Working Overtime
My office is about to enter its busiest time of the year. Therefore, working more than your typical 9 to 5 is not only necessary, but MANDATORY. So I gave my staff an option to decide how they would like to be compensated for their extra work hours.
OVERTIME (paid time and half for any hour over 40)
or
COMP TIME (after the rush is over, time off for any hour over 40)
The majority vote did not surprise me. They all said “SHOW ME THE MONEY!” LOL
I don’t have the luxury of either, but if I did, I’d prefer comp time for tax planning purposes.
If given the option, which would you prefer? And why?
~*~*~*~*~*~Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And always, BE FABULOUS!
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44 comments:
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Young Fly and Fabulous » “The Big Idea” about Stress and Balance (Pingback), 16 August 2008, 22:37
[...] SIngle Ma addresses a similar issue on her blog, Fabulous Financials, where she asks the question is it better to receive payments in time or dollars when dealing with over time. I invite you to check it out. [...]
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The money. The economy sucks. The extra $ could help me save more faster or pay my credit card debt faster. I’d basically see my reward quicker than waiting til after the busy season and taking time off. However, I already get a lot of paid time off. And we even have the option to purchase an extra week. So i think I have enough time off with all of that. Yeah, the money would be what I want.
Hi Single Ma - given the choice, at my level I prefer comp time. Working long hours for extended periods wears me out, so I appreciate the time to recoup without having to use up vacation time. When I was younger and making less, it was always “show me the money”!
That said, if your staff is non-exempt (paid hourly) they may not have a choice - they have to receive time and a half by law. If they are exempt, then kudos to you for offering the option!
Try to take some for yourself, too!
At my job we have the option to choose. Either an entire week off or a week paid. I choose the week off, money can’t buy my time..I get to spend time with my six month old daughter and I don’t get taxed on it compared to the paid week. WIN WIN for me…I despise paying taxes….
I would take the time off only if I’m able to actually take it. Right now I have vacation days and personal days but I can’t really touch them. I’m required to be at work 5 days a week and if I want off, I must plan WAYYY in the future. I love my time to myself, so a day off here and there would do me better than some extra cash in my pocket.
i’d rather have the money. if i take the time off what am i gonna do with it if i don’t have any money? sit on my butt in my house? i don’t think so!
That’s the best time off. Sitting at home and doing NOTHING. [-SM]
Nothing speaks louder then cash. Saving it, would allow so many other perks. But, in the end it would come down to how much PTO I already receive. If I’m low on the chain, I may want time off (w/family). Of course, if no family - money, to build my security for later in life when time will be even more precious.
I guess it is an individual thing. True. [-SM]
Single Ma! You have shocked me!!! You cant turn down the Extra cash! So what if you have to pay taxes on it. I’ll take an extra $0.34 for every dollar/hour (assuming 32% effective tax rate) any day over time I may or may not use. Just save the extra cash and then pay uncle sam on April 15.
You take the $0.34 and have a jolly ole’ good time. I have everything I need, so I value my time more than money. [-SM]
I’d take the money because of my savings goals. I’d deal with the devil in the details in the taxes later.
I never look a gift horse in the mouth (although in this case, it would be something I earned), but for me, I’d be happy with either. I can never have too much of either extra time or extra money!
I would have went for comp time for the same reason you stated and I’m also a single mom. So that time off would really help the foolishness going on in my house (cleaning)!
Oh, don’t remind me about the house cleaning! Sheesh. You should see my place. When I lived in my house, I had a housekeeper that came bi-wkly but I reduced that expense when I moved to NoVA due to the higher COL. Well, honey, I tried it once since I’ve been here and lawdymercy, I was pleased as punch when I came home. BUT…the damn company charged twice as much for my lil 1000 sq ft apt than the other person charged for my entire 2000+ sq ft 3 story townhouse. It’s so expensive, if I had the extra $$, I still wouldn’t pay it on a regular basis! I’d rather do it myself - well, until BabyGirl comes back home.
[-SM]
I’d definitely prefer the comp time. I love spending the extra time with my family or on personal projects.
And, when are you going to tell us how much that croc bag cost? Did I miss it?
Go back and read the croc bag post. It was updated the same weekend. [-SM]
Comp time. The extra time off would allow me to make it up to my family for being away working, (taking extra vacation, dinners out, etc.). The extra money, while nice, would not allow for the time needed to recover from the extra work.
If I did not have family to be concerned about, I would likely take the money or ask for some combination of the two: say the first 20 hours as comp time and then after that, switch over to the money. Hey, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Now why you gotta be all difficult? I said either/or dammit! LOL
Actually, one chic did ask me something similar. I can’t split the hours like that, but I can divide them by pay period. We’ll be in slave drive status for at least a month. Since we get paid twice per month, I told her one pay period, we’ll document OT, and the other, we’ll document CT.
My ‘experienced’ people are my greatest asset, so I do what I can to make them happy.
[-SM]
It depends on my company’s PTO policies. Right now I get only 2 weeks a year that I get to spend on vacation and illness or any other reasons. So here I would work for comp time. At my old job I got 2 weeks of vacation and another 2 weeks of “PTO” that could be used for illness or other things with restrictions. I always had plenty of time off, so there I would go for overtime.
I think the money. The reason I say that is currently w/ the economy being as it is and due to my financial planning (lack there of) that would be more beneficial at this point. Once my savings goals are complete and I have my financial house in order, it would be comp time all day!
I’d take the comp time. The opportunity to take a day here in and there would reallu come in handy. I pay enough in taxes, don’t need additional reasons to give uncle sam more money.
When I was younger I always took the $$. Once I realized how valuable the time was I always opted for the time. I especially enjoy being off during the workweek.
Definitely the answer will be different for me depending on what’s going on in my life, and depending on what time of year it is.
A few years ago when I first took the job I have now, I was anxious to please and willing to work longer hours. When the option of OT finally came up, I was happy to do it. The office is filled w/ like-minded people and we are all around the same age, so staying OT (there is a sort of understanding that no more than 2 hours OT per day is a good rate for our stamina) was really just an extension of the work day, which was for the most part enjoyable. But when I worked OT 4-5 days/week, yes I was making the extra money, but for that month or so I really had no life. I didn’t enjoy the money I made. I had no social life, I didn’t WANT a social life. I wanted to go home, pet my cat, have a quick dinner, and go to bed because the work day started at the same time.
That time taught me a lot. It taught me the importance of time. With the option of comp time, I’m still getting the money (though perhaps not at the OT rate), but in a much better pay out: time with family and friends, or doing whatever the heck I would like to do. Time is more valuable than anything.
I have and still will definitely take the money if I needed it (i.e., short term or just a few days of OT offered), but my time is so much more valuable than a few extra dollars.
Can I get half & half? Some extra money to spend on the vacation I’ll be taking on comp time!
As others have mentioned, I’d take the money to help me reach my savings goals.
Funny enough I would take the comp time for 2 reasons. 1) Family 2) Tax implications
Where I am now if I make a penny over xyz I’m screwed and I will owe the gubment LOL so comp time works BEST for me
It will also allow me to attend school trips without having to use a vacation day
so what I get 25 of them a year LOL they can carry over but comp time doesn’t 
I’m with you Single Ma…I’d take the Comp Time. Life is tooo short to not have time off.
Since I’m a salaried employee, I don’t have a choice at my current job - we work long enough to complete our work each week. And we have ‘Total Time Accounting’ policy which means every hour is recorded - so at the end of the year, we get a summary of hours that show our total hours, total salary and our ‘effective’ hourly rate. What a shocker, let me tell you - that extra 500 hours (last year) brought my wage down about $5 per hour! So my boss is really flexible and we take informal comp time when the hours start to pile up…and I haven’t used real vacay time this year at all - so it’ll be paid out at the end of the year.
Comp Time please! My new job I don’t have a choice and I get paid for overtime…but my positions with previous companies…when I had the option I always chose comp time.
I’ll take the money please and thanks. I’d throw some extra @ my retirement savings to help offset the extra tax burden.
Some comp time and some cash would be a great combo! Supersize it!
At first I was thinking comp time. But that’s because my current job already pays me a lot of vacation but a mediocre salary. Now that I’ve been here 20 years, I get 15 hours of vacation per month (= 22.5 days per year) plus 8 hours of sick leave per month plus 12-13 holidays per year. And I’m making just barely more than a first-year teacher.
I rollover 6 weeks per year, earn an additional 6 hours per pay period (19.5 days per yr), plus 4 hrs sick time per pay period (13 days per yr - no rollover limit), plus ALL fed holidays - but I STILL prefer the extra CT off. I work hard and play hard. Plus, I prefer to make up loss time with my BabyGirl as often as possible. Even if we don’t go anywhere, she loves to see me already at home (and cooking LOL) when she comes home from school. [-SM]
So you can see that over the long haul I have chosen time off over good money, which is why over the short term I’d choose the money over the time off.
Then I was thinking it depends on how many hours we’re talking about. If it’s much less than a week, I’d rather have the time off. Otherwise, a nice hunk of money could lead to a significantly quicker remodel and/or retirement.
And, like someone said, if it’s the sort of job where you can officially get plenty of time off but realistically it never seems to be a good time of year to actually take the time off, then I’d go for the money so at least I’d have something.
Debbie, they make sure you have tons of vacation time and no money to actually go somewhere. So you end up not using all of your vacation time. Twisted logic, huh?
BK, they allow you to carry over that many days? Wow, that is great. Most companies try to limit carry over days to like 5 and then make a stipulation that you HAVE to use them within the first quarter of next year.
My employer allows me to roll over 6 weeks annually. [-SM]
I’d take the time since the time tracks the same as OT in CA. 1.5x hourly rate, or 1.5x time off.
6 weeks? I need to move from NY to greener pastures. I would probably become a “lifer” at your company if they are so generous. How much vacation do you have to begin with if they allow to roll over this much? That is by far the most incredible roll over policy for a private or public companies, unless of course you work for a city/state or federal government.
Oh, hahaha, were my bosses to offer me such a choice. It’s all overtime (well, salary) for me.
So, this is what you are doing instead of telling us how much the Coach bag cost or what you said to that freeloader? Seriously, leaving us hanging for weeks???
The Coach bag post was updated the same weekend - reading is fundamental.
I never said I would disclose my response to my cousin. [-SM]
I would take the money. I would save some and spend the rest on a nice vacation
I’m faced with this decision right now. I think I will do a mix of comp and money. I’m going to need both the time off AND the extra money to bounce back with a fresh mind. I’m thinking, pedi, mani, spas, the works!
Comp Time: My discretionary time is way more important to me than money will ever be.
Your comment reminds me of this post and this post. I agree 100%. [-SM]
Comp time. My J.O.B. had mandatory OT (10 hours) all of last year and I was bumped up a tax bracket. The $$$ is great but tax time ain’t so fun for me - even with rental property. Besides what my co-workers and I figured out at our job is any OT over 10 hours a week is a wash as the IRS takes it. (Believe it or not, some people were doing up to 40 hours a week in OT - they were groaning when OT stopped because they had become accustomed to the money.)
Thank you for addressing the cut off point. I was going to run the math, but got lazy and quit. When working OT for pay, at some point, the extra effort is a waste because it ALL goes to Uncle Sam. [-SM]
I’m really curious. For all of you who are saying you prefer OT to reach a financial goal, would you really SAVE or would you see the extra money as an opportunity to SPEND more and buy the things you’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford?
As a youngin’ I would have taken the $$$, but now I say give me the comp time! And I’d take 5-10 minutes of that delicious comp time to review my contribution to the team during this specific project. I then save any & all documents outlining my efforts/results to a file that I keep for the purposes of my annual performance review. This makes it much easier to discuss with my manager specific examples of how I “exceeded” or “far exceeded” the stated requirements my job description.
Great point. You should document AND sell your accomplishments. In fact, I strongly encourage it. That’s the foundation of my career success.
However, in this case, when OT is MANDATORY for EVERYONE, it doesn’t exceed expectations OR the job description. I believe in rewarding fairly, but only for truly deserved exemplary performance.
You really have to put OT worked in context. Two people can work the same number of OT hours, but one person may complete twice as many projects or complete fewer projects that were more complex. I wouldn’t reward both. Assuming all things equal (i.e. experience, skill set, etc.), the other person was either slow or inefficient.
My point is, just because OT is worked, doesn’t mean you exceeded expectations. [-SM]
BTW…I’d need most of the time off to decompress, relax, catch up on lapsed chores and simply chill out.
LOL tell me about it! [-SM]
You guys all spoiled rotten!!!!!
I do not even get a choice-overtime is expected and not compensated since I am an exempt salaried employee. I wish I had the problem of deciding what to choose-either/or.
Right now I am slaving just because I want to learn as much as possible at my new position( just started in April) and move on after couple of years. For some reason, it seems that there is more expected of younger workers in my field these days than of the older ones (we have some peeps in my department that have been there for decade or two). More productivity, more efficiency, more innovation and creativity and OT that is not compensated. Older dogs get to leave on time and take vacation even when it is a crucial time of the year/quarter. Sometimes it is not even clear what is the added value of their work. C’est la vie
But it sucks
COMP TIME!!! haveing time with my daughter and husband is worth more to me right now than the money. CRAZY as that is (given my financial situation) it is the truth.
Show me the money! Depending on the amount of overtime, it may not be enought to really DO anything with. In that case, I’d plan for the overtime payout and then adjust my 401K (or another investment) and stash it away in that manner. Hey….the way I see it. I’ll pay myself so that I can stop working for someone else ASAP
I definitely would rather have the cash than the time. In my work, I am barely able to take the time I am given through vacations, so I would rather have the cash. As for whether I spend it, or save it, it depends on what’s going on in my life. If I have bills I am trying to pay off, or some other financial goal I am trying to achieve, then I put the money towards that. If however, I am in OK standing, I might treat myself (or significant other) to something nice.
We, might take comp time. If allowed by law. A lot of workers forget on the higher income tax.
That in itself, could hinder higer earning power and wage increases for future raises and it’s reviews.
Use the vacation as an option to leave work early, and enjoy an afternoon with pay!