The engineering firm my DH worked for hired new folks based on an hourly rate. No one ever complained. As long as hourly, they could get paid more for overtime. Once salaried, that went away.
I will say, once salaried, they were compensated very well.
Benefits were the same regardless as long as you worked a full time equivalent.
Although exempt employees are typically salaried and most non-exempt are hourly, this is not a strict rule and there are exceptions. The main difference between exempt vs non-exempt is that the latter need to be paid overtime above 40 hours a week while the former do not.
It’s the opposite. Non-exempt means that the FLSA applies ;(you aren’t exempt from its provisions) so you get overtime if you work more than 40 hours a week.
S was hourly for quite a few years, until his most recent job. It’s common in science jobs. In fact, he turned down a lab manager job at one of his employers because he knew that paid OT would go away … and he would effectively earn less money for more hours due to the OT expectation in that industry. That employer was a bit on the shady side (small company in a “new” field) - but he never got less than 40 hours, just (often) more. Many entry level science jobs come with quite a bit of OT, which is a nice bonus.
You’re right! We have several people in my office who are non-exempt. They are all salaried. They get 1.5x comp time for overtime.
It’s funny that I thought of being hourly and getting 1.5x overtime being a benefit. I didn’t think about them cutting hours. In the private world of Engineering, I suppose it’s possible, but it seems that usually they work lots of overtime, not the reverse.
Curious though if other non-exempt people have to punch clocks. We instituted that system about 5 years ago, but only non-exempt people have to punch. However, the growing trend over the last 10years is that people just seem to show up and work whenever. Us old timers just cluck and shake our heads. But, it definitely causes resentment amongst the non-exempt people who have to clock in/out every day while many exempt people just show up 1-1.5 hours late every day. My old boss would be in my office every morning at 8:01 giving me the run-down for the day, so it’s just in not in my nature to do such a thing!
Even when I was a Grade 15 for the government I was non-exempt. I had a salary but had to account for the hours I worked (or didn’t work) with sick time or vacation time. If we worked overtime, we were paid overtime, but it was capped (so not 1.5x, although some people got that - it really depended on what your hourly rate was). Or you could take comp time (which is what most of us did). You didn’t get paid for 24 hours if you traveled and stayed overnight, but you did get all the hours if you came back on the same day, but then you didn’t get the full per diem. Oh, so complicated.
If we got extra time off, like if the president gave us Christmas Eve off, we got those hours ‘for free’ (admin time). We were salaried but non-exempt.
Many companies have run afoul of labor laws by requiring salaried non-exempt workers to work more than 40 hours without OT pay. Paying hourly – and even clocking in – is often a helpful worker protection and the preferred tool of companies who want to get it right.
I have worked at places where folks who jobs are often controlled by forces beyond their control – such as lab techs – have been hourly and gotten quite a bit of OT. Some to the point of offering to come in on weekends.
There are rules on charging travel as well. As someone who is exempt and who spends a fair bit of time traveling, I would welcome compensation for that time. But I do not get that.
I wouldn’t fret about the hourly pay arrangement unless you see it is being abused. It could be a boon.
