Due to the additional costs incurred by the change, many colleges around the nation have reduced the hours of assistant coaches. The revision to the Fair Labor Standards Act has affected Div. II and III colleges and universities more than it has affected institutions in Div. I, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. This is largely due to the fact that Div. II and III schools have fewer resources than those in Div. I. The College, a Div. III school, is one of the many to be affected by legal changes.
Director of Athletics Peter Gooding said that the revision forced the College to evaluate the hours that assistant coaches work. "It's sort of been a complicated business," he said, mainly due to difficulty in determining how many hours assistant coaches have worked. "In some cases, assistant coaches have to work less. ... The College is continuing to refine the agreements [and] contracts, etc. to meet the law."
Another complication that arises when determining hours is whether assistant coaches are also receiving other benefits. "It's often difficult to identify if they're getting intangible benefits [such those who are also lab assistants]," Gooding said. He also noted that some categories of workers such as casual employees of the College can work as much as 60 hours per week with little pay.
The College used to pay employees based upon the type of work, rather than upon the hours it takes to complete any given specific task, according to Gooding. "Now they have to figure out the hourly work ... but it's hard to figure that out," he said. However, Gooding contends that the change has more of an impact upon larger institutions. "I'm sure it's creating havoc in the larger institutions," he said.
Gooding also discussed the intention behind the act. "One of the ideas of the act is that young people are being exploited," he said. He explained that it is the younger employees who suffer because they are often the people who fill the assistant positions to receive training for full-time coaching positions. Acknowledging a "tradition of apprenticeship," Gooding agrees with the spirit of the act. "The intent of the act, which is to stop exploitation, doesn't quite apply in our case here," he said. "We're nevertheless trying to comply with the law. I absolutely agree that we don't want to institutionalize exploitation around the country."
Gooding said that in response to the new act, the College has revised previously existing employment contracts and in other cases, assistant coaches' work hours have been reduced.
Despite the Labor Department's argument that the revision provides protection to workers on the low end of the pay scale, coaches are concerned that the change will negatively affect the athletics programs. "We've been hearing from coaches that they feel constrained by the regulations because they feel that they can't be the best coach they can be, that it's had an impact on their ability to gain a reputation and build a better program," Scott Bearby, associate general counsel of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, told The Chronicle.
Younger assistant coaches are concerned that the reduction in their hours will limit the experience they will receive for their careers. Some argue that despite the limited pay and long hours, many assistant coaches see such situations as part of becoming a full-time coach. "There is a cultural history in basketball of utilizing these kids in ways that would be grossly unfair if you looked at what they are being paid and how many hours they are working," Harry C. Sheehy, director of athletics and former head basketball coach at Williams College told The Chronicle. "No one wants to abuse people, yet many of these kids think it's a rite of passage-that this is what you have to do."
Fortunately for many colleges, there exist exceptions to the law. A loophole exempts graduate assistants from the law if coaching is part of their academic program and if they are not considered college employees. Those who teach courses for credit as their main responsibility may be exempt under the revision. Assistant coaches who are also academic advisors for athletes may be exempt if they make at least the minimum salary of their college's instructors.
According to The Chronicle, some colleges have begun to consider these loopholes only to discover that their lawyers are concerned that some of the loopholes may not resist the pressures of legal scrutiny.
If assistant coaches fail to exempt themselves from the change, colleges will face the choice of either removing positions or reducing the number of hours assistant coaches work, according to The Chronicle. Both situations could hurt the College's athletic programs.