You’re Getting a Raise . . . Soon

Can you believe it’s July already? Halfway through 2025. The heat of the summer has begun. A new fiscal year for Dow Jones. And you’re getting a pay increase.

Soon.

Frequent readers of the collective agreement between IAPE and Dow Jones can tell you that negotiated, mandatory pay increases take effect on July 1 of each contract year. Longtime IAPE members will recall there is always a short delay until those raises appear on bi-weekly pay statements and in bank accounts. The same is true this year.

Dow Jones has informed IAPE that pay increases required under the terms of the IAPE/DJ contract will be processed and paid on the Aug. 7 pay date. Deposits delivered that week will also include a small amount of retroactive pay for deposits processed on July 10 and July 24.

The 2025 compensatory increase—our negotiated percentage pay raise—is 3.75%. While the collective agreement describes three forms of mandatory annual pay raises, the compensatory increase is applicable to the majority of IAPE-represented employees.

The 2025 minimum-dollar raise is $56.25 per week ($112.50 bi-weekly), a sum that is determined by applying the compensatory percentage to a negotiated threshold of $1,500 per week. Any IAPE-represented employee eligible for a 2025 raise must receive a pay increase of at least $56.25 per week.

IAPE-represented employees paid within the introductory pay scale for their title will likely benefit more from a scale increase. Minimum pay scales for 2025-26 are listed in the Pay Tiers and Minimum Pay Scales document (see page 2 for 2025-26 scales). To be eligible for a scale advancement, an employee paid according to the introductory scale for their position must have been working in their title since Dec. 31, 2024.

IAPE-represented employees who are eligible to be paid a 2025 raise will receive one of the three negotiated increases described above—a compensatory increase, a minimum-dollar increase, or a scale increase—whichever results in the largest payout.

Current IAPE-represented employees who were hired after May 1, 2025 are not entitled to a July 1, 2025 pay raise unless their current salary is below the ‘A’ scale for their title. On the other hand, members on payroll since May 1 who have recently been promoted (or who received a merit increase or some other pay adjustment) are still eligible for the full 2025 increase, so long as that promotion took effect before today.

IAPE-represented employees on notice of layoff with separation dates during the month of July will receive severance pay based on new, post-July 1 salaries.

Negotiated pay increases described in the IAPE/Dow Jones collective agreement can be difficult to understand. If you have questions about your July 1 raise, please email union@iape1096.org.

Tomorrow: Sign up for IAPE 101
Another great way to learn about annual IAPE pay increases, and other union basics, is by attending our IAPE 101 orientation class. While this half-hour Zoom presentation is intended primarily for IAPE newcomers, veteran members are also welcome to join and participate in the Q&A session at the end of each class.

The next edition of IAPE 101 is scheduled for tomorrow, July 2, at 2:00 p.m. EDT. To register and receive your Zoom attendance link, please visit the IAPE Events Page.

Farewell to Princeton

(or South Brunswick, or Monmouth Junction)

In hindsight, Dow Jones Chief People Officer Dianne DeSevo’s announcement on May 19 that the New Jersey campus of Dow Jones & Company would be closing to Dow Jones employees effective July 1 was not a huge surprise.

In a campus where Dow Jones employees used to fill all five buildings—six, if you count the printing plant which has been closed since 2010—where it once was difficult to find a seat in either of two cafeterias, and parking could be at a premium even with over 3,200 spaces on the property, remaining staff can now fit into one building. With plenty of room to spare.

When Dow Jones Global Real Estate informed employees in February of 2023 that “from time to time we engage property advisors to assess our portfolio of assets” and “in the coming weeks, you may see some visitors touring the facility,” the writing was on the wall. A few months later, staff were informed that Dow Jones intended to “explore all opportunities, commencing with testing the market.”

Two years later, the Kilgore Center, named for Bernard (Barney) Kilgore, legendary Managing Editor for The  Wall Street Journal from 1941 until his death in 1967, will be “easier to market . . . for sale if it’s empty,” according to the email DeSevo wrote last month to Princeton staff.

Or is that South Brunswick staff? Or Monmouth Junction?

The suburban New Jersey campus sits on 206 acres of land in the township of South Brunswick, which is the location designation IAPE and Dow Jones veterans still use today, despite the results of a company contest conducted under former CEO Will Lewis, which caused the location to be formally renamed “Princeton.”

That the community of Monmouth Junction was also used as a mailing address added to the occasional location confusion.

But no more. Next week, Dow Jones employees and contractors assigned to the Princeton campus will begin sharing 100 desks at a temporary workspace in Lawrenceville, NJ, approximately 11 miles down US Route 1 from current offices. Dow Jones management says a new, permanent space will be finalized 18 to 24 months from now.

This week, employees are packing personal belongings and cleaning desks. Some are also sharing memories.

After all, this is the campus where WSJ staff set up shop in the aftermath of 9/11, making sure that the paper would indeed publish on September 12, 2001, an edition that earned a Pulitzer Prize. Several WSJ News departments—like the Global Copy Desk and WSJ Radio—would remain in South Brunswick until they ceased to exist.

It is the location that “employed” border collies to keep geese away from the helipad—now a basketball court—so helicopters carrying Dow Jones execs could take off and land safely when commuting back and forth to New York. South Brunswick employees would often joke that when the helicopters stopped arriving, even the dogs were laid off. It is where, one year in a gesture of post-holiday goodwill, management invited Dow Jones staff to take the poinsettias that decorated Building 5, only to later discover the plants hadn’t been purchased, but leased from a local florist.

It was an innovation hub, with its own engineering building supporting so many of the company’s proprietary products and where Dow Jones global operations were supported on a 24/7 basis from not one, but two technology command centers. It is where, from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s, DowCom was the first-of-its-kind communication system for transmitting text to and from printing plants around the country, and where, in the early 1980s, Dow Jones became the first publisher to accomplish satellite transmission of news pages to remote printing plants.

Its 4.1 megawatt solar-power system, one of the largest at a commercial facility in the United States when it was built in 2011 remains the largest of any corporate office in New Jersey today.

It is where IAPE hosted some memorable contract bargaining rallies, with giant inflatable rats looming over Route 1 at the edge of the company’s property. Where IAPE representatives with bullhorns led pro-union chants and parades of picketing members through buildings and parking lots. It is where grievances were argued and arbitrated and contract agreements were hammered out.

It is where Dow Jones families brought their children to spend the workday at the on-site daycare facility. It is also where Dow Jones employees said goodbye to so many friends and colleagues; where over 1,000 IAPE-represented employees were based in the 1990s, when South Brunswick was the largest of any Dow Jones facilities. Today, that number is barely 400.

As the Columbia Journalism Review wrote in 2007, while looking back at the tenure of departing-CEO Peter Kann and the Dow Jones debacles that were Telerate and WBIS, “Walking through South Brunswick is like visiting the set of ‘The Omega Man,’ the 1971 Charlton Heston movie about the earth’s population being wiped out by biological weapons. The buildings are there, but all the people are gone.”

That wasn’t entirely true, as the 80 IAPE members in Princeton who have worked for Dow Jones since 2007, and earlier, can attest. The point, however, was clear: even then, the future of South Brunswick, or Princeton, was in doubt.

And so, as IAPE members and non-union staff prepare to leave these buildings, perhaps for the final time, we tip our hat to Princeton. Or South Brunswick. Or Monmouth Junction. You leaked when it rained. Sunshine through your windows was blinding. You had wildlife in your parking lot, from foxes to the occasional black bear. And you were the work home for so many.

You’ll be missed.

Contract 101 – Let’s Talk About Compensation

If you have a half-hour to spare next Wednesday afternoon, join us at 2:00 p.m. EDT for the next presentation of IAPE Contract 101. IAPE representatives will review all forms of compensation described in our collective agreement, including standby pay, shift differential, holiday pay, overtime and—the form of compensation we probably receive more questions about than any other—comp time.

We’ll also talk about our July 1 pay increases and whether you qualify for our 3.75% compensatory increase or a larger raise. We’ll highlight past IAPE studies of pay inequities at Dow Jones, and we will explain how an IAPE Pay Review can be valuable when discussing pay adjustments with your manager.

Visit the IAPE Events page to register for this Zoom event.

Holiday Pay – It’s for Everyone
During Wednesday’s compensation class, we’ll explain how Holiday Pay is different from other forms of “extra” pay. It’s not overtime, because all IAPE-represented employees are eligible to receive Holiday Pay. It’s not comp time, because Holiday Pay is paid in cash and time off (or cash and extra cash). And there is no limit on how much Holiday Pay you can earn, if you are required to work on a contract-recognized holiday.

There are two contract holidays occurring during the month of May: for members working in Canada, Monday is Victoria Day. For those of us based in the United States, May 26th is Memorial Day.

If you are required to work a contract-recognized holiday (see Article VIII-A or VIII-B of the IAPE/DJ contract for lists of those), you are entitled to Holiday Pay: 1.5X pay for all regular hours worked, and 2X pay for hours in excess of your regular workday. You also are entitled to a day off in lieu of the holiday or an additional day’s pay.

For holidays occurring after July 3 in any calendar year, you get to choose between the extra day or the extra pay.

Learn more about qualifying for Holiday Pay and all forms of “extra” compensation contained in the IAPE contract. Join us Wednesday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m. EDT for Contract 101 - a look at compensation.

Guidance for Self-Evaluations and Performance Reviews

Remember: N/A is your friend

As Dow Jones departments and managers move ahead with year-end performance conversations, IAPE members are once again reaching out to the union office for guidance.

So, here’s our annual reminder: all IAPE-represented employees may decline self-assessments, self-ratings, and department feedback requests. Dow Jones has previously confirmed for IAPE that, “Employee self-reflection remains optional but strongly encouraged,” and that self-ratings are also optional.

Regarding evaluation forms with questions that appear to be mandatory—because employees are unable to advance to the next screen unless those questions are answered—we recommend typing “N/A.”

Or better yet, “My union advises me that self-evaluations are not required for IAPE-represented employees.”

Period.

As we have said in years past, if you want to rate yourself or offer comments about your achievements over the past year, feel free. Nobody will do a better job of singing your own praises than you. But beware: any critical notes you provide may be held against you in your manager’s final assessment of your performance.

If you have any questions or concerns about performance discussions with your manager, please let us know, or contact your local IAPE representative.

Don't Let Bylines be Bygones

IAPE joins everyone at Dow Jones in congratulating our members who are winners and finalists at the Pulitzer Prizes.

We’re glad they filed their exemplary work last year so readers and Pulitzer jurors alike know who contributed. Had the stories run this year, management’s arbitrary restriction on bylines and taglines would have deprived our members of the credit they earned, and concealed their contributions from the world.

IAPE has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board objecting to the byline restriction, arguing the company failed to properly negotiate the labor policy change with the union. Members have shared their anger and frustration, leaving us all wondering who actually benefits from the policy.

The NLRB is investigating the union’s complaint and we need additional evidence from members. We want to know about contributions you or your colleagues have made that previously would have been recognized with a byline or tagline, but under the new policy are hidden from readers.

Please send examples to: union@iape1096.org. You can send questions there, too, or reach out to an IAPE director or steward.

Here’s how the bylines and taglines would look on the Pulitzer-winning seven-part Elon Musk series had the new policy been in effect:

Elon Musk Has Used Illegal Drugs, Worrying Leaders at Tesla and SpaceX

By Emily Glazer and Kirsten Grind

Tag: Joe Palazzolo, Micah Maidenberg, Jim Oberman and Jeff Horwitz contributed to this article.

Elon Musk’s Secret Conversations With Vladimir Putin

By Thomas Grove, Warren P. Strobel, Aruna Viswanatha, Gordon Lubold, Sam Schechner

Tag: Micah Maidenberg and Tim Higgins contributed to this article.

Elon Musk Has Said He Is Committing Around $45 Million a Month to a New Pro-Trump Super PAC

By Dana Mattioli, Emily Glazer, Khadeeja Safdar

Tag: Jim Oberman contributed to this article.

Elon Musk’s Hard Turn to Politics, in 300,000 of His Own Words

By: Andrea Fuller, Alexa Corse, John West and Kara Dapena

Tag: Ben Warren contributed to this article.

The Money and Drugs That Tie Elon Musk to Some Tesla Directors

By Kirsten Grind, Emily Glazer, Rebecca Elliott and Coulter Jones

Tag: Berber Jin, Lisa Schwartz and Jim Oberman contributed to this article.

Elon Musk’s Boundary-Blurring Relationships With Women at SpaceX

By Joe Palazzolo and Khadeeja Safdar

Tag: Emily Glazer and Micah Maidenberg contributed to this article.

Musk Says He Wants to Save the Planet. Tesla’s Factories Are Making It Dirtier.

By Susan Pulliam, Emily Glazer, and Becky Peterson

Tag: John West contributed to this article.

News Flash: The Pulitzer Board didn’t think we had too many bylines and taglines. Why does Dow Jones?

Learn About Your Union . . . and Your Pay

If you were recently hired by Dow Jones, or if you transferred from a non-union position into your current role sometime over the past year, and if you ever wondered where you can go to find out more about this thing called IAPE, we have a suggestion:

Sign up for IAPE 101.

This Wednesday, April 30 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, join us for this Zoom presentation and learn more about IAPE. We’ll cover all the basic questions: What is a union? How did you end up in a union? And most importantly, what are the benefits of being in a union?

If you can stick around beyond the first half-hour, we’ll open the virtual floor for any questions you might have. IAPE veterans, you’re welcome to join, too.

To register and receive your Zoom invitation, sign up through the IAPE Events page.

While you’re there, feel free to enroll for the next installment of IAPE Contract 101, scheduled for Wednesday, May 21. In this contract class, IAPE reps will explain all forms of compensation for union-represented employees: overtime, comp time, holiday pay, differential payments, and more.

We’ll review the three forms of mandatory pay increases required by our contract—those pay hikes take effect on July 1—and we’ll talk about ways you can request an IAPE review of your pay.

Register for Contract 101 through the IAPE Events Page!

IAPE Files Labor Board Complaint Over Bylines, Taglines

“Non-negotiable” policy requires bargaining, union says

The Wall Street Journal management’s puzzling decision to restrict bylines and eliminate taglines will be reviewed by the National Labor Relations Board after IAPE TNG-CWA Local 1096 filed a complaint today.

The charge, delivered to NLRB Region 2 in New York, accuses Dow Jones of unfair labor practices by unilaterally imposing new byline and tagline policies that deny journalists credit for their work and by refusing to negotiate over terms and conditions.

The union alleges that management’s actions violate IAPE members’ rights under Section 8(a)1 and 8(a) 5 of the National Labor Relations Act.

“Since at least February 13, 2025, the Company has failed and refused to bargain in good faith,” the union said in its NLRB complaint. “WSJ management has imposed a new policy restricting the number of bylines per article, and has eliminated tagline credits. Management has referred to the new policy as ‘nonnegotiable.’”

After hearing that WSJ management refuses to allow more than three bylines per story and has eliminated tagline credits for staff who contribute to a story, IAPE’s Labor-Management Committee tried to negotiate with company officials over terms and conditions of the new policy. Instead, management representatives told the union that bylines are an area of “editorial discretion” and that negotiations are not necessary.

IAPE disagrees, and is prepared to argue that byline and tagline policies are mandatory elements of bargaining in general. This position is underscored by WSJ management’s practice of considering byline and tagline totals when evaluating performance and disciplining employees.

Meanwhile, it is standard practice at several of WSJ’s direct competitors to regularly include multiple names for numerous contributors in bylined articles.

The union’s charge will be reviewed by NLRB Region 2 staff to determine whether formal action is warranted.

IAPE is no stranger to the Labor Board, having filed charges against Dow Jones for failing to bargain over pandemic benefits. IAPE and Dow Jones also participated in a regional hearing to determine whether Photo Editors should be included in the IAPE bargaining unit at Dow Jones.

Tonight: TNG Members Invited to “Defend our Free Press”

This evening, at 8:00 p.m. EDT, The NewsGuild will hold a virtual membership meeting for all Guild and NABET local unions. All IAPE members are eligible and invited to attend.

Tonight’s meeting theme will be “Defend our Free Press.” TNG President Jon Schleuss will share an overview of the attacks on unions, journalists and our free press. Attendees will then move into Zoom breakout rooms.

Guild members and staff will facilitate a discussion in smaller groups about how the current threats to free press and unions are impacting our work, how our employers are responding and what we can do collectively in response to those threats.

Please join us! This meeting will begin at 8:00 p.m. EDT. Register here to receive your Zoom invitation.

IAPE Outraged at Dow Jones UK Union Busting

The Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE), Local 1096 of The NewsGuild-CWA, calls on Dow Jones management to stop outrageous union busting efforts at its London offices.

In February of this year, newsroom staff at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in London organized as a chapel under the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and served notice on Dow Jones management that they sought recognition as an independent union.

Yesterday, just three days before Dow Jones's deadline to voluntarily recognize NUJ, or else face their petition with a UK arbitration body, Dow Jones Chief People Officer Dianne DeSevo informed staff that “the Company decided not to recognize the NUJ as it would only represent a small subset of our colleagues,” and that instead, “we looked at the representative body for our sister companies, News UK and NCS UK, at London Bridge.”

“We felt News Union was a better option than the NUJ because they are able to represent all eligible Dow Jones International (DJI) employees, not just those in the Newsroom,” DeSevo wrote. “Therefore, the Company has signed a recognition agreement with News Union.”

It must be springtime, because that’s a lot of fertilizer.

In a statement released today, our colleagues and organizers of the NUJ effort said, “Dow Jones employees representing a strong majority of eligible NUJ members in London have been speaking in good faith with the company in an effort to reach agreement about independent union recognition we believe would be good for the company and its employees. We are disappointed the company chose instead to bypass these discussions in favor of a company-organized and company-funded News Corp. union that until now Dow Jones had not recognized. We are seeking advice about our options under these circumstances.”

NUJ General Secretary Laura Davison called Dow Jones’s union busting action “a blatantly cynical attempt to circumvent our members’ right to collective representation by the trade union of their choice.”

In 2001, News Union was denied a certificate of independence because a UK certificator deemed it had “not yet reached the stage where it can be said that the vulnerability to interference by the employer is insignificant.”

News Union receives almost all its income from News UK and NCS UK. Annual filings from News Union indicate it does not generate any revenue from membership dues.

IAPE knows a company union when it sees one. While the National Labor Relations Act outlawed such bodies in the United States in 1935, IAPE was first incorporated in 1937 as the Dow Jones Employees Association as a means of keeping strong, international unions—like what was then known as the American Newspaper Guild, which would eventually become The NewsGuild of today—out of the WSJ newsroom.

This is a despicable way for history to repeat itself.

After decades of fighting to become a true union, IAPE eventually established itself as a representative body for Dow Jones employees in the United States and Canada, affiliated with the Communications Workers of America in 1996 and eventually became a full-fledged Guild local union.

We see no reason why our colleagues in the United Kingdom should experience a similar struggle. IAPE calls on Dow Jones management to respect the democratic choice made by its employees in London, and to recognize the NUJ as the rightful bargaining agent for WSJ and Newswires staff, as petitioned for in February.

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The Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, Local 1096 of The NewsGuild-CWA, is the union for employees of Dow Jones & Company working in the United States and Canada. IAPE represents over 1,300 employees in News, Sales, Technology, Administration, Finance, Customer Service and Building Support departments at all Dow Jones products and publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s MarketWatch, Factiva, Dow Jones Newswires and Dow Jones Risk & Compliance.

For more information, contact union@iape1096.org

Tariff-ic News: You’re Going to Get Paid

Weekend work must be compensated. Find out how!

IAPE members across the United States and Canada have inboxes full of “well done” emails from managers this morning—and for good reason. Tariff coverage provided over the weekend by News staff at Dow Jones publications was second to none.

However, we have yet to see a message from management reminding members that work assigned and performed on scheduled days off MUST be compensated, and cannot simply be exchanged for a day off this week, or sometime in the future.

For overtime-eligible employees—titles like Photo Editor, Graphics Reporter, or Publishing Editor—pay for hours assigned on your weekend day is straightforward: you are owed overtime, at 1.5X your regular rate of pay, for your weekend work.

For overtime-exempt employees—like Reporters, Special Writers, or Lead Photo Editors—your weekend work earns Comp Time. It must also be “paid” or credited at a rate of 1.5X, which means you earn an hour-and-one-half of Comp Time for an hour of work. IAPE-represented employees can receive up to 12 hours of Comp Time—for eight hours of work—on a scheduled day off.

For assignments performed at home, Comp Time eligibility kicks in after two hours of work are performed—but at that moment, those first two hours must also be compensated. For assignments outside your home, Comp Time eligibility begins immediately, as soon as you step outside your door.

Most importantly, once Comp Time is earned and logged in Workday, it is yours to keep, to use at a later date, or to cash out. Comp time may be exchanged for cash without question 30 days after it has been earned, or sooner with your manager’s permission.

If you earn Comp Time, you must file your time in Workday. Allowing your boss to give you one day off in exchange for a full weekend day of work falls short of our contractual requirements. And even if you want to use time off instead of exchanging your time for cash, you get to decide when to request that time off—you don’t need to accept a day off assigned by your manager.

See more overtime and Comp Time information at https://www.iape1096.org/overtime-comp-time, and check out today’s FAQ section at the bottom of this note. Please note that IAPE is aware of a recent Dow Jones layout change to its Workday profile, so you may need to dig a bit to find the cash out option for Comp Time. The union’s guidance on that subject will be updated as soon as possible.

A special note to members outside of News: the above guidance applies to you too! If you have been assigned work on a scheduled day off, please follow this same overtime or Comp Time guidance.

Learn More About Compensation . . . and IAPE!
We could talk about overtime, Comp Time, and all the other ways IAPE members can earn extra compensation all day. And on May 21, we will . . . well, for an hour, at least.

Join IAPE reps for our next Contract 101 class, where we will discuss all things related to compensation: your annual raise, extra pay, paid time off, and how to request an IAPE pay review. Visit the IAPE Events Page to register for this class, and while you’re there, consider joining this week’s IAPE 101 class—scheduled for Wednesday, Apr. 9 at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Next Wednesday, Apr. 16, IAPE representatives will be hosting our next steward training class. If you have ever wondered about a steward’s member representation responsibilities and legal rights, this class is for you! IAPE leaders will cover the special position of steward as a representative during disciplinary meetings and will practice with some mock sessions.

Register for IAPE Steward Training 3, scheduled for Wednesday, Apr. 16 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m., at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IcdwhKeVS1K6iKngGzSBog#/registration

The NewsGuild: Defend our Free Press
All IAPE members are invited to attend a meeting open to all members of The NewsGuild-CWA this Thursday, Apr. 10 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. Entitled “Defend our Free Press,” this meeting will feature international Guild leaders discussing how workers, unions and journalists are under attack. Members will discuss the threats to our union, members and our industry. Attendees will hear from Guild members in the field on how these threats are playing out and together will develop strategies and actions for a national campaign to Defend Our Free Press.

Register to attend: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/dbmD_XJmQKGcXBs9-Y3j_A

Overtime and Comp Time FAQ
You’ve scrolled all the way to the bottom of this message to find out more about overtime and Comp Time. Welcome! We hope you had a chance to browse through some other IAPE news on your way here. And we hope we are able to offer some tips on when and how to file for extra compensation—but if you still have any uncertainty after reading today’s advisory, please feel free to email us at union@iape1096.org. IAPE Slack is also a great resource for crowdsourcing answers to your questions—members only can find us at https://iape1096.slack.com/. If you aren’t an IAPE Slack member yet, sign up here!

• I’m an overtime-eligible employee, can I earn Comp Time? No. Work performed by overtime-eligible employees after regular hours or on scheduled days off must be compensated with overtime pay. Comp Time is only available to overtime-exempt employees.

• I’m a Senior Software Engineer, I was called for support on the weekend. Am I eligible for Comp Time? If you worked from home and required more than two hours to complete your assignment, you may file for Comp Time.

• I’m eligible for Comp Time and I worked from home on Saturday for four hours. So, I file for two hours of Comp Time, right? No, you file for all four hours of work. While you must work longer than two hours to earn Comp Time when working from home, as soon as you cross that two-hour threshold, your first two hours must also be included for Comp Time.

• I’m an overtime-eligible employee. Do I also need to work longer than two hours to file for overtime? No. Overtime is required beginning with the first minute of any assigned weekend work, and must be paid in fifteen-minute increments. So, if you were called for support on Saturday and you worked for 20 minutes, you are entitled to a half-hour of overtime pay.

• I am overtime-exempt. My manager didn’t assign work over the weekend, I just decided to clean up a project I’m working on. How much Comp Time do I get? None. Comp Time is available when extra work is assigned by a manager, or “reasonably expected” to be done specifically on your scheduled day off. You cannot charge for hours you work in the ordinary course of completing your work.

• I am overtime eligible. My manager didn't assign work over the weekend, I just decided to clean up a project I'm working on. Do I get overtime pay? You are entitled to overtime pay for the weekend work unless your manager flexes your regular work hours during the same payroll week so that you worked only 35 total hours. However, if your department has a policy that requires you to get approval in advance before working overtime hours, your manager may be unhappy with you and your decision to work the hours on the weekend without getting permission could be a problem and could even result in disciplinary action. Best practice is to ask first.

• My boss said they will give me a day off in exchange for the work I did on Saturday. That’s the same as Comp Time, right? No. First of all, if you are overtime eligible, then you get paid overtime pay and your manager cannot substitute Comp Time. Second, if you are overtime-exempt and worked an eight-hour day on Saturday (and Saturday was your scheduled day off) you are entitled to twelve hours’ worth of Comp Time, not just one day off. Plus, once you earn Comp Time, you get to schedule it whenever you want (subject to department availability). You also can exchange your Comp Time for cash.

• I’m overtime-eligible, but my boss said the department can’t pay overtime right now. Then you should feel free to tell your boss you can’t work overtime right now. On this point, Dow Jones and IAPE are in full agreement: if you occupy an overtime-eligible position and your boss assigns weekend work, you’re owed overtime pay. Period.