Let me sum this up the quickest way I can. I make $12.06 an hour in my regular capacity as an administrative assistant. In the same company, I work in the marketing department at a rate of $12.50 an hour up to 40 hours.

Here's where it gets sticky. Once I hit 41 hours, my hourly pay in marketing drops from $12.50 an hour to $1.00 an hour. The only reason I can imagine they are doing that is so that my weighted average will not be much more than my regular hourly rate. :mad:

It's very confusing. I may have up to four rates of pay on each check and the more hours I work, the more my hourly pay rate seems to drop...we're talking a range of $10.75 to $16.75 an hour. I never know what to expect.

Is it legal for them to drop my pay from $12.50 an hour to $1.00 an hour just because I have reached 41 hours?

katt743: Is it legal for them to drop my pay from $12.50 an hour to $1.00 an hour just because I have reached 41 hours?

The practice you described is obviously illegal on many fronts. I'll opine on two blatant ones that come to my mind and let other members chime in as they see fit. First, your employer is violating the minimum wage laws, by paying ony $1 vs. $5.15 (or whatever the prevailing minimum wage rate is in your state). Secondly, the employer is violating the overtime laws, by not paying you time-and-one-half your "regular rate" [a legal term of art which in its most simplistic form is the hourly rate-of-pay (or the weighted average hourly rate-of-pay if you perform two or more different jobs during the same workweek) you earn for non-overtime hours]. See 29 CFR 778.308 for more details http://www.dol.gov/DOL/allcfr/esa/Title_29/Part_778/29CFR778.308.htm

Thank you for the quick response...I just received a letter from the Payroll Dept. a few days ago telling me that they have been overpaying me since July and I needed to work out an arrangement with them to pay back $392. :(

They will say that they technically ARE paying me time and a half...it's just that the weighted average on $1 an hour plus my regular rate is so low that time and a half on THAT rate ends up being somewhat close to the regular rate of pay. Even MY boss doesn't understand the formula they are using and she and her husband own their own business. She also thinks that they have to at least pay minimum wage.

Even if it wasn't illegal, to me, it's unethical to change someone's rate of pay like that. I'm just not sure how to fix it without stirring up a huge hornet's nest. I don't need to be labeled as a troublemaker that gets "marked" for dismissal a year or two down the road. And, there are several other people they are doing this two. It's not even like this is a small company. We employ over 1000 people and for the most part, it's a great place to work. This is just the result of idiots working in the Payroll and Finance depts.

They will say that they technically ARE paying me time and a half...it's just that the weighted average on $1 an hour plus my regular rate is so low that time and a half on THAT rate ends up being somewhat close to the regular rate of pay.

Like Barry, I just don't see how this could be legal. Different rates of pay is not a problem, but dropping a person's regular rate of pay to even minimum wage triggered solely by going into overtime clearly violates the intent of the law.

Do you have the "formula" that they claim to use? I cannot imagine what they are doing.

No, I don't have the formula they use...sorry. My boss does though...I'll try to get it from her Monday.

I'm just not sure how to handle this. I have a feeling that they are going to come up with some kind of a "loophole" that allows them to do this because some of us complained about being paid $1.00 an hour once before and I know that even the Director of Finance looked at it but nothing changed.

They are normally REALLY anal about doing everything by the book and making sure everything we do is above-board. That's why I feel that this is just some moron, or obviously several morons, misinterpreting the law.

But, you know how a "titled" moron would feel about an hourly employee proving them wrong in front of their superiors...I would probably need to start looking for another job.

Can anyone explain to me why my hourly pay drops the more hours I work on a weighted average?

Can anyone explain to me why my hourly pay drops the more hours I work on a weighted average?

That happens with the fluctuating work week method and ONE rate of pay.

I have never looked at how complex the calculations would be with the fluctuating work week and two or more rates of pay in play.

The fluctuating work week method is not a good deal for employees. The more hours you work, the lower your base rate of pay.

Hardly seems fair, does it? I get to a point every pay period where it does me no good to work any more hours because my hourly pay drops and its like I'm just treading water after that point.

If I'm understanding things correctly, and the LEAST they should be able to drop my overtime rate down to, if at all, is minimum wage, then they probably owe me some back pay.

I'm not sure where to go to get this addressed at this point. Any ideas? I hate to just run to the Department of Labor if the issue can be fixed in house.

Without further details, I can't tell what they're doing. Do you have more information for us?