What makes more sense, salary or hourly pay for a 10-month position?

7 Comments

1. Lesa Edwards, Career Coach & Master Resume WriterApril 4,2022 at 4:20PM UTC

   As long as the hourly rate is competitive, this might be the better option for you to limit your hours. Too many people make a part-time salary for what, essentially, is full-time work. I would want to know of any ramifications for benefits, PTO, etc. before making a final decision.

2. AnonymousApril 4,2022 at 4:24PM UTC

   It depends on what they are offering in the way of payment v. Work. What you want to do is be paid for the hours you put in. Salary would be set and anything over your agreed upon 30 hours would not be paid as additional. So you might be paid at a lower wage if you work more than 30 hours per week.

   On the other hand, if you don't believe there will be,say over 25 hours of work each week, as a salaried employee you would be paid an additional 5 hours of salary without having to work. So your actual hourly fee would be actually be higher.

   Do the math and figure out what works in your favor. This is just a math question of what would pay you the most $ for the amount of work.

3. AnonymousApril 4,2022 at 6:02PM UTC

   Make sure you understand the benefits package for each scenario. Some companies don't offer health care, paid time off, holiday pay, etc. to part-time hourly employees.

4. Kristie WhiteApril 4,2022 at 6:26PM UTC

   First - you need to know what your budget is each month for living. Second, it "sounds" like you are referring to a teacher's compensation package that is either spread over 12 months or 10 months with the option of being salaried or hourly. If that is the case, the "annual" compensation value is supposed to be roughly the same whether you choose 10 months or 12 months, the pay is still "X" divided by the number of months of payment. If the 12-month, salaried option is available - this will protect you more from the summer without pay.

   If the distribution schedule only covers 10 months - regardless of whether you are salaried or hourly - then how much do you need to save each month to cover the unpaid months? Take the salaried annual value, divide it by 10 and determine if - based on your budget - you can save enough each month to cover the two unpaid summer months. Also ask yourself how disciplined you are with saving - can you ensure you will do it?

   Finally, an hourly rate can be calculated based on the annual divided by how many hours you work - right? But if you work more than that, under salary you may lose. However, if that hourly rate does not allow you to save for those two uncovered months - the rate is not enough to cover your living expenses plus your savings. If you are banking on working more hours than expected, that is a risk - you don't know if more work will materialize. If salaried, you can be given more work than part time, but you also have a certainty that allows you to prepare for the unpaid months. So at the end of the day, it is about how disciplined you are to save and how much certainty you have about the volume of work. If the volume of work is uncertain, take the salary. If you are unsure about your discipline, take the salary. If you have more certainty, take the hourly rate IF it is sufficient to meet your needs.

5. Hilary OborghayujieApril 4,2022 at 6:28PM UTC
6. Hilary OborghayujieApril 4,2022 at 6:28PM UTC

   Understand what your benefits was in your formal role, compare to the prediction of the new environment you are considering transitioning to. You have to equilibrium both options, implement the best decision base on the outcome of the analysis. You need to be proactive at this stage to avoid viable errors.

7. Tamara ThompsonApril 4,2022 at 11:37PM UTC

   I would ask what the overtime opportunities look like should you go over your part time position. If they say no overtime is allowed, you'd need to see if you can do everything in those part time hours and stick to it... if you go over- I would talk to them at that point and see what they say then about overtime pay. Are there any benefit differences between exempt and non exempt roles? I would just ask all the questions up front- but if they don't pay part time, salary- hourly may be the only option, and could potentially work out well for you should you work over the part time hours.