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Electronic Arts Pays Overtime

FatAssasin
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FatAssasin polycounter lvl 18
[ QUOTE ]
Officials from Electronic Arts are have internally announced a change in the company’s overtime policy, which will see some workers begin to be paid for work done outside their normally contracted hours.

According to an internal email sent company-wide by Rusty Rueff, EA's director of human resources, and reported by the San Jose Mercury News: "The employment environment at EA was built to allow you flexibility as professionals, with the expectation that time on the job could be managed without watching the clock. Unfortunately, labor laws have not kept pace with this spirit of entrepreneurialism, innovation and creativity."

He continued: "Hourly compensation marks a profound change in the entrepreneurial culture of EA and Silicon Valley. It will come with trade-offs. The newly overtime-eligible employees will have very structured work days and structured work hours."

The price for overtime payments for those specifically targeted EA employees, however, is that those workers will no longer be eligible for options or bonuses.

This change, the extent of which is still somewhat unclear, has been impeled by a recent number of high profile lawsuits and a shift in mood within the industry, as an increasing number of employees rebel against the status quo. Electronic Arts has been at the forefront of such court actions, as well as being the recipient of complaints from so-called 'EA widows' – spouses who fight limited access to their partners due to extreme amounts of schedule-keeping overtime.

However, since Electronic Arts' game coders and artists, a significant percentage of the 5,800 worldwide employees, are still affected by pending lawsuits, their status will not be changed until the legal action is resolved.

Electronic Arts has always maintained that it works well within the accepted norm of the games industry, with a bonus range from 5 to 30 percent of salaries. Responding to the groundswell of popular support to the overtime complaints, though, it appears that the company has been forced to review its compensation structure for some employees, with many larger publishers also now likely to consider changes.
-David Jenkins, Simon Carless

[/ QUOTE ]
Gamasutra Article


"The newly overtime-eligible employees will have very structured work days and structured work hours." He says that like it's a bad thing.

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  • skankerzero
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    so they have to give up bonuses and their options?
  • JKim3
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    JKim3 polycounter lvl 18
    To me, this sounds more like a "fuck you" than a, "ok, you win". Like, using phrases like "rebel against the status quo" and "The price for overtime payments". It kinda seems to me that the employees are losing more than they're gaining.

    "However, since Electronic Arts' game coders and artists, a significant percentage of the 5,800 worldwide employees, are still affected by pending lawsuits, their status will not be changed until the legal action is resolved."

    If all this is a good thing, I see this generating animosity and pressure to drop the case from the collegues of the employees who are making this case.

    But then, I'm just a kid. What do I know?
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    Points of note:

    1) This isn't definitely happening. It's under consideration

    2) Artists and engineers wont fall under this system. That doesn't leave too many people.

    3) It's still unclear as to wether or not those people will have to go under this system or might have the option of staying with the old system.

    4) *edit* to address skankerzero: Yes, in going with this system, employess forfeit stock and bonuses.
  • JKim3
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    JKim3 polycounter lvl 18
    If there is the choice, it would be interesting to see the percentage of 'yes' versus 'no'.
  • Dravalen
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    Dravalen polycounter lvl 18
    [ QUOTE ]

    4) *edit* to address skankerzero: Yes, in going with this system, employess forfeit stock and bonuses.

    [/ QUOTE ]
    That seems to strike me as all sorts of lame. It seems like no matter which way you choose to go on the deal you'll lose something.
  • Kevin Johnstone
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    Kevin Johnstone polycounter lvl 19
    When the choice is between life and the vague suggestion that you will be rewarded by 5-30% of your salary in a bonus at the end of a 2 year prokect, its an easy choice.
  • TomDunne
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    TomDunne polycounter lvl 18
    [ QUOTE ]
    [ QUOTE ]

    4) *edit* to address skankerzero: Yes, in going with this system, employess forfeit stock and bonuses.

    [/ QUOTE ]
    That seems to strike me as all sorts of lame. It seems like no matter which way you choose to go on the deal you'll lose something.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    I don't know about that. While Darren said that artists won't get comped overtime (I don't understand why they wouldn't), if I had to choose between regular over-time salary coming in every two weeks versus some hoped-for lump sum at year's end that is highly subjective and dependent on how well the product sells, I choose the former. Someone can argue that I don't deserve a hefty bonus, but they can't really dispute the hours on my time sheet.
  • Dravalen
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    Dravalen polycounter lvl 18
    I guess I should have phrased my post a little differently. I'm just speculating from the sidelines, but it seems kinda wrong to imply that one can be paid overtime(by offering it) but then putting conditions on it.

    My roommate is getting screwed over in what seems a similar situation involving comission. She almost never makes comission, she worked her butt off in December and made a measly $40 on commission for the month. However some of her other benefits are offset by the fact that she 'makes' comission. I could just be interpreting it wrong since I'm not directly involved(or even employed at the moment) but it still looks like a bad situation to me.
  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    the games industry is all messed up.

    new media has it right. LOADS A MONEY
  • kleinluka
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    kleinluka polycounter lvl 18
    lets all move to the isle of man and start a revolution!

    sorry, but somebody had to say it.
  • saturnfive
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    saturnfive polycounter lvl 18
    Damn right!, there's not taxes there, innit?

    It's a question of shifting the risk. By paying in Bonuses, employers are asking you to take the risk for them. Fair enough if they make your taking that risk worthwhile. Unless you're given a fixed percentage on which to base your choice though, it's a pretty difficult gamble to assess.
  • jzero
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    jzero polycounter lvl 18
    My favorite quote is: "Unfortunately, labor laws have not kept pace with this spirit of entrepreneurialism, innovation and creativity." What utter bullshit.

    EA must be so far ahead in labor trends that they've crossed the time barrier and passed back to before the union labor reforms of the early 1900s.

    /jzero
  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    So, lets see..

    "The newly overtime-eligible employees will have very structured work days and structured work hours."

    Right. Crunch time, the overtime folk are told to go home - "We don't need you in". The people who are not on overtime have to work the overtime/crunch for those folk sent home.

    So overtime poeple get no cash, no benefits, and those not on overtime get the pleasure of working harder.

    Hypothetically.
  • PaK
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    PaK polycounter lvl 18
    well, i dont have an answer for the americans, but for the canadians here's the reason we're stuck with no overtime.

    In canada all computer related job functions fall under the 'essential services' bracket. Like police officers and EMT personelle, we're bundled with those guys. Because of that we cannot strike, and we cannot sue for overtime. This is how it was explained to me by someone from the labour ministry here in BC. I never fact checked that tho.

    It doesn't mean we cant have overtime, but it does mean we have no legal recourse.

    -R
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    I probably sounded a little vague. They're just saying that it wont be artists and engineers that come under the new system *for now*. It might come later for those people. They can't change anything about the classification of artists and engineers right now, since they have plaintiffs that have filed class action lawsuits. So EA wont change anything about their status until that's all resolved in one way or another, since doing so would admit some liability/problem in the first place.

    And Hawken: this isn't about money. We get paid well in bay area game development. That's not the issue at all. For the plaintiffs, its about 'forced' O/T.
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