By Frank Ling, GN Senior Writer
The issue of unpaid overtime has plagued game companies for years. The issue involves personnel being classified to a level where a straight salary is paid per week, and as a result, makes them ineligible for overtime pay. Numerous lawsuits against Activision and Electronic Arts have brought this situation to the attention of the media, and have fostered a closer scrutiny of labor practices within the game industry.
Recently added to this dubious list is the retail game giant, GameStop. According to court records filed in Florida, employees are filing a lawsuit against the firm accusing it of being in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employees state that they worked “…in many occasions, in excess of 50-60 hours per week,” without being paid overtime wages.
The FLSA law does state, however, that certain individuals are exempt from overtime. Those who are “employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity," do not qualify. In other words, management gets no overtime pay. The contention by the GameStop employees is that although they were classified as managers, they in fact, had no duties that were any different from regularly paid hourly employees.
The suit states that, "All store managers are required to follow, in precise detail, the store operations manual which dictates the procedure for operation of the retail establishment… the job of store manager requires virtually no actual management of employees or exercise of discretionary function."
The collective action lawsuit is open to individuals who worked in a managerial capacity in GameStop stores since April of 2003. The plaintiffs are seeking payment of unpaid overtime with interest, in addition to attorney’s fees.
