A function of the injunction

Well, that was fun! The Golf Industry Show has come and gone. It was a great show — it always is. I’ll bet the most discussed topic over drinks was labor — it always is.

Even the virtual discussions on social media went on for months, in anticipation of the new overtime labor law, which was scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1. Oh, how Twitter and Facebook erupted! I was amazed at how many opinions there could be on this issue. The comments and debates thundered:

“What are assistants worth?”

“I can’t afford to pay my employees under the new regulations.”

“It’s about time. We can’t expect people to work these hours for such little pay.”

“Millennials don’t want to work.”

“We can’t find anyone to work for these wages and hours.”

“It’s not the law that’s the problem. It was how it’s being enacted.”

However, at the final hour, a federal judge issued an injunction against the rule.

And just like that, it was gone.

Employees who were expecting a raise were downtrodden. Some employers were happy with the news, and everyone basically got up from the table and walked away.

Here’s the rub. Where does that leave all of us? Really. Think about it. We don’t have to do anything now. But is that true? I don’t think it is, not for one second.

Many courses already had made decisions or agreements with their assistants on revising pay structure and hours or on how they would adjust classifications to fit into the new law’s requirements. I did the same thing. My whole department was about to change. But after a judge’s injunction, I had the legal right to walk away without raising anyone’s pay.

After spending months discussing how I was “underpaying” my management team for the many difficult hours they work, I could just do nothing and act like zilch had happened. As a leader, do I walk into a room where I had admitted that the job pays too little for too many hours and tell my crew that because the injunction’s been issued, I don’t have to pay you what you are worth? “Now let’s get back out there and produce a high-quality product for our membership! Follow me!”

No. My general manager and I talked at great length and decided that the right thing to do was to keep our word. Pay them what we agreed to, because they have earned it.

I am not suggesting paying someone below or above what they are worth. I’m just asking that we try to pay our hard-working crews better and make our starting compensation competitive. We can have discussions later about what the job is worth. I think we first need to admit there’s a problem. That’s the first step, isn’t it? It’s becoming too easy for turfies to work in other jobs for only 40 hours a week and get every weekend off and earn more than an average assistant’s wage.

Our goals now should be keeping the talent we have and nurturing future young professionals in the industry. I don’t believe the current compensation levels achieve these goals. We all know if someone in our area is making a competitive wage.

Successful people annually evaluate themselves, their careers, their practices and their facilities.

Please evaluate the current compensation structure within your organization. I may not have been an original supporter of the overtime law, but it did make me rethink how I was running my business. For the future of the industry, maybe you should, too.