Why do so many jobs in the USA pay hourly instead of a salary?

16d

As someone who used to be salary I will NEVER allow myself to be put in that position again. I ended up working 80+ hours a week with no days off and getting paid "the same" as if I had worked 40 hrs, 5 days a week. I did the math and I was making WELL BELOW federal minimum wage. That's when I quit.

777joeb

15d

Same. I was working a salaried job that I was told would allow me to work as needed and take any time I needed. One day I stopped and did the math on how much I was actually making an hour over the last 6 months. It was $8 and change. I could have made more at McDonalds and I was managing a team of 50 people at a governmental facility that was open 24 hours. I quit a week later and will never do salary again.

OhWhiskey

15d

There are new salary rules in place now thanks to Biden and the min amount for salary has changed.

$844 per week as of July 1, 2024, and then $1,128 per week as of Jan. 1, 2025.

15d

Damn... that would of been nice... this was about 20 years ago. I didn't even make $1000 a paycheck.

SocDem

🇺🇸

15d

That was a change to the bar for exempt, not for salary.

OhWhiskey

15d

A difference without substance as exempt employees are generally not subject to the FLSA regulations governing minimum wage and overtime pay. Rather, exempt employees are paid on a salary or fee basis, meaning they typically must receive their predetermined salary each workweek regardless of the quality or quantity of work performed.

SocDem

🇺🇸

15d

Salaried non-exempt workers are uncommon, but they do exist.

15d

Normally is the oposite, you get paid any extra hour, but get paid your normal salary even if you do less hours... idk how it works in the us but in my country is like that

15d

The question was about the US and this was my experience. The system will exploit you wherever it can. It's designed that way. We have very little worker protections. Just look at tipping culture or commission based jobs.

SocDem

🇺🇸

15d

That is not normal in the US; most employers won’t put you on salary unless you are exempt.

15d

It's EXTREMELY common in the US. Most employers want to exploit you for as much labor for as little pay as possible. There's a reason the minimum wage has not been raised since 2009 and wages have not kept up with productivity since 1973.

SocDem

🇺🇸

15d

I think you’re misunderstanding something there. In the US, putting someone on salary does not automatically make them exempt. If they’re not exempt, the employer still has to pay OT.

User deleted comment

15d

User deleted comment

15d

15d

I apologize. You are correct in that I completely misread the situation. I did not realize that you were replying to noctisroadk in defence of my original comment. Thank you for helping me see the light.

_Terryist

15d

We have two classes of Salary; Exempt (no OT) and non-exempt (yes OT)

-10

16d

Why would you agree to that?

16d

Because I DIDN'T "agree" to it. I was young and offered more many than I had ever made before. I was told that I would ONLY be working 40 hrs 5 days a week "like everyone else." 40 hrs turned into 45hrs, turned into 55 hrs, turned into 80 hrs. Once I realized I was being exploited I quit. It was a harsh lesson to learn but I'm glad that I had that experience because it completely changed my perspective on work and my own worth and I've never been taken advantage of since.

sdavis002

16d

Don't forget, there are multiple types of salary. I am salary non-exempt, so I get paid my 40 hours regardless of if I am needed for work, but I also get overtime. Also, anything outside of my scheduled hours is considered overtime as well.

scholesmafia

15d

Do contracts in the US not contain your hours worked per week? Admittedly, in the UK I've seen contracts that state the hours and then say you will not be paid for any additional hours, but that's rare.

15d

You don't generally sign "contracts" for work in the US unless you belong to a specific vocation and even those can be exploited because you're often considered a "sub-contractor" so you are responsible for your own transportation, supplies, etc. Most salary jobs in the US are "we'll pay you X amount annually" regardless of hours worked.

RopeAccomplished2728

16d

Because, when it comes to high paying positions, outside of some specialized positions or the trades, most of them are salaried and most of those are either managerial or some form of supervisory position. And the laws in the US when it comes to salaried is they are usually exempt from overtime.

16d

Literally everything in the US is designed to fuck over workers.

LeatherExit1276

16d

I got way more fucked over as a salaried worker tbh

16d

Oh you get fucked both ways. Not salary? Well you make dick per hour and we are gonna harass you about every fucking second you’re on the clock. Salary? Guess who just volunteered to work sixty fucking hours this week? Literally everything.

indecisive_monkey

16d

Truly. The “benefit” for hourly workers is supposed to be overtime. However, every corporate company I have ever worked for avoids overtime at all costs.

16d

Every one I’ve worked for insists on it so they don’t have to staff properly.

indecisive_monkey

15d

I wish! OT affects the bottom line, so no go where I’ve worked 😑

15d

Trust me, you don’t want to work somewhere that you get in trouble for not working overtime every single week.

indecisive_monkey

15d

Yeah, that’s true!

15d

Thing is salaried is DIFFERENT on other places, you agree to a a number of hours per day in a contract, then any hour you do extra its consider OT and gets paid extra, but you dont get less salary if you do less hours, is not a way to fuck workers is actually to secure their stability ... US way of doing it sounds oposite of that.

is not salaried the issue is how your have it set it up

Genetic_Prisoner

15d

This. If your contract says 9 to 5 then you work 9 to 5. Anything beyond that is OT. How are people in the US getting screwed into working 60 hour weeks? I find it hard to believe that their contracts dont mention work hours.

2018redditaccount

15d

A bad company will try to screw you over either way. With salary they put too much on your plate and it doesn’t matter how many extra hours you work to complete it. With hourly you get paid for all the hours you work, but they often try to keep you below full-time so you don’t qualify for benefits. There’re also companies who will try to classify you as a 1099 contractor which combines the worst of both scenarios.

Crabtrad

16d

Its actually worker protection.

Because salary exempts you from OT in many cases there are thresholds and requirements to ensure that isn't being abused

azscorpion

16d

Exactly this. Employees in non-management/non-professional positions were previously classified as salary and were forced to work 40+ hours per week without additional compensation. Protections were put in place to ensure jobs were classified correctly so that employees were not abused. When the Federal government changed the threshold for full time employment, employers started using more part time positions and flex hours.

15d

Just add OT in salary ? like in my country OT still gets paid double your normal rate, but any hour you do less from the normal hours doenst get dosicunted you always get your salary, but you can get extra for OT

12thshadow

16d

Interesting.... So if you are salary and you have agreed to work 40 hours a week for that salary, why would there be overtime? You both agreed to work 40 hours a week... Anything else must be negotiated imho...

Huevosencara99

16d

When you're salaried there is no agreement to work 40 hours per week

15d

In most countrys... there is , salary means you get your salary for your normal shift that is stipulated in the contract, any OT is paid , but you dont get discounted for doing less hours, salary sounds pretty different in the US than other places

Huevosencara99

15d

Yes, the question is about the US. It's an amount you're agreed to be paid annually regardless of hours worked, and generally employers will expect >50hrs/wk.

The salary amount is supposed to make up for the lack of overtime, but it rarely does. The bottom salary positions often end up with you making an equivalent of less than minimum wage.

Many people consider it a sucker's bet, and unless they love their workplace would rather look for a higher paying hourly position than take a salaried (usually management) position.

In addition, if it is a union workplace salaried positions are often not covered by union protections.

15d

I see damn, yeah salary position in the US sound pretty bad in that case , rough to go for that type of arrengement

RopeAccomplished2728

16d

No. Unless you have a signed contract that actually stipulates that any time worked over X hours is paid at a premium wage, you are paid the same each amount day regardless if you work 5 minutes or 15 hours.

-4

16d

This is what I’d have assumed. If I was salaried and boss asked me to come in more than mon-fri 9-5 there’d surely be a negotiation of extra compensation? Otherwise who would agree to that?

SnowJokes1721

16d

Salary jobs specifically do not get paid for hours worked over 40. People here typically take such jobs because often they’re still paid better than hourly jobs and are the kind where you usually get better benefits. Not always but often.

Huevosencara99

16d

In that case the only negotiating would be your way to the door.

[deleted]

16d

I'd much prefer being hourly over salary. At least in my position/field. Salary = no OT. Hourly = OT AND set hours. Salary is technically supposed to have set hours, but from what I've seen, it often does not and you end up doing a lot more work that you aren't being compensated towards.

Sad-Project-2498

16d

Lol every salary worker I met at my level was getting severely fucked compared to hourly.

777joeb

15d

Honestly salaried jobs are generally terrible in the US. I won’t accept any job offer that goes with salary. Every salary job I’ve had wants 50-60 hours a week. Even if you get your work done early, god forbid you leave early once in a month. Your boss will just expect you to leave late to “make up hours.”

While hourly sucks for a lot of service jobs like McDonalds it’s the only thing that keeps managers from working you to death in my experience. Hourly lets me stack my hours onto easier days just so I have to leave early or not come in on Friday.

GTS_84

16d

Sometimes it's about hours as you've said.

Sometimes it's about pay rate, under the Fair Labor Standards Act there is a separate much higher minimum wage for salaried employees, It varies by state, but for example in California minimum hourly wage is $16/hour while minimum salary is $66,560/year, which works out to twice as much. So if a position is paying $30/hour it can't legally be paid that amount as a salary.

There are other protections for what types of jobs are allowed to be salary or not. Only certain types of jobs are allowed to be paid a salary.

opened_padlock

15d

I have never met a single salaried worker who works less than 50 hours a week in my entire life.

Salary is supposed to allow people to work more than 40 hours in some weeks and less than 40 hours in others. In reality, people on salary will be working egregious hours. There is a reason many teachers are pushing for hourly wages.

15d

This is all shocking and not at all my experience. Every salaried job I've worked has been mon-fri 9-5 and nobody would expect you to work anything outside those hours without some kind of extra compensation or time off. Maybe I've just been lucky or maybe it's just an American thing?? But either way, I'd still rather have a guaranteed monthly salary and then be able to say "no, sorry" if they ask me to work extra.

opened_padlock

14d

If you say "no, sorry" here you will be fired.

Gerudo-Nabooru

16d

I dunno. I know hourly is easy to exploit.they can be pushed to always produce more and more value and be more and more efficient and never be compensated any better for it. Sweet deal for them

Then again salaried people are exploited too

climabro

16d

Other countries have laws for working hours

16d

That doesn’t make sense though - by the vary meaning of ‘hourly’, if you’re working more hours you’re getting paid more. Surely it’s more likely to be the salaried workers getting asked to work more hours without any extra compensation, no?

Gerudo-Nabooru

16d

But if they dog on you to keep cramming more and more into the hours you are working, then they can get more and more value for the same price

Employee A gets 8 hours of work done in 8 hours

Employee B is more efficient and gets 8 hours done in 6.

Employee B is then givin another 2 hours worth of tasks for the same pay OR employee A starts being demanded to match employee B and everyone now has to reach that level of productivity for the same amount of money

And repeat into forever

AdComfortable6056

16d

If salaried and you have benchmarks to be completed you will still be paid for everything even if you finish it faster than expected.

With hourly, you might have benchmarks expected to be completed but if you are an efficient worker you will almost be penalized with more work or lower pay if you complete it before expected.

TheJokersChild

16d

It's the better deal, really. With salary, the more likely scenario is that they take advantage of you and get as many hours from you as they want for one low price. Hourly, they have to pay you time and a half for anything over 40. If you're an hourly cop or a railroad worker, that OT can be HUGE.

16d

I heard in the U.S. an employer could say an employee from week to week how many hours they have to work.

But I don’t know it that’s true.

need2fix2017

15d

It’s called a work schedule, and it changes based on business needs, usually low profit margin businesses.

15d

So these are kind of special contracts?

Because I ask myself how a family should in such cases then plan their finances. For instance mortgage installments.

need2fix2017

15d

Lol what makes you think any place that schedules “based on business needs” gives a fuck about your mortgage??? If you have a mortgage, you’re probably not working in a position that is staffed “as business allows”. It is just as shitty as you’re imagining it.

15d

I really don’t understand what you wanted to express. If you don’t want to communicate with a European then just don’t answer instead of reacting impolitely.

need2fix2017

15d

What I’m telling you specifically is that there are no protections at all. There is no planning. They don’t care at all about your balance. There is no contract. They expect you to give your life away at a glimmer of a chance of survival.