My GF is a ghost writer. The publisher has her write into files that are uploaded to a shared platform where editors and other creatives and execs tweak and move each chapter through several named states (represented by different folders), until it reaches “Final.”
She gets paid per X words. Come the day before the deadline for payroll, they (sometimes, often its late) open up the payroll system, and she has to re-upload the Final chapter to a folder in that tracking system. Tonight (when they opened the system for her), she has to enter 130 chapters by 10am tomorrow.
It’s not just moving a file. She has to download the Final chapter, select the text, copy/paste into the payroll tracking system, and then fix formatting that their silly system creates, like extra spaces, double quotes, etc. Each chapter can take minutes. These pasted chapters are then the final product. She has to stay up all night until its done, or she won’t get paid on time.
I feel like she’s being taken advantage of, doing admin work for free. This feels like someone else’s job. Is this even compliant with labor laws? Is it legal to have her do 12hrs of gruelling repetitive labor to move her completed text like this? Her being paid is conditional on her entering this data.
I know hourly employees must be paid for hours worked, whether it was tracked or not, and tracking is an employer responsibility.
Edit: added more words
That sounds like they are purposely making getting paid too much work. I’m sure they get out of paying for at least some of people’s work based on what you’re saying.
There’s too many unknowns here for you to get a reasonable answer.
I suggest asking a workplace lawyer based in your city.
If she’s part of a union, they probably have lawyers on hand she can talk to. If she’s not part of a union… I’m confident she can find one that would be willing to help if she joined. (Or at least give a referral to a local lawyer.)
But also, just for the record, I’ve never known it to go well when a BF/GF or any kind of romantic partystarts intruding into this kind of thing. I’ve fired more than a couple people because their intimate partner kept showing up making demands, and know a few others that dumped their partner because they decided they weren’t being “aggressive” or needed “protecting”… just some advice, but if your GF isn’t asking for this help, it might be best to sit it out. It’s certainly not a good idea to go directly to her boss/client.
I’ll speak as someone who has been in the creative space for 20 years.
Non-“making” work is a large part of any creative job. Sometimes it can be the bulk of the time spent doing the work. A professional isn’t just making; they’re often researching, synthesizing, pitching, negotiating, documenting, formatting, etc. All of that stuff is just as important.
I would check in with a community of professional writers and bring specific examples. An example type of job, the vague topic, the word count, the time spent writing, the time spent formatting in their tool, etc.
They can help to identify the gaps and problem-solve around it. Is the client underpaying? If so, how do you avoid that in the future and/ or negotiate a higher rate now? Or, is the writer spending too much time writing? If so, what are some techniques to expedite the craft?
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When people fail to state jurisdictions it’s usually safe to assume they’re Americans.
even if you assume ‘american’, labor law isn’t the same in every state- every state has their own set of regulations. Hell, I manage employees across a dozen cities, and they each have their own regulations about things like time off and vacation pay.
OP really needs to speak to a lawyer that’s local to him rather than the internet. Even if it’s good advice where the advisor is… it may not be true where the advisee is.
Even if that’s the case state is also very important when it comes to laws.
