As Tech Matures, Workers File A Spate of Salary Complaints

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Silicon Volley

As Tech Matures, Workers File A Spate of Salary Complaints

Fewer Dreams of Riches Mean More Suits for Overtime And Other Mundane Pay
Electronic Arts Rethinks Perks

By PUI-WING TAM and NICK WINGFIELD
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
February 24, 2005; Page A1

A hallmark of the boom years in high-tech was its work ethic: killer hours, often at modest salaries, without complaint. It was a small price for the excitement and the shot at a bonanza someday. But as high-tech riches have faded, a different attitude toward employers is popping up: Pay me overtime, or I'll sue.

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Accusations in the spate of suits include denying overtime pay, substituting stock options of little value for cash bonuses, and even not paying promised salaries. In a few cases, notably at videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc., the ferment is prompting executives to rethink job and compensation policies.

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The increased litigation in technology is emblematic of how its workers' expectations have changed. Amid the boom, as workers relished their pioneering role and appreciating stock options, some bragged about their long hours and disdained overtime pay as the mark of a clock-watcher.

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A result is the kind of wage-and-hour suits previously seen in such old-line industries such as retailing and hotels. "Reality has set in," says Harvey Sohnen, a labor attorney in Orinda, Calif. He says that "many tech workers are net slaves, putting in unconscionable hours and getting nothing but ashes in their mouth when their options became worthless. Now they just want to get paid."

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Electronic Arts faces labor litigation despite a robust stock price that can reward employee shareholders just as in the tech boom. An EA employee filed suit in July, accusing the Redwood City, Calif., company of denying him overtime pay he was due. California labor law says software employees needn't be paid for overtime if they meet certain tests, such as doing "intellectual or creative" work or exercising "discretion and independent judgment." The employee, Jamie Kirschenbaum, said this doesn't mean him. An animator for the game maker, he said in his complaint that as an "image production employee," he follows strict instructions to produce graphics.

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The executive said California labor law puts more burdens on companies than other state or federal laws, and hasn't kept pace with changes in the tech industry. "The fact that I have to argue and defend that an artist is considered creative or not creative under California labor laws is an amazing thing," he said.

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Write to Pui-Wing Tam at [e-mail] and Nick Wingfield at [e-mail]

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110920306392762558,00.html

[jayfish]

1. If He Works For EA He's Not An Artist.

He is a graphics technician. Oh poor wiito EA, so burdened by California labor law. I think it's the rest of the country that hasn't kept pace with Cali. Cry me a f'ing river you Borg wannabes. :nopity:

Jay