Do I have a leg to stand on, asking my boss to switch me over to hourly (at a rate commensurate with my salary @ 40/week) rather than salaried?

Setup -
So, my boss is a habitually line-stepper. He'll lay on thick the guilt trip if you don't come in on saturdays or stay late to finish work. It's a constant battle of trying to cram 60 hours of work into a 40 hour week, but I usually float between 50-55 hr/week. Yeah, I know it's not that bad, but I took a solid 15,000$ pay cut for this job and I was led to believe this would be an average 40/week position.

I enjoy my job and really don't mind the extra hours - I just think if I'm going to be in the shop on a beautiful saturday afternoon, I should be getting paid for it. if I was switched over to hourly, I'd make something like 15-25% more than I do now. How would one go about making this happen besides just saying "fuck you, pay me." ?

11/11/2011 5:35:25 PM

oh, he will have you out by 5 every day and no weekends if you go to hourly

11/11/2011 5:45:47 PM

Quote :

"I'd make something like 15-25% more than I do now"

You could ask for a 25% raise.

11/11/2011 5:59:17 PM

i'd ask for a raise instead

11/11/2011 6:00:07 PM

yeah every position I've had thats salaried I was working at least 60hrs a week. Kinda makes the hourly rate when you factor your pay divided by 60 instead of 40 look even worse

But as others have said, I would ask for a raise. Asking to be changed to hourly might indicate that you don't want to work any more than the required 40 and he might go looking for someone who is willing to put in the hours and replace you. Obviously thats kind of the worst case scenario, but it's why I would ask for a raise

11/11/2011 6:09:55 PM

Same boat -- my job was advertised as 40/week, work from home for 2-3 days a week and salary. About 2 weeks into the job, it turned into 50 hours, no work from home and salary. The impression I get from my boss is that my salary is my salary, and if Im not willing to put in the hours, so long as theyre somewhat reasonable, then he'll find someone else to do it.

Basically, there is always a pro/con to salary and not getting paid for additional time is without a doubt the main con.

I wish you the best of luck but cant imagine that convo would go over well.

11/11/2011 6:47:06 PM

Man, and I thought my company's overtime policy was harsh.....

11/11/2011 6:49:24 PM

Y'all work for some assholes.

11/11/2011 7:20:09 PM

Im basically salary and most weeks I work less than 40 hours

11/11/2011 7:25:47 PM

Since I went part time because of school, I kept the hourly rate (as if my salary was divided into 40 hours/week). It's pretty awesome- no more having to hang out and look busy because the crazy boss is around, just go in, bust it up and go home. Conversely, I can hang out and know exactly how much I'm getting paid for it.

11/11/2011 7:30:57 PM

I've averaged 55+ hour weeks for 4 years. You have no leg to stand on switching to hourly pay.

The real question is, what hours does EVERYONE ELSE in your office work? If everyone is working the same number of hours, then you are going to get laughed at asking for a raise.

However if you're sticking your neck out time and again, while everyone else goes home at 5 and you're at work by yourself on the weekends, then I would not only ask for a raise, I would be having some serious come-to-jesus meetings with your management (not just your immediate boss).

Ultimately it's not about your performance, it's about your performance in relation to everyone else around you.

11/11/2011 7:52:01 PM

^^ Yeah I love being hourly, especially since I get the same benefits as the salaried folks.

11/11/2011 8:07:17 PM

I'm glad I work for the government, salaried and paid for OT

11/11/2011 8:37:47 PM

I am salary, work 40-50 hours a week, commute 12 hours a week, and occasionally I work 50+ hours.
We get the hourly rate of our salary added for any hours worked over 55 in a week.

11/11/2011 9:08:26 PM

I'm currently working 70 and back in school, as well.

11/11/2011 9:20:23 PM

just got my first salaried job. I'm guaranteed less than 20 hours a week work, but get paid $22k over 9 months...renews if we get our grant renewed. I go to grad school full time so it works out great.

and I'm a CHASS major

11/11/2011 10:28:54 PM

Hey now I'm a CHASS major and my first job out of school paid about 45k

[Edited on November 11, 2011 at 10:57 PM. Reason : Stupid office]

11/11/2011 10:57:14 PM

^lulz, i haven't even graduated yet. AND my job has nothing to do with my major.

11/12/2011 3:05:27 AM

^I'm a CHASS major, and my first job out is 50k, and I'm hourly.

11/12/2011 8:45:22 AM

Quote :

"The real question is, what hours does EVERYONE ELSE in your office work? If everyone is working the same number of hours, then you are going to get laughed at asking for a raise."

I guess I should have covered this in my first post.

Most employees here ARE hourly, with the supervisors being salaried. The only two salaried regular employees here are myself and the other guy who works in the engineering department, and we both are usually here long after the regular hourly folks have gone home. Even right now, I'm in the shop getting ready to run parts on the mill that I couldn't fit into my already 55 hour week.

I think the real wrench in my engine over asking for a switch is because I just started here in June. We agreed (verbal contract) to re-eval my salary after 90 days, and that never happened. My concern is that the boss man will give me the "well you're not settled in yet - once you learn how to do your job you won't have to be here 60 hours a week". Now i'm not saying I'm a wizard at what I do just yet, but I really don't see how I could be efficient enough to get this much work done in an average week.

Quote :

"Asking to be changed to hourly might indicate that you don't want to work any more than the required 40 and he might go looking for someone who is willing to put in the hours and replace you."

That's never going to happen. If he hired someone who actually went to school for this position / was a true professional at it, he would have to pay them AT LEAST double what he is paying me.


[Edited on November 12, 2011 at 9:44 AM. Reason : ]

11/12/2011 9:41:07 AM

i would request that it's time to re-evaluate your salary like you previously discussed.

One thing I've learned is that nearly all jobs will lie to you about opportunity, pay, hours, etc before you take the job.

That's what they do to "sell" the job to candidates that are overqualified or would typically receive more money.

Never take a job based on the things they tell you. It's all noise. Do your own research, request the pay you deserve upfront, and never accept less now in return for empty future promises.

11/12/2011 4:04:54 PM

Quote :

"Y'all work for some assholes."

i work for an asshole, but at least i get compensated for anything over 40 hours

then again, if my boss got hit by a bus, i'd probably love my job

11/12/2011 4:10:54 PM

we get bonus pay for hours worked over 40, and I think this is fairly common in the consulting industry.

11/12/2011 4:56:58 PM

Quote :

"if my boss got hit by a bus, i'd probably love my job"

quagmire02

11/12/2011 4:10:54 PM

[Edited on November 12, 2011 at 5:40 PM. Reason : s]

11/12/2011 5:39:57 PM

Hourly FTW. Whoever invented salary is the devil. I love my job and would be glad to work overtime.

Well contract work FTW. Awesome pay but no benefits.

[Edited on November 12, 2011 at 6:27 PM. Reason : `]

11/12/2011 6:21:26 PM

Quote :

"Hourly FTW. Whoever invented salary is the devil."

Meh, I enjoy being salaried, but then again, I get paid for any "excessive" overtime, where excessive is defined as about anything over a half hour in a single day.

11/12/2011 7:50:35 PM

wow. I've been salaried at 3 different places and every time I got the same pay whether I worked 40hrs or 70

11/12/2011 10:15:10 PM

I think whether or not I like salary would have to depend on what the salary is.

11/12/2011 11:36:53 PM

salaried + paid OT ftw

11/13/2011 12:08:30 AM

I love my job. I get salary and work 45 hrs/ week and if I have to work outside of normal hours I usually get to schedule it and get paid well for it.

11/13/2011 1:35:56 AM

Ask for a raise. If they reject it outright, or leave you wondering if their giving you false promises, look for other opportunities that match the raise you requested. Get the offer in writing, and politely put it on your bosses desk Friday morning and ask to discuss in further detail. If you don't play Hard ball, you get used, but be prepared to walk into the new company if they don't counter the offer.

11/13/2011 9:24:08 AM

^........ i dunno if I'd do that. Statistics show that people who take a counter-offer from their current job generally don't make it through the next year an overwhelming majority of the time.



If you want to leave, leave. If not, ask for a raise. The worst they can say is no.

11/13/2011 4:54:04 PM

the flsa basically spells out whether you should be classified as exempt or non exempt. There are several job 'tests' you can use to help determine which criteria you meet.

11/14/2011 9:47:07 AM

If you go hourly, will you lose benefits like health, life, vacation/sick time?

Hourly is normally straight time and that's it. There is no overtime pay.

You'll essentially be a contractor.

11/14/2011 9:58:42 AM

Quote :

"Hourly is normally straight time and that's it. There is no overtime pay."

that is false. If you are a non exempt (hourly) employee of a company, you are required by federal law to receive 1.5 pay for any time worked over 40 hours in a given work week.

11/14/2011 12:16:12 PM

^ this is correct as far as I know.

I am salaried and get paid OT at my normal hourly rate.

Hourly Contractors that I work with get 1.5x for OT hours worked (but do not get the same benefits obviously)

11/14/2011 12:21:44 PM