Managers' overtime victory short-lived
Manitoba quickly closes loophole that handed supervisor a win
The hopes of overworked managers everywhere were briefly raised yesterday when a scrappy former store supervisor from Winnipeg won a victory at the Supreme Court of Canada in her fight for overtime pay.
Before they could even think about collecting countless hours of back pay, however, it became apparent to even the most sleep-deprived manager that the window of opportunity opened by the ruling is about to slam shut.
Effective April 30, the Manitoba government will fall in line with all other Canadian jurisdictions and exempt management employees from overtime-pay provisions in their labour laws.
Sharon Michalowski will bank more than $10,000 in overtime pay she has been battling to get from Nygard International Ltd. since 2003. She says her protracted fight has made her the "the poster girl" for other managers who hoped her case would set a precedent.
Even before the Nygard case had worked its way through the courts, employers in Manitoba -- alarmed by the possible implications -- persuaded the provincial government that managers are generally paid better than other employees, have more power to set their own working conditions and, therefore, should not qualify for overtime pay.
Yeah right they are as exploited as the rest of the employees. Managers need to be unionized with the rest of the workers in a shop. The NDP government should be ashamed of itself for being sucked into this claptrap from the bosses. The difference between a Manager and the rest of the workers in most shops is the colour of their shirts, or that they have to wear a tie. Power to set their own working conditions, yeah right....which means that instead of being paid for Overtime they are owed they can flex their work hours, but of course that never really happens at all, instead they just accrue and accrue more unpaid OT. And if they get time off its at straight time, and at the bosses convenience.
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