follow it more strictly to get management’s attention and push them to negotiate more seriously. 

Under the contract, every Guild member is entitled to “premium wages” for work beyond 40 hours per week or 80 hours per pay period. With limited exceptions for long-term assignments such as covering political campaigns and sports teams, comp time is not defined in the contract. 

There is nothing a manager can do to make you work beyond 40 hours in a week unless they pay you for the overtime — this is consistent with the law, which says you must be paid for all the time you work. 

How do we enforce a 40-Hour Week?

Sticking to 40 hours does not mean rigidly working 9-5. If you need to work more than 8 hours in a day to complete a story, that’s what you do. But ask for the overtime pay that you are due. We know this may be uncomfortable for some of us, but please alert your manager as you’re approaching the 40-hour threshold. If your managers say no to paying overtime, let us know. 

If your manager says no, we’re asking you to stop your final day of the week when you hit the threshold of 40 hours a week or 80 hours per pay period. 

We do understand that sometimes it might work better for you to take a day off or adjust your schedule for a few hours rather than take OT. If that’s the case, we’re asking you to immediately take a day off later that week, or the next week in the same two-week pay period.

Please do not bank comp time. Your supervisor cannot require you to take comp time in lieu of overtime. You can flex your schedule to stay within 40 hours a week/80 hours a pay period, such as when you draw a weekend shift, but if you have to work more than that, you should not accept comp time. It’s not a tangible currency, and more often than not, it isn’t tracked and never taken in a measure equal to what the OT pay you’d be entitled to. Many of our colleagues who were laid off had comp days owed to them. They were not paid for that time. 

Weekend shifts: In the event you have drawn a Saturday shift, you should take a day off in the week prior. If you draw a Sunday shift, you should take off one of the subsequent five weekdays.

When should I ask for overtime?

Overtime has to be authorized in advance, per the contract. As you’re approaching the 40-hour workweek threshold, send a message by email or Slack to your supervisor to let them know you’ll need to end work at that point unless they authorize premium pay for the overtime. (Note: An employee may be excused from this advance authorization requirement where (a) the employee has been assigned to a breaking news story; and (b) the employee has made reasonable effort to obtain advance authorization from their manager; and (c) the needs of the assignment require continued work which would incur premium pay.)

Can I work 60 hours one week and make up for it by working 20 hours the next week?

We wouldn’t encourage it, because you shouldn’t have to work 60 hours in a week, and you should get paid more for doing it! But this is a possibility if both weeks are in the same pay period. You qualify for wages at 1.5 times your regular rate of pay “for work in excess of forty (40) hours per week or eighty (80) hours per pay period.” 

What if I travel a long distance for a story? 

Per the contract, travel time to an assignment minus ordinary commute time (the time it takes to get to the office) shall be considered time worked by the employee. This is paid time. For especially long distances, this is likely to fall under the long-term assignment exception, which applies to employees who are assigned to cover political campaigns or sports teams, or who otherwise are expected to work seven or more consecutive days. Before and after the assignment, you should discuss with your manager a number of additional paid days off to take within 90 days of the end of the assignment. See Article 17 of the contract for more details.

What if I get questions after hours from copy editors or lawyers? 

By all means answer those questions. If for some reason it ends up taking a significant amount of time, tell your manager you’d like to shorten your shift the next day. 

What if a source cannot speak until after my shift ends?

Be flexible! If you speak to a source at 8 p.m. on a Monday for an hour, you can let your manager know you’re going to adjust your hours the next day. If this is happening consistently and you’re going over your scheduled hours, let your manager know you’ll need to file overtime. 

Other questions?

Reach out to your Guild steward or the Unit Council at unit-council@latguild.com.