My husband's job is unbelievable. He works at least 55 hours a week and sometimes it's closer to 70 or 80. I read somewhere about how even salaried employees are entitled to overtime pay and I'm seriously thinking about contacting a lawyer to see how that could be tracked if we decided to persue it further. The pay JUST ISN'T ENOUGH for any of the people on the front lines of getting product into the stores for the amount of shit that's expected from them. Turns out some big wig gets a MAJOR bonus for keeping hours down...nevermind how many people are abused in the process. I guess for those getting paid hourly, that bonus he gets doesn't account for overtime hours. I totally get that companies want to save money. I don't get seriously taking advantage of good people and making EVERYONE INCLUDING CUSTOMERS mad in the process. Is it just arrogance? Do they think their product is so highly in demand that they really don't care? It seems so.

Where is God in all this? Why did my husband just happen to get stuck in a company that just sucks the life out of people by refusing to plan and make the busy season bearable? Sure, Steve has done well there, and his direct manager speaks very highly of him, but when will that be recognized by somebody actually listening to his suggestions or at least paying him for the ridiculous stuff he bends over backwards to do for the company.

He won a tv for meeting some sales goal. It's too damn big for where I'd like to put it. I'd rather sell it, but Steve will probably want to keep it. It's stupid. It's like they're thowing a bone to a dog to keep him from running away. And it's not like he hasn't applied anywhere else.

So. I want to talk to a lawyer. I want to find out if it's true that salary employees can get paid for overtime hours worked and what we have to do to keep track of the overtime hours worked to be able to prove it in court. Of course, we can't just sue his employer. They'd find a way to fire him. They easily could just say he's not meeting his duties. It's impossible with what they expect. If he's doing the best he can in 60+ hours most weeks, it's not like he hasn't tried. But in the event some other place does call him for an interview and he does actually get another job, it would be nice to get some compensation for the life stolen from our family.

There is no time aside from the weekend, and he's so worn down by then that Sunday is practically the only day to do anything...and then we have to go to bed early again to get ready for Monday. It's unreasonable. He eats, showers, and goes straight to bed most weeknights. There is no Daddy participation in a bedtime routine. There are no date nights. There are no family movie nights. Lately Saturday gets here, and he's had to work then too. I thought it was bad years ago when he was on a truck. I remember saying the same things. The company totally disregarded the law for truckers work hours. I would not be surprised in the least if they disregard it over pay for salaried people.

I could be happy with his current pay if we had a life, though.