MCMLV

OK, I need some help here. I know what OT in general is, I have gotten a few dollars that way myself too, yet now I have new found dillema.

Lets say that I am a baker (I am not) and make rolls. Lets say I make $10.00/ hour. Now for some reason I am asked to work more that 40 hrs a week or more than 8 hrs a day (whichever) doing the same work, producing the same rolls. Does the bakery get to charge more for those rolls?

Also, there seems to be some controversy over OT in the current political arena, could someone please tell me why? I missed that on the news.

Thanks,

Peter

Shovelhead

No but the extra 1/2 hour per hour worked wages they pay you doesn't cost them the big hit that hiring another employee (with wages, health care, vacation time, sick leave, etc) to work the additional hours would.

Hannibal

Yes the baker can charge what ever he wants to charge. If people are willing to pay it, all is well. If not, then I guess he can't. The baker wants to charge more for the overtime. If the bakery owner wants to pay it, all is well. If not, the baker gets no overtime. Seems pretty simple to me...

upersleder

WHAT EMPLOYEES DO NOT SEE IS THE BEHIND THE SCENES COSTS FOR THE EMPLOYER. EVERY DOLLAR YOU MAKE, YOUR EMPLOYER HAS TO GIVE SO MUCH TO CERTAIN FUNDS, SS, FEDS, ECT. WHEN YOU HAVE OT THESE COSTS GO UP. SO FROM AM EMPLOYERS STANDPOINT, HE SHOULD RATHER HAVE TWO PEOPLE GETTING THOSE HOURS THAN PAY ONE OT, HIS COSTS GO UP ON A SLIDING SCALE JUST LIKE YOUR TAXES. OT IS GOOD IN A WAY FOR THE EMPLOYEE, AS THEY GET MORE FOR THE SAME WORK. I BELIEVE THE RECENT FUSS WAS ABOUT A BILL BUSH SIGNED SAYING SALARIED EMPLOYEES WOULD NO LONGER RECIEVE OT, THIS IS CLOSING A LOOPHOLE FOR THE BIG SHOTS OF COMPANYS, THEY WOULD HAVE SALARIED EMPLOYEES, BUT NO-ONE WOULD RECIEVE OT PAY, YOU WERE ON SALARIE, BUT WHEN SOME BIG WIG FIGURED HE WAS PUTTING IN LOTS OF HOURS (WHICH HE SHOULD) HE DECIDES TO PAY HIMSELF OT ON HIS SALARY. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE GETTING OT THAT IS ON SALARY, WHICH IS WHY I AM THE ONLY MANAGER AT MY PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT WHICH IS HOURLY, I MADE THAT DEAL BEFORE I STARTED.

I HOPE EVERYONE IS CONFUSED NOW SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS, I DIDNT KNOW IT WAS ON TIL HALFWAY THRU THIS DEAL.

zulusafari

From my own experience, Shovelhead is correct, upersleder. True, wages go up, SS contributions are more, and withholding is up on the scale, BUT these things are much lower in cost than the straight 40 hour employee hired to cover two current employees working 40 hours of OT. The new employee might be paid a wage, pension, health/dental/vision/life insurance, etc., depending on the company. This is much more expensive to the employer than the withholding or SS payments paid each check. My employer pays about $500 just for my health insurance. I pay $30/month. If the employer pays me OT, he still only has to pay the $500 for my insurance. If he hires someone else to cover work I do on OT, then he has to pay $1000/month for health insurance. This is just one benefit cost. The others add into it more. Therefore, eliminating OT for some employees makes it more lucrative for the Employer to hire more employees, since the current employees will probably not work OT without time-&-a-half pay, plus I believe Compensatory time off is acceptable inlew of pay. Therefore, the employee would be missing more work, making up for extra hours put in. Makes sense then to hire more employees to fill the gaps. Regardless, the classes of employees exempted from OT all make much more money than I do, 6 figures, and probably are ready for salaried positions anyway.

upersleder

YOU HAVE BENEFITS!!!!! i knew i was missin out! well when the company has that to consider i guess you are correct. i was not considering that. i am in the low wage zone up here

MCMLV

I still do not see why the work after (whatever) is worth more. Maybe I need to take of my shades, but...

Hey I got a better one. You call a plumber (at least in this area) after five and it is overtime rate. Now you do not have control over how amny hours the plumber worked already. ( I am using the small self emplyed guys as the example here, not the guy who works for "Mega Plumbing Inc" helping his kid with homework at five)

Shovelhead

The Overtime is the 'premium' rate that you'd pay if you didn't want the plumber to come during regular working hours.
(They have families too)

If there was no 'overtime rate' in effect, employers could (did) keep you on the job as many hours as they wanted and there would be nothing you could do except work, or quit.

It's the 'premium' they're willing to pay to have you (the experienced worker, instead of a 2nd new guy) on the job site to perform the extra needed work.

MCMLV

So what you are saying is that it is my fault that I am giving the plumber an oportunity to work after I come home from my work.

That translates in me not being ever being able to hire a plumber at regular rates, because if I want to do it during "regular" hours I have to take off from work. Net cost to me "same"

I agree on the surface but I think it could be solved diferently.

Redleg

To keep your staffing as is, it doesn't cost him as much during down time. When business is booming, the downtime is now off-set, and he can afford to pay you O.T. Hiring a temp during the good time of the year takes training each time and your risking poor work quality. Not an expert just a couple more things I thought of.

zulusafari

Some of the "Mega Plumber" outfits have extra shifts at the regular rate plus a small shift differential (few cents/hour incentive pay) to cover situations like what you describe. What you are feeling is the pinch we are in with the two-wage earner system, or for those of us who live alone. It used to be that someone was or could easily arrange to be home. Several services now offer regular rates for "after hours" service, courting people in your situation. Our local cable company does this. Some of the Unions have been trying to adapt the schedules to, but it depends on the voting members to make the change. If the contracts say regular shift will be 7 to 3, then after 3 is OT. Some say anything after 40 hours is OT, so workers can go gangbusters for a few days, pound out the 40 hours, and have extra time off. We used to work 10 hour days to get a 3 day weekend during the summer at a factory I worked while I was in college. The policy allowed us to work over 8 hours as straight time, taking compensatory time off instead. It all depends on the employer and the relationship with the employees. We worked hard there, put out quality products, and were rewarded for it. Another factory I worked at saw that we could work 10 hour days to get the orders done, so they added more work for us to do. We wound up with 10 hour shifts every day, including Saturdays and Sundays! instead of hiring more people to help us get the products shipped, they worked us to exhaustion and malcontent. The products' quality there slipped, orders were lost, and then we were chastised and punished. Morale went down, people quit, temps were hired, then the VP was fired. New managment came in, more employees hired, morale improved, and we got back to a normal life. Took a long time and lots of people, but equilibrium was reached. I left before the new VP could decide to make a name for himself and start the whole cycle over again.

Shovelhead

No it's your expecting him to work at your convenience (after you get off work) and he's already worked 8 hours that costs more.

The same way a gallon of milk might cost $2.00 at the grocery store, but cost $2.50 at the local Quicky Mart.

There a price for convenience.

firestorm

Look at it this way. You are the baker and you close at 5:00. I call you at 4:30 and tell you I really need a 2 tier cake, and will be picking it up at 7:00 tonight. You have 2 options, you could either tell me to go to ----, or you could tell me “Yes sir I will have it ready for you. If you pick it up tomorrow between 8:00 and 5:00 it will be $20, however, if you need it tonight it will be $40 ($20 for my cake, and $20 for the time you spent waiting for me instead of being home with your family).
I own and run a mobile, on-site heavy equipment repair business. If you call me to the job site there is a $50 service call fee, plus $50 per hour while there. If you call me between 8:00pm-6:00am, the service call fee is $75 + $75. I do this for 2 reasons; 1 is because I have a life and family. The second being, It will make you think twice about calling me out at 2:00 in the morning for a minor problem that could wait till 7:00 in the morning and beyond. Some of the supervisors of companies that work thru the night know, that I will (at MY discretion) fudge the hours to save them some money for a serious problem that could NOT wait at all.

upersleder

THAT fire is called common sense customer service! i wholeheartedly agree with the pay for convenience theory also, ever notice the price of gas at the station in the middle of nowhere? or the pop in the machine poolside? cost of the $50 room on the weekend of a nascar race?