Hi,


I work in television. The actual task that my team and I perform on a day-to-day basis does not exist in the tv/film industry, therefore we have no union representation. We are not given union titles, we are paid as "non-union" employees and are paid a weekly salary. The deal memo that we are signing for this season's work has a provision that classifies a week's work as 75 hours with no overtime. Many weeks, we work in excess of 120 hours, staying up 48 hours or more at a time with no rest in between so we can meet the show deadline.

My question is, is this legal? Is it legal to call a work week 75 hours? By signing the deal memo are we waiving our rights to be treated fairly?

Thank you for your time

EDIT: The deal memo also states "as exempt positions, you will not be compensated for work at night, weekends or holidays." It does not say how many days a "week" is.

A "workweek" in the context you describe can be anything the employer says it is.

Assuming you are correctly classified as exempt employees, you work whatever the employer says you work (with very limited exceptions, such as the "one day's rest is seven" rule) and you are not legally entitled to overtime pay. As exempt, it doesn't have to say what a "week" is because, legally, the workweek designation in the law is only a consideration in calculating overtime for nonexempt employees, which you aren't.

... legally, the workweek designation in the law is only a consideration in calculating overtime for nonexempt employees, which you aren't.

Just to be clear, the 29 CFR 541.602 regulation specific to Exempt Salaried employees also references the workweek, so arguably the workweek also applies to them.

Good catch, DAW, thanks.:)

A "workweek" in the context you describe can be anything the employer says it is.

Assuming you are correctly classified as exempt employees, you work whatever the employer says you work (with very limited exceptions, such as the "one day's rest is seven" rule) and you are not legally entitled to overtime pay. As exempt, it doesn't have to say what a "week" is because, legally, the workweek designation in the law is only a consideration in calculating overtime for nonexempt employees, which you aren't.

So I took a look at the "1 day in 7" law and noticed a couple of things that aren't happening.

"(820 ILCS 140/5) (from Ch. 48, par. 8e)
Sec. 5.
Every employer shall keep a time book showing the names and addresses of all employees and the hours worked by each of them on each day, and such time book shall be open to inspection at all reasonable hours by the Director of Labor.
(Source: P. A. 78‑917.)"

That is not happening. The timecards that are being kept are not accurate. We just fill out our timecards and put "worked" for that day.

(820 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 48, par. 8b)
Sec. 2. Every employer shall allow every employee except those specified in this Section at least twenty‑four consecutive hours of rest in every calendar week in addition to the regular period of rest allowed at the close of each working day.

This is not happening either. There are periods of 18-20 days straight where we work from wake to sleep, if we sleep at all, without a day off. This happens 10-12 times per year. We could take a day off, but the work would not get done.