I just read the diary about
WalMart requiring its employees to be on call 7am-11pm, and I realized that there is an issue where Democrats can be right,
AND be politically savvy.
There are millions of workers in the US who are kept on call, unpaid.
Even if you work a normal schedule (up to something like 46 hours), you can be kept "on call", meaning tied to a phone or pager, and not allowed to relax, go swimming, etc.
So here is a proposal: "When an employer requires an employee to be on call, or to be available at times other than their regular work schedule, the employee shall be paid no less than 1/2 the minimum wage."
For the WalMart example, a full time employee would be "on call" for 72 hours a week.
At $2.57/hour, WalMart would have to pay folks $185.04 to impinge on their free time that way.