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submitted 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) by s38b35M5@lemmy.world to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world

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

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[-] trustnoone@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 hours ago

Is she deemed as a contractor? Does the company file her taxes? Being paid or not paid based on outcome is usually somwthing i see on contracts which companies force people to become to skirt labour laws and make payment based on ourcome instead of hours.

This changes the answer for you, because the reason they do this is it puts the onus on you to make everyrhibg perfect becayse they are paying for a piece of work.

There are indeed laws that punish companies that do this however but is based on location and all that (fwiw im not a lawyer)

this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2024
50 points (98.1% liked)

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