Episode
No Overtime for the Supervisor of Sandwiches
- Podcast
- Optimist Economy
- Published
- May 19, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2933
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_14811_629d1841-4232-47f5-a3b7-7366023963f1&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F14811%2Ffeed-rss.xml
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/optimist-economy-7257068/episodes/no-overtime-for-the-supervisor-of-sandwiches/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/optimist-economy-7257068/no-overtime-for-the-supervisor-of-sandwiches.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
It wasn’t just hourly factory jobs that were supposed to come with a 40-hour workweek. Even salaried jobs were supposed to get overtime pay, though very few do do anymore. Overtime protections are the only legal mechanism enforcing work-hour limits, and for 50 years, the salary threshold that determines who qualifies to receive overtime has been left to erode. Employers found another workaround too: just call the sandwich maker a "sandwich manager." Now, the new no-tax-on-overtime deduction isn't protecting workers — it's rewarding the kind of overwork it was overtime was originally designed to punish. Fixing the law governing overtime would be a huge and instant boost not just to the U.S. economy, but to our work-life balance. Chapters : 00:01:43 Announcements 00:02:32 Retcon: Economic data reliability 00:05:54 Terms & Conditions: Tenterhooks; Perquisite 00:08:23 Big Pilcrow: Overtime 00:45:27 Executive Orders: Badge of shame for working past 40 hours; more colorful cars 00:46:52 Spiritual Sponsors: Awesome first bosses; Faraday e-bike Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com Video-curious? Watch clips on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel . We’re also on Instagram at @optimist_economy or TikTok at @optimist_economy . Chat with other Optimists on Substack. Find utility with our merch: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders? Send them to [email protected]