As Business Owners What Do You Folks Here Think About Paying Overtime?

Jerrald Hayes

As business owners what do you folks here think about paying Overtime?

Legally you have to pay your employees time and half as a wage for that OT.

So is it too expensive or do you let your employees work Overtime?



(my disclaimer: this is a "loaded" question I'm asking already having thoughts on this I've worked out in advance)

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Jerrald Hayes About ParadigmProjects.com

AAPaint

I think it's only fair. You are asking someone to be away from their family and their own life quite a bit for a 40 hour week. To cut into their evenings and weekends with more work, I think the worker deserves something extra for that time. He, and his family should benefit at least some for the extra time he spends away.

Hopefully, we can all build companies where our employees make enough money during their regular hours, and we are efficient enough that overtime is not needed for us or them.

Or we could all be Scrooges and say they should be honored to get a bigger piece of our pie?

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

mdshunk

It's legally required if you require or allow work beyond 40 hours. What's to think about? It's pretty cut and dry.

john elliott

I feel ok about paying overtime. It means that the employee has a chance to make some extra money, and it means that I can get extra work, when I need it, and not when I don't need it. It's a chance to respond to varying business situations.

The idea that everybody should be able to earn a decent wage in normal working hours is a nice one, but human nature means that people are often looking for an opportunity to earn more.

It also probably cheaper for the owner to have four guys working 50 hours a week than it is to have 5 guys working 40 hours

John

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Ed the Roofer said "John too, in his crass and blunt demeanor.............."

Jerrald Hayes

So you guys aren't bothered at all by the fact that you in essence giving your employees a 50% raise for that time they are working Overtime?

Where is the money for that temporary boost in their wages coming from?

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Jerrald Hayes About ParadigmProjects.com

mdshunk

Are you asking if we find compliance with the law bothersome? Are you promoting some sort of "everyone's a subcontractor" scheme? Comp time?

Well, you don't have to require or permit overtime. If its not in the budget, don't permit it. Simple as that. If you're under a deadline, and it's coming down to the wire, it must come out of your profits. On larger work, you sometimes budget for overtime.


Where are you headed with this, anyhow? Why don't you just lay it out? I don't like being screwed with.

Jerrald Hayes

Yes, you do have to pay for the time and a half if the employee works over 40hrs but a contractor just say there is a rule that no one is allowed to work over 40hrs. I've seen plently of companies that operate that way.

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Jerrald Hayes About ParadigmProjects.com

mdshunk

Yeah, that's a pretty normal rule in some shops. Is that revolutionary to you?

Jerrald Hayes

You just answered one of my questions I just asked you. Thanks.

I'll be getting to that. I just want to see what a fair sampling of people think about this before I throw my 2¢ out there.

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Jerrald Hayes About ParadigmProjects.com

mdshunk

If you know that you have only a certain number of employees, and a certain number of man hours worth of work to get done by a certain date, you can just make up your labor budget to include the necessary overtime right in your bid price. No big deal. Just like material costs go up, sometimes labor costs go up due to the overtime that will be required on that project. It all gets rolled into the bid and passed along.

mdshunk

You do know that professional people generally get paid for answering surveys, don't you?

Ed the Roofer

Jerrold,

Still, what is your point. If an employer chooses not to have required overtime, that is a business decission based soley on margin. If, by not putting in the overtime, the job were to be significantly delayed by weather, he accepts that slow down in receiving the final payment. Those are both business decisions.

I personally believe that employees should be able to earn enough in the 1st 40 hours and have time and enough funds earned to be able to enjoy the time off enjoying their family time or other pleasures,

Either make the point you want to extrapolate and disect, or go on with something else that truly matters.

Ed

Jerrald Hayes

That's the part about overtime that I really like in that it does give that employee a chance to earn some exra money.

However in my own business I sort of discourage it in that I think employees should spend their weekends in other pursuits. They should coach their little girls soccer team , go to theatre and film, take up gardening etc. In other words get a life outside of their job.

But what I'm really getting as it what is the Real True Cost of Overtime and if you do let your employees work OT how do you pay for it if you figured and contracted the job using your regular time billing rate?

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Mud Master

When I was starting business and I only had 2 guys I paid them both a salary, equaling 6 days pay. When I slowed up, they got an extra day's pay. Which I thought was pretty fair. However now that I am bigger I can't afford to do that, even though we still work alot of saturday's. Before it evened out because the overtime pay they would have made on saturday's, as opposed to the regular pay they were getting.. they got back plus more when I slowed down. Now that I am bigger it's only fair that they get time and a half, because I stay swamped all through the year.

**My two Cents**

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mdshunk

I feel like we're talking in Paul Burnsesque circles.

Mud Master

How do you do it?

You suck it up. If you estimate it takes 40 hours and it takes 50..you have to eat that extra 10 hours. What else are you gonna do? tell the builder "sorry, i'm over budget I can't finish this project". Nope. You have to do what you have to do..thats business

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Jerrald Hayes

Yes that is true and that is where I going with this. How does your Margin affect your decision making on this?


I like to think that way too and I sort of just said that in my last post too.



Thanks Ed the Roofer but I'll make my point in my own good time. I came here to find out what a random sampling of contractors think about paying Overtime and where they think the money for that increase in wage cost comes from. I haven't heard anyone explain their thinking on that just yet.

If your too busy and impatient to wait it out maybe a few hours then that's okay.

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Jerrald Hayes About ParadigmProjects.com

Jerrald Hayes

Paul Burnsesque circles?

Ya lost me.

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mdshunk

Wow... I can just barely believe what I'm reading. You're a genunie azz, aren't you?

You said: "think about paying Overtime and where they think the money for that increase in wage cost comes from. I haven't heard anyone explain their thinking on that just yet.", but I did relate that it sometime is figured in ahead of time in the bid price. It comes from the customer, if you won the work.

Are you specifically asking about unplanned and unbudgeted overtime?

Jerrald Hayes

That's actually not the question at all. It's not about something taking more time than you estimated it would take. It's about paying Overtime within the 40 hours you planned it would take.

Can you see the difference between what your saying and what I'm asking?

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Jerrald Hayes About ParadigmProjects.com