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18 Replies Last post: Mar 13, 2009 2:30 PM by midilizard

Salary v. Hourly wage

Jan 21, 2008 8:03 PM

Click to view Friar84's profile Start-up Friar84 1 posts since
Jan 21, 2008
Do you think in a downturn, it makes sense to move salaried employees to hourly to

1. get more out of them

2. sometimes I have employees who have been with me for over 10 years and take advantage --going hourly would save me money-agree or disagree

3. advantages and disadvatages?
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Click to view CEO Space's profile Mogul CEO Space 271 posts since
Jan 13, 2008
1. Re: Salary v. Hourly wage Jan 21, 2008 8:30 PM
in response to: Friar84

I would never change a salaried employee to an hourly one.

Instead, I would go over what I expect out of them and help them to improve their performance.

As a matter of fact, I only pay hourly employees when I have to by law.
Click to view LUCKIEST's profile SCORE LUCKIEST 7,939 posts since
Aug 6, 2007
2. Re: Salary v. Hourly wage Jan 21, 2008 8:31 PM
in response to: Friar84
Friar 84, welcome to this website. Tell us more. What kind of business?? Where are you located??
How many employees do you have. Are your employees part of a union??
You have been in business over 10 years and you ask does makes sense to move salaried employees to hourly??
Lets turn the question around. Do you think in a downturn, it makes sense to pick up a revolver,
put a bullet in the chamber and play Russian Roulette??
How did you survive ten years?? Do you call any of these employees FRIENDS??
Then there is the subject of RESPECT??
LUCKIEST
Click to view Lighthouse24's profile Mogul Lighthouse24 2,396 posts since
Oct 10, 2007
3. Re: Salary v. Hourly wage Jan 23, 2008 1:04 AM
in response to: Friar84

Welcome to the community. Assuming you are in the U.S., the major risk in doing what you've suggested is that federal law, not you, decides whether a job is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act or not. If you arbitrarily decide that your employees are hourly, and any one of them doesn't like that decision, a simple call to the Department of Labor hotline on their part will prompt a reclassification investigation. In this case, the DoL would likely rule that if they are hourly now, they were hourly all along -- and the givernment will order you to immediately pay them time-and-a-half going back at least two years and possibly three years for all the overtime that each employee claims he or she worked during that period. That could really cost you. The fact that you're considering this suggests that your employees might not be properly classified now from a federal perspective, so you might want to visit with an attorney who specializes in employment law before you do anything else. Best wishes.