Post # 1
Member
2 posts
Wannabee
I just accepted a new position a month ago for a small company. Prior to my new job I was an hourly employee… I have never been salary. This position I was given salary and when I got hired I never was given an employee handbook like previous jobs or told about any required overtime that needed to be worked. I was only told it will be mon-fri 8-5. I know nothing about being salary, but I do know I do not get paid if I do work overtime. I was just told I will have to work a 10 hour shift this Saturday and I am under the impression I will not get compensated for it. I am beyond livid that I am being required to work an additional 10 hours without any sort of compensation!!!! Am I overreacting?! Should I ask my boss (who is also the owner of the company) if I will be compensated with pay or vacation time? I don’t have a handbook to refer back to but because I just started with the company, I don’t to ask anything that will make me look bad. Again, I’ve always been an hourly employee so I am use to getting paid overtime, so maybe this is something I will need to adapt to?! Do I just need to suck it up and accept I won’t be compensated in any way…
Post # 3
Member
5797 posts
Bee Keeper
Such is life as a salaried employee. Suck it up because they will not take kindly to you asking for extra compensation.
Post # 4
Member
2065 posts
Buzzing bee
Yeah, that’s the thing about being salaried that sucks – no overtime. It’s kind of a given that there will be some weeks you don’t work a full 40 hours and some weeks you’ll work over that amount.
Post # 5
Member
831 posts
Busy bee
What type of work do you do and where are you located?
I’ve been salary for a long time, but I’m a manager so I supervise people. Even so, my company wouldn’t require me to work a day that wasn’t part of my schedule. I don’t know if it’s legal or not, but I would think you should at least get a day off for that.
Working a few hours OT on days I am regularly scheduled to work is expected, but not on a weekend.
Post # 6
Member
645 posts
Busy bee
I’m salary and its nothing for me to put in 50 hours a week. It’s just expected and needed to get the work done. I’m pretty sure if I was only putting in time from 8-5 I’d be fired. On the plus sides there have been times I left work at 3pm just because I was feeling a little tired or my boss said it was ok (its rare but it happens) and when my boss travels I tend to come in later and leave earlier so in my mind it eventually balances out.
Post # 7
Member
6019 posts
Bee Keeper
I wish I could help but this tends to vary. I see other posts about if you are salary than they can do that but for me this is not the case. I am on salary, but I have paid time off and anything over 40 hours a week is considered overtime and we are compensated with time off or OT pay. I would have a big problem too working an extra 10 hour shift for just my normal pay. Seems logical that if you are expected to work hours over what your salary covers that you would get some kind of compensation. I would most definitely address this with your boss and also be sure to demand a handbook if your company has them. It is on you to make yourself familiar with policiesrules etc. and companies love to throw the whole “oh well its in our handbook so you should have known this” thing around. Hopefully you can get some answers from your boss though 🙂 good luck!
ETA: I should probably add that Your pay can technically considered hourly here but since its presented as salary because you are required to work a 40 hour week with no mandatory overtime they dont consider it hourly. BAsically since our hours dont every vary or change and neither does our pay we are considered salary. But if you are on the clock for anything furhter than 8 hours a day you get paid or they give you time off on a 2 for 1 basis. your choice. our handbook lays all this out for us too. We are government which is another thing which probably makes us a bit of a different type of situation.
Post # 8
Member
100 posts
Blushing bee
@jayle062013: Yeah that is the downside of being salary. In most cases there is extra compensation already built in to your pay. It sucks, and the short notice is ridiculous.. But salaried employees go through it all the time. Ugh-sorry.
Post # 9
Member
2 posts
Wannabee
@stardustintheeyes: I work for a very small company, so my boss is the owner of the company, and the one who hired me on. Because I am so new, I’m afraid to go to them and ask these questions while I’m still on my 90 day probational period and risking my job.
Post # 10
Member
1513 posts
Bumble bee
that sucks that they are asking you to come in on an unscheduled day! but as PPs said, thats the deal with salary. during busy times i work 50+ hours a week (but never required on a saturday!)…the plus is that you dont have to always work 40 hours most places. today for exaple, i am out of here at 4 because i am already bored!
Post # 11
Member
1332 posts
Bumble bee
@jayle062013: In my company, if you work over your 40 hours/week, which happens A LOT bc the work needs to be done, you can take ‘comp’ time for those hours…meaning, if you have a slower work week, you could take a 1/2 day Friday without taking Paid Time Off – provided you have those hours to comp!
Now, if I work over an hour or two during the week, I would never take 4 hours of comp time, etc. I would have to work a substantial amount of hours before I consider taking comp time. So, if it were me working 10 hours on a Saturday, I would consider taking 2 1/2 days a few Fridays, IF I COULD!
This is an unwritten rule in my company. My policy book does state that because we do not want people abusing it. I did not learn about it until my boss told me to take a day or a few 1/2 days after having to a work a Saturday.
I do not think it is an ‘crazy’ question to ask your boss either, if you are comfortable in doing that head of time.
Post # 12
Member
2104 posts
Buzzing bee
There’s a reason it pays salary instead of hourly… an employer will always do what’s in their own best interest first, starting with saving themselves money. Sorry =o( I hope this doesn’t turn into a routine thing for your job, but be prepared.
Post # 13
Member
2065 posts
Buzzing bee
@jayle062013: I’d just ask for clarification purposes. They shouldn’t fire you for asking a question. As long as you don’t go in there clearly upset and demanding money straight off, there’s no harm in asking them to clarify your pay structure. If they do say that yes, you’re expected to work the day without OT, then you’ll probably just have to suck it up, since it’s normally part of being salaried.
Post # 14
Member
5797 posts
Bee Keeper
One way to broach the topic may be to ask if they’re providing lunch. You may not get paid OT at my office but you do get to order lunch/dinner if you’re stuck here at certain times.
Post # 15
Member
1561 posts
Bumble bee
I think you should definitely ask if these Saturdays are going to be a common occurance because you were hired Mon-Fri 8-5. You deserve to know what the deal is. I am sure if you knew you were going to be required to work extra 10 hour shifts, you probably would have negotiated for a higher salary.
Post # 16
Member
2601 posts
Sugar bee
in general, “salary” means that you are willing to work for a specified amount of pay in a year. The trade-off is that your pay is constant and guaranteed (unless you are fired or quit or something)–you’ll get $65K a year or whatever it is, period. And your monthly/biweekly or whatever payment is always going to be a specific amount. An hourly employee is NOT guaranteed to make a certain amount because the hours s/he works changes and the amount they take in per week will also vary. So it’s more secure that way.
Of course, it also means that you don’t have the same contract regarding working hours. In general, with a salary, they are paying you to get a particular job done–so if it takes you 60 hours a week to do the job to satisfaction, then so be it–sorry. The kind of crap thing is that you don’t get to “even it out” meaning, you might spend a heavy month working weekends and evenings and then when the work lightens up, you don’t get to go to your boss and say, “Well since I spent all that extra time here last month, I should be able to leave 2 hours early every day this month.” Generally, you’ll be expected to stay a standard number of hours–the standard is usually 8, regardless.
If you feel that your pay is not compensating you for the amount of work you are doing, you can ask for a raise, or you can leave your job (you can ask for fewer responsibilities, although I wouldn’t recommend that!). Welcome to the work world 🙂
EDIT: sorry, Delirium is also right. Yes, your employer’s time expectations should be laid out and reasonable, like M-F 8-5. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t ask you to work late or on weekends, especially during heavy times. If it turns out that it’s really M-Sa, 8-5 all the time then you have grounds for asking for a raise. But if it’s only temporary, it’s all part of being a salaried employee.
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