Difference between salary & hourly pay

snaps · 09-12-2005 1:45pm #1

Is there any obvious differences between a salary and being hourly paid? Say if one was on a salary what advantage or disadvantage would he/she have over the hourly paid person. Or the other way around? Are there laws/regulations about this.

JackieChan · 09-12-2005 1:47pm

I think simply that sare set monthly amounts and nearly always monthly paid.
Wages are usually based on hours worked are more likely to be paid weekly/biweekly.
I can't see any obvious reason a waged person would have different legislative cover over a salaried employee.

JC

finlma · 09-12-2005 1:55pm

On a salary you will get proper holidays and holiday pay.

Its much better to be on a salary unless you are contracting on a really good hourly rate or working part-time.

snaps · 09-12-2005 2:16pm

But does a salary mean you get a set amount a month, even say you have done a half a day one day during that month or will you get deducted that half an hour, no matter on how many hours you have worked? Eg contract says you are contracted to a 39 hour week, But your job requires you to work 50 hours one week, but you work 35 hours the next week. Is it right for a company to deduct you 4 hours pay for the week you worked only 35 hours? No I understand with hourly paid staff, what they work is what they get paid.

finlma · 09-12-2005 3:54pm

snaps wrote:

But does a salary mean you get a set amount a month, even say you have done a half a day one day during that month or will you get deducted that half an hour, no matter on how many hours you have worked? Eg contract says you are contracted to a 39 hour week, But your job requires you to work 50 hours one week, but you work 35 hours the next week. Is it right for a company to deduct you 4 hours pay for the week you worked only 35 hours? No I understand with hourly paid staff, what they work is what they get paid.

You get the same every month unless you have overtime agreed in your contract.

Stark · 09-12-2005 4:04pm

Usually salaried employees get "time in lieu" instead of extra pay when they work overtime. Also salaried employees only tend to get this time in lieu when they work extra days rather than extra hours so that can be a big disadvantage. You hear some horror stories of people working rediculous hours with no extra pay.

From a legal point of view, a waged employee should get all the same rights as a salaried employee, including holidays.

snaps wrote:

But does a salary mean you get a set amount a month, even say you have done a half a day one day during that month or will you get deducted that half an hour, no matter on how many hours you have worked? Eg contract says you are contracted to a 39 hour week, But your job requires you to work 50 hours one week, but you work 35 hours the next week. Is it right for a company to deduct you 4 hours pay for the week you worked only 35 hours? No I understand with hourly paid staff, what they work is what they get paid.

This varies from company to company. Most companies will pay you as if you worked two 39 hour weeks, simply because they couldn't be bothered keeping such a close eye on your hours. Assuming you don't have to clock in and clock out. If there's a clock-in/clock-out system, then you should check what the flexitime terms in your contract are. Generally you won't get paid for the net extra 7 hours you worked.

homah_7ft · 09-12-2005 4:21pm

I am salaried and get payed overtime as well. I suppose it depends on the job. Correct me if I am wrong but the major difference would be in the length of notice required when leaving. A month in my case.

testicle · 09-12-2005 4:49pm

If you look at it this way, Engineers are salaried, Technicians are paid by the hour.

Note: By the word Engineer I mean real Engineer, not any type of Fuel Injection Engineer or the like!

snaps · 10-12-2005 12:24pm

thanks guys. Is there any legal website I can have a look at. I went home sick one day early and they docked me the hours, even though some days I am at work for 10-11 hours getting nothing for that. Thats why I am a bit upset as I thought it was harsh.

Stark · 10-12-2005 12:37pm

http://oasis.gov.ie is always a good site for stuff like this.

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be entitled to your sick pay.

TempestSabre · 10-12-2005 12:51pm

snaps wrote:

thanks guys. Is there any legal website I can have a look at. I went home sick one day early and they docked me the hours, even though some days I am at work for 10-11 hours getting nothing for that. Thats why I am a bit upset as I thought it was harsh.

Whats in your contract? Bit naive not to know.

Its quite common these days for companies not to pay you sick leave. However in most places its up to your manager discretion. So maybe your manager is a git. If its company policy then its not that great a job. While I understand that everyone at some point needs to work for free for some reason or another, lots of companies exploit this by promoting a culture where people are always working extra hours for free. The harst reality of this is that is what this is actually saying is that they don't value you or your skills.

At some point you have to make a decision if the effort worth the reward. Because thats the only reason you work. Try asking a contractor to work hours for free? Or a plumber, or a mechanic.

If I was you, I take this as wake up call that you need job with better conditions, and need to upskill yourself so you are not in this position in the future. Oh and it a good idea to be on good terms with your boss/manager so they don't dock you. And READ your contract!!!!

Hope you're feeling better...:)

snaps · 11-12-2005 7:13am

See I thought I salary was a set amount a week or month (Taking away holidays). It just seems I have been treated as If I was on hourly pay. I don't get overtime either but I never expected to.

Cake Fiend · 14-12-2005 2:32am

snaps wrote:

I don't get overtime either but I never expected to.

In a more informal work environment, this kind of thing would boil down to a bit of give and take - you might work the odd few extra hours for nothing, and it wouldn't be a big deal if you took some hours off sick one day.

But if your employer is stingy enough to dock your pay for a one-off sickie, then I don't see why you would work overtime for nothing. If overtime is a regular occurrance in your job, there really should be something about it in your contract regarding extra pay or time in lieu. If not, then you're giving them this overtime for nothing, and more fool you!

Imposter · 14-12-2005 8:18am

snaps wrote:

thanks guys. Is there any legal website I can have a look at. I went home sick one day early and they docked me the hours, even though some days I am at work for 10-11 hours getting nothing for that. Thats why I am a bit upset as I thought it was harsh.

Talk to your boss about this and see what he has to say. If you get no joy, then do a normal 9-5 with no OT while looking for another job.

testicle · 14-12-2005 2:36pm

Stark wrote:

http://oasis.gov.ie is always a good site for stuff like this.

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be entitled to your sick pay.

Sick Pay is discretionary in the first place, and most organisations don't pay it if you're temp.

funk-you · 17-12-2005 4:25am

i get a salary and i get a minimum amount every month whether i work 39 hours every week or 0. if i do any overtime it equates to the first 4 hours at time + 1/2 and anything after that at double.

its also handy too that if i didnt come in all week but i do come in for overtime at the weekend i'll get paid overtime rate no matter how few hours ive done in that week.

Also for yearly bonuses and things like that you can negotiate for a percentage of your gross salary in the last 12 months or negotiate for better benefits etc...

downside = only 12 paydays a year instead of 52.

Difference between salary & hourly pay

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