Job Hunt That Has Lasted Four Months Isn’t Unusual

QI was laid off from my job after three years, and have been looking for work for more than four months. After applying for jobs every week, I have just about given up and now only go on an occasional interview.

What am I doing wrong? Is it simply impossible for people who are “downsized” to ever be able to find a good job again? Any suggestions?

--C.J., Anaheim

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A Although you don’t say anything about your profession or your previous job, three or four months in today’s job market is not a particularly long time to be looking for work.

So don’t give up. It is important to be persistent, even in the face of repeated rejections by prospective employers. Recent research suggests that too many job seekers have unrealistic expectations of how difficult it is to find reemployment, and they give up too easily. If you are a good, conscientious worker with some marketable skills, you will eventually find employment.

However, you might want to review your job-search strategies. Consider the sources you are using for job leads. Are there any untapped sources that you have not tried? You might also want to seek out some sort of career- or employment-counseling services.

While searching for a job, you might consider taking some courses to acquire some new job skills, such as computer classes or business writing courses, or to enhance existing skills. Showing the initiative to upgrade work-related skills while you are between jobs can demonstrate to a prospective employer that you are a self-motivated and dedicated worker.

--Ron Riggio, director

Kravis Leadership Institute

Claremont McKenna College

Firm ‘Nonexempt’ From OT Law

Q I was recently promoted to a new position and one of my responsibilities was hiring someone to fill my former job.

While filling the position, I was surprised to discover that my old job is considered “nonexempt” or “nonsalaried” by the personnel department and therefore eligible for overtime. The entire time I was in the old position (about six months) I was told by my supervisors that it was an exempt or salaried position.

Due to several circumstances, I put in an average of 55 to 60 hours a week for several months without overtime compensation. Because I thought it was a salaried position, I did not keep track of the actual hours I worked. None of the paperwork I have from the personnel department indicates whether the position is exempt or nonexempt.

Do I have any recourse in this matter?

--H.L., Calabasas

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A Your right to overtime pay is determined by your actual duties and your employer’s payroll practices, not by whether your employer considers you “exempt” or “nonexempt.”

You are “exempt” from overtime pay only if your job duties are primarily executive, administrative or professional in character. Even if you meet this test, you are still entitled to overtime pay if your paycheck does not meet the strict legal requirements for a salary. Among these requirements is that your paycheck cannot be reduced for lateness, for leaving work early, or because of low productivity.

From your letter, it does not appear that you are a professional (a doctor, lawyer, dentist, etc.) or that your old job duties were primarily intellectual, managerial or creative. Your employer should therefore have paid you overtime pay at 1 1/2 times your regular wage rate when you worked more than eight hours in a workday or more than 40 hours in a workweek, and double your regular rate when you worked more than 12 hours in a workday.

My advice is that you contact the California labor commissioner or ask an attorney to review your case. In addition to back pay, you may be entitled to recover your attorney’s fees and additional damages from your employer.

Do not be discouraged because you did not keep track of the hours you worked. Your reasonable estimate will be accepted if your employer did not keep records of your actual work time.

--Joseph L. Paller Jr.

Union, employee attorney

Gilbert & Sackman

Boss Sits on Vacation Requests

Q I work at a university in Los Angeles. When we request a vacation, we don’t hear anything for months despite repeated inquiries. This makes it hard to get reservations and otherwise plan trips.

Shouldn’t my boss be required to have some deadline for responding to these requests, rather than sitting on them for four or five months? He also will take vacation requests from some co-workers months before the time requested, but rejects requests from others. Some are told that they have to wait until the month of the date requested.

--R.S., Santa Clarita

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A There is no law that requires any employer to grant paid or even unpaid vacations.

As a practical matter, however, most businesses have a vacation policy. If such a policy exists, an employer must enforce it on an equal, nondiscriminatory basis.

To accommodate their own work schedule, some employers simply close down for a period of time each year and require every employee to take vacation at that specific time.

Because you said that some but not all appear to get a runaround, you should question whether the employer’s action discriminates against a certain group of people, based on their age, race, sex or other relevant classification.

Evaluate the reasons for the double standards. The practice might be illegal if it is discriminatory or is in retaliation for some whistle blower action by those employees.

If the employer has a policy allowing employees to select their vacation time in advance, it might be held responsible if it does not allow you to do the same without reasonable justification.

--Don D. Sessions

Employee-rights attorney

Mission Viejo