Ah! The old exempt dodge!

You know, the one where you don't get over-time for your eighty-hour week because you're "exempt." Naturally, aWol's corporatist administration wants to make easy for employers to categorize many more people as exempt. Though the meaning of the regulations is going to be fought out in court, the scam seems to be here:

The biggest change might be under the administrative category of employees. A bookkeeper must now ''exercise discretion and independent judgment'' to be exempt. Under the new rule, he would have to hold ''a position of responsibility,'' defined as work of ''substantial importance'' or requiring ``a high level of skill or training.''

So, give the "resources" a little training, or get them to sign a letter saying their work is "important" (whose isn't?) and Presto! No overtime!

NOTE: I'm leaving out the "fig leaves" (as Leah would say) of clarifying statutory language from the '40s (FDR...) and increasing OT for some lower wage workers. This last is good, but why not increase it for everyone? In this economy?