Just another weekend.
I did a few jobs around the house, like installing a new tap in the bathroom sink for Mrs Zog. I also did a whole lot of sorting out and cleaning up and installing shelves etc in my workshop. I got 50 feet of compressor hose and routed it from the big compressor, around the wall, with two "T's" in the line for additional outlets so that I can have air at my planned workstations. I also moved some of my woodworking tools around to make things a bit easier to get to and operate. I am planning on building a workstation against the western wall for the table saw and the mitre saw and the router. The plans are still in my head, but I'll get there as funds allow. The biggest expense will be a sheet of plywood and some 2x4's. So probably all in for around $50...
I did buy some new tekkies for work on Saturday at Walmart too, as well as some new socks and jocks. Really splurging out!

Of course I also mowed the grass and did the weed eating...

On Friday I learned something about the US labor law that I find a very difficult pill to swallow.
Three weeks ago I worked the entire Saturday to build and install a new counter for the boss at the new shop he is opening. It was 10 full hours of labour. I noticed on my paysheet that I didn't get paid for 10 hours, only 2. So I asked him about it on Friday.
Because the Federal holiday (4th July) was on the preceeding Thursday (I got paid 8 hours for the public holiday even though I didn't work) and overtime is only payable after 40 WORKING hours, and the week was only 32 hours, I had to work an additional 8 hours (for FREE) before I could be paid overtime.
This is the Law, and as such I have no leg to stand on (I googled it up). But fuck me, I WORKED an additional 10 hours that none of the other staff worked, and I got fuckall for 8 of them. That law is a fuckup.
The boss has no legal obligation to pay me for them, but I think that MORALLY he should. I will follow up again this week and see what his final decision is. If he decides to pay me for that time, all good. If not, then I have learned my lesson. In the future, in a week where there is a Federal Holiday, I will not work a single second of overtime. I will work only 32 hours, and not a second more. And I will get paid for 40 hours. Because if I do work anything extra, I will not receive a single cent for the first 8 hours I do work.
Another thing that I found out while doing my research is that I CAN be FORCED to work overtime. If I refuse, I can get fired. Unless the overtime is a hazard to my health or wellbeing. And that would be wide open to interpretation...
US labour law is so skewed in favour of the employer, and virtually nothing in favour of the employee. A complete turnaround from the laws in SA that favour the employee so heavily. It is obvious that Big Business controls the lawmakers, and not the people that actually vote them in.
I suppose that it is because of laws like this that the inflation rate is so low, and that business can make so much money. But I truly believe that a middle ground can be found somewhere in between. When I found this out on Friday I was VERY pissed off. Fuck me, I worked my ass off for nothing. The other staff members sat on their asses at home, and I got paid the same as them. That is fucking unfair. Fucked my whole weekend up. Pissed me off so much that I completely forgot that Saturday was Mrs Zog's and my 7th wedding anniversary. So I wasn't just pissed off, I was in the kak too...

Rant over.
Thanks for reading, have a wonderful week
