Social Workers Getting Unpaid Overtime...Finally!

Check out this article about some child support social workers finally being given overtime pay that they were supposed to have received over the past couple of years.

I can understand that some supervisors want "results" that they can put down in black-and-white (i.e., closed cases, arrests, etc.), but if it takes me more than 40 hours per week to do that, why not pay me for my time? You'd have no problem paying another healthcare professional such as a doctor or psychiatrist. It's frustrating to try to work under that type of pressure already, so to then not be paid appropriately for it means there's no wonder  that (as the article states) there's so much trouble recruiting and / or retaining professionals in the field of social work. I can't imagine very many people wanting to do loads of extra work and not be paid for it--regardless of what field they're in.

I've heard people often speak about how the priorities in the United States seem so backwards. The average level of pay in fields like social work, counseling, or therapy are prime examples of that raucous imbalance. If I were to win an NBA championship I'd be a multi-millionaire over night. If I keep someone you love from killing themselves, make sure your children are safe, or help someone cope with mental illness so that they don't harm themselves or other people, I get somewhere between $20,000 and $50,000 a year--IF I'm lucky.

Doesn't quite make sense to me. What are your thoughts?