October 28, 2009

Hourly or Salary?

Nice to see you again. Follow me, @SydneyOwen. Thanks for being here!

In light of an interesting conversation with Tim Jahn last night, I was inspired to write about being paid hourly vs. salary.

Tim’s question was simple enough: “do you prefer to work hourly and get paid for every hour worked, or work salary and get paid the same regardless?”

We chatted back and forth about it and here’s my whole view on the situation:

Salary. All the way. If you know me at all you’ll know that I talk frequently about how much I miss the money bartending and how I took a significant cut in pay when I decided to pursue my career in PR. It’s never a negative statement though – I know that this is just the first step of many towards success in my professional life.

I vote for salary instead of hourly based on my previous experience as an hourly employee – a bartender. Sure, the money was great, but only when there was money to be made. It is really hard to stomach that your rent is paid by other people. Your income relies totally on how someone was raised to tip. Some people tip well. Some people tip like shit. Some people will tip you enough to make your rent in one night, and that happened more than once at my last gig. But if there aren’t butts in the seats – you aren’t making a dime.

I vote for salary vs. hourly because any job I’ve ever had where overtime was available, you were on the shit list if you got overtime. I think too, in the industry I was in (food and beverage), hourly employees were so whiny.

SERVICE INDUSTRY SHOUT OUT BREAK: for those of you who have never waited a table or tended bar a day in your life: let me break it down for you. Servers/bartenders make anywhere from $3-5 an hour – more if you’re in a certain situation. That’s enough to cover taxes, unless you’re killing it at your establishment, then you actually owe money at the end of the year. So we survive off of what you give us. And in fine dining, the sector that I have the most experience with, if you leave me 20% – at the end of the night, I would actually only walk with maybe 10-15% of that at best, after tipping out back waiters, various kitchen staff and the host stand. So next time you drop $300 on dinner and only tip $45 because 15% is what you tip – keep in mind that the person who just wined and dined you for 1-3 hours only sees $20-25 of that. ::STEPPING OFF SOAP BOX::

So I say salary – and here’s the main reason why I do: I love my job.

“But what about the late nights you pull, Sydney? What about anything outside of 40 hours… you don’t get paid for that”

Well, actually, I think I do. I have health insurance. Yes, I pay for it, but when I was an hourly employee, that wasn’t a luxury afforded to me. I get sweet perks and work with some amazing people (no really, they’re all amazing). The experience I’m gaining in my position pays for itself.

If you love your job, you’ll never feel cheated. When you start to feel cheated – think about why you do… are you still happy in your position?

What do you think? Hourly or salary? What are perks of both?

  • Kim
    I tend to think of salary as a more sophisticated payment plan versus hourly, which seems to be a micro-managing way to pay. I've worked for companies where I got paid salary and hourly. When I worked for my company that paid a salary, I felt like my quality of work had to be higher. Afterall, I couldn't say, "I didn't have enough time to finish it that day." Downside though is that overtime isn't paid.

    The thing with hourly wages is that it tends to feel very micro-managed. Like, if I had a doctor's appt when I worked on salary, I didn't mark out an hour that day. I just worked extra hard the next day or just made sure all my work was done. With an hourly job, you have to take out that hour and you don't get paid for it. Also if my boss told us we could leave early for the day, we weren't getting paid for it. Leaving half-hour early? Take it off your timecard. With salary, we just left and enjoyed the pay.

    I prefer salary over hourly simple for the fact I get paid for my quality of work and my dedication to the job versus an hourly job which can make you just feel like you're a machine doing a job and when you "clock out" you're not important.
  • kschutrop
    As someone who has worked many years in the service industry, THANK YOU for you for hopping on that soap box. I wish more people understood what servers/bartenders actually walk away with at the end of a night, and also how demanding those jobs can be. Working a couple weeks as a server is enough to change your whole outlook on how to tip.
  • I think that hourly begins to fade out overtime. I think of hourly, and I think of the jobs I had in college or summer jobs.

    The benefits that come with having a salary job equate those "extra" hours you might be putting in. This includes: flex vacation days, health care, bus pass, parking pass downtown, stocked kitchen, etc. I'm just listing some of the benefits I have at my job in addition to the salary.

    I will say that that extra hour (if I'm getting paid hourly) will make a little difference in my motivation to stay longer. However, I do love my job and I don't think of it in terms of hourly rather the projects that I complete and the tasks at hand.
    .-= Grace Boyle´s last blog ..From The Guys, Guest Post: Women Have All the Power =-.
  • Grace, excellent point about perks. In the end, it's all good. I happen to work in a place that is quite perk-y, in regards to actual perks and our attitudes :). Our insurance is phenomenal, we too have a stocked kitchen (and tons of food clients so there's ALWAYS food here), and a lot of what you mentioned above.

    I agree 100% - if you love your job, it's not a matter of feeling "cheated" for not getting a couple extra bucks on a check.
  • Great discussion ;)

    "It is really hard to stomach that your rent is paid by other people".
    This is ALWAYS the case. Your rent right now is paid by clients who chose your employer to work with. It's more direct than you think, too. If enough of your employer's clients decide to work with another company, they may not be able to justify paying you anymore.

    I've never worked in the food industry specifically but I've always had hourly jobs, which has instilled in me a sense of hard work. You only get paid for hours you actually work. You don't have time to waste. And your time is valued. People can't barter 15 hours of your time for only 8 hours of your rate.

    At the same time though, you can have the same work ethic with a salaried job (as I'm sure you do).

    I definitely think it's relative (as you mentioned last night) and personal preference. I'm still not convinced salary work as well for me as hourly. But last night's discussion with everyone opened my eyes to some great values salary can provide.
    .-= Tim Jahn´s last blog ..Chicago Art Department =-.
  • Good point about the clients etc. To further clarify the "rent being paid by other people" part, it was more about how rollercoaster-ride-ish it is in the service industry. Seasonal restaurants are a double-edged sword - if you bartend at a beach bar, you can stockpile cash on the nice days, but come hurricane season, for example, you're left high and dry, living on savings from the good days. If you work in a high-end steakhouse that banks on companies in town for conventions with expense accounts - when there aren't conventions, you don't make a dime.

    Like you said, it's all relative. Because my experience with hourly is pictured above, I prefer salary hands-down. And that being said, the hardest part to adjust to, for me, is knowing that i can't just go into the agency and pick up a shift and walk home with enough money to make that last bill. I have to plan ahead now. Which has been an interesting ride so far. :)

    Thanks for being here!
  • I agree... salary seems to come with more perks and benefits. And it doesn't leave room for the unexpected.

    I happen to love routine when it comes to finances. I like knowing how much is coming in each month and I love knowing how my money will be divvied up over utilities, rent, groceries, gas, etc...

    While hourly is nice when you work in a situation to make a lot of money - I'm not sure I would enjoy it in a 'you may get paid/may not get paid' scenario.
    .-= Samantha´s last blog ..What is your dream job? =-.
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