Electronic Arts’ Unpaid Overtime Results in a Lawsuit: Human Resources Management (Employee treatment)
by Chase ~ March 31st, 2010. Filed under: Comm 101.
One of the most significant factors in the efficiency of an organization is the human resources management which is the relationship it forms from the treatment of employees in their lifecycle at work. Failure in this aspect would result in employees to have high levels of job stress and dissatisfaction. This can lead to higher absenteeism and turnover of employees. In the case of Electronic Arts, the failure in human resources management led to even more extreme measures as the employees launched a class action lawsuit in July, 2004 for unpaid overtime. EA creates very long overtime hours for their employees at work which brings up their stress levels and brings down their performance. The company’s brutal fixed hours include 13 hours/day (9 a.m. – 10 p.m.) for 7 days a week. Plus, during the ‘crunch times’ of producing games, the employees were forced to work extra hours. The case of lawsuit ended up with settlements of more than $31 million US in total.
Work Cited:
Electronic Arts faces overtime lawsuit by Ed Frauenheim (Web) (http://news.cnet.com/Electronic-Arts-faces-overtime-lawsuit/2100-1043_3-5450316.html)
Revenge of the gamers: Suing for ‘crunch time’; [National Edition] by Danny Bradbury (Web) (http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1106460531&SrchMode=2&sid=12&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1256855842&clientId=6993&cfc=1)