I have been a salaried employee (average of 43 hours a week) for 12 years. My company is changing how we are paid--trying to bring us up to code I guess... My job was re-classified to an hourly position. One problem is I have 2 busy seasons that I'll work 50 hours a week, but then on the off seasons I work only 38-40 hours. Over the course of a year it all balances out to an average of 43 hours and I was very happy with a consistent paycheck. Now that I'm hourly, I'm going to have a paycheck that is like a roller coaster through the year. The weeks I'm not busy, my paycheck will be lower than I'm used to and then when I'm busy it will be higher. I've read the law and I completely understand the reasoning behind it, but it is causing hardship on me and my co-workers. Any thoughts?

Only that if you need a job with that pays exactly the same amount every week you'll have to look elsewhere. There are no "convenience" provisions in the law. The employer MUST pay you for the number of hours you work in the paycheck for the week that you worked them. There is no provision to allow them to "average" your hours and pay that instead.

Well, there is salaried nonexempt with a fluctuating workweek pay method, but it's very hard to administer and I don't think we want to go there. :rolleyes:

Thanks for your replies. I looked up some info on the fluctuating work week theory. I forwarded it to our HR dept. (brand spanking new dept) I'm sure they're smart and know what they're doing. I just wanted to doing some checking on my own. Thank you for your help!:)

I forwarded it to our HR dept. (brand spanking new dept) I'm sure they're smart and know what they're doing.

That is wonderful that you are confident in them.

I have seen too many folks who should know better do wrong, either out of ignorance or design. There is no way I would trust someone new to HR, even if they are smart. Now if the department is new, but the folks in it experienced, it would be different.

Now, figure out how the fluctuating work week will work for you. Odds are, your pay will be less, over the course of a year, than it would otherwise.