Salary to hourly

CarrieB.

Anyone go from salary to hourly? My company changed policies so employees making under $100K are now hourly. No change to vacation, holidays or eligibility for bonus or raises.

It's cool to be eligible for overtime, but it's just weird and it's hard to not think of it as a demotion, because for so long I always though salary = status. Even though it really just meant in some situations longer hours for the same pay.

My company is headed out of Canada, so I'm wondering if this is kind of a workers rights type thing. I do travel for work sometimes, so I don't know how the overtime will work with travel. My manager said she had to find out more.

Virgo17

I have never made that switch, but I do understand what you are saying about it feeling like a demotion.  However, you should really do the math and see what it means. 

For example, my DH works at a power plant and is an hourly employee, but his salary for the year based on his hourly wage is in the 60-70K range.  It also qualifies him for 1.5, double time, and triple time, which really adds up. 

What are the prospects for overtime?  Is your annual pay the same as an hourly wage vs. salary? 

alli2672

I have two part-time jobs.  One is salary, and one is hourly.  People are definitely more considerate of my time at my hourly job. 

 At my salaried job, people will just pop into my office or schedule a meeting before or after my normal work hours.  At my hourly job, if someone wants to schedule an additional meeting with me, then something else from my workload gets cut, or I am paid for additional hours.  There is something in my contract about how many additional hours I can work. 

jlaOK

I am hourly.  There are definite pros and cons. 

Pros:

• If you work extra, you get paid extra.  I WFH and this makes me not feel as bad when I'm working in the evenings or weekends with the family home.
• Less pressure to "make up" missed hours.  I don't have much PTO so I try not to use it unless I miss whole days.  Because of that I don't stress out if I don't work my total scheduled hours per week/month because $50-$100 less per per paycheck isn't a huge deal.
  

Cons:

• There is less freedom when you do things like take a long lunch or leave a little bit early.  While a salaried person might just do it knowing it washes out with the times they stay late an hourly person has to count all that time.
• Depending on how you get paid it can be a little bit of a pain to budget.  I get paid monthly so each month's paycheck is different depending on the number of working days.  It's not a huge deal and is a wash at the end of the year but I'm a huge budgeter and the flux annoys me.

I have the opportunity to go salary at any time.  I have chosen to stay hourly because of 1) lack of PTO and 2) getting paid for any extra hours I work.

Another thing to consider is how they count your hours.  At my old job I had to clock in/out and I hated it.  It did make me feel like my status was diminished.  At my current job I am responsible for my own time sheet and am left to be honest about it.  I like this much better.

pb&fluff

I think the most difficult thing for you will be not making your 40 hours. Like if you don't work exactly 8 hours everyday, your paycheck will be less (unless you fill it with pto). I'm hourly as a nurse, and I hate that I have to worry about my pto and my paychecks being short because I missed work if I was sick or DS was sick or holidays.

I look forward to finishing school and becoming an NP, and I'll be salaried.

minirella

alli2672 said:

I have two part-time jobs.  One is salary, and one is hourly.  People are definitely more considerate of my time at my hourly job. 

Me too. Benefits to both but I like my hourly job better cause I get paid for actual time. I'm on maternity leave now and have had to work a little from home because I was the only person that could do this particular thing.