Does Hollywood Have an Overtime Problem?

Loeb & Loeb Entertainment partner Ivy Kagan Bierman spoke with The Hollywood Reporter (THR) about how California labor officials and industry lawyers believe that a lack of overtime pay is likely under-reported within the Hollywood job industry – either because certain workers don’t understand they shouldn’t be exempt from overtime or they do and they’re afraid of complaining and losing coveted opportunities in the already cutthroat job market.

Labor and employment lawyers consulted by THR say overtime exemption problems are likelier to occur not at major studios but at smaller and mid-size companies that don’t have quite the same access to an army of sophisticated in-house and outside labor counsel.

“The determination is very fact-specific. So, there may be some situations where someone is inadvertently misclassified, even at these larger companies that do give good counsel,” Ivy noted in the article, adding that her clients are very careful to make sure they’re doing it right, and she often walks them through the factors. As for non-clients who may be getting it wrong, she says it’s more likely to be inadvertent than malicious: “I don’t think they intentionally violate the law.”

Click here to read the full article on THR’s website.