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I own a MA state business, we are small ( 3 – 4 guys most times). I had a new hire tell me that my payroll service “screwed up bad” because they didnt include his time and one half. Rarely do we ever exceed 8 hours a day. This employees hours exceeded 40 because we worked a half day saturday. So, do you guys pay after 40? After 8 in one day? Whats the law say? What is customary? I pay good money to the payroll service I would think if it were the law they would do it automaticaly. I plan on checking with my accountant on Tuesday, any help would be great, thanks.
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It is my understanding that anything over 40 hours in a week is overtime and must be paid at time and a half. When I had employees in my pizza business, that is how I did it. But I think there are a few loopholes too.
Rich Beckman
*I'm not sure either. I believe it is law. Anybody I have ever worked for pays it. My present employer pays double time on Sunday. Which I'm going to be getting tommorrow. Whoo hoo!
*If I wasn't so lazy tonight I'd reach up to the second bookshelf above my head and quote you chapter and verse from the law governing overtime.In a nutshell, if you are not exempt in some way, and it is written, then time and a half is the rule.Reference the Fair Labor Standards Act.HOWEVER, i All employees in businesses other than retail or service with two or more employees engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or otherwise handling or working with goods that have moved in commerce and which have an annual gross volume of sales or business of not less than $500,000 are covered.
*after 40 its time and a half unless its a contracted employee. They can get it after 8 in one day if its in the contract. Independent contractors is another story but very complicated and its easy for them to screw you with IRS on their side. If its only a so so employee and not worth it make sure he doesn't get his 40 in the future. Everyone who works for me understands we are all on the same team.
*There are 20 exceptions in Ma. Otherwise it's time and a half on anything over 40. "Section 1A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer in the commonwealth shall employ any of his employees in an occupation, as defined in section two, for a work week longer than forty hours, unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of forty hours at a rate not less than one and one half times the regular rate at which he is employed. Sums paid as commissions, drawing accounts, bonuses, or other incentive pay based on sales or production, shall be excluded in computing the regular rate and the overtime rate of compensation under the provisions of this section.This section shall not be applicable to any employee who is employed:™(1) as a janitor or caretaker of residential property, who when furnished with living quarters is paid a wage of not less than thirty dollars per week.(2) as a golf caddy, newsboy or child actor or performer.(3) as a bona fide executive, or administrative or professional person or qualified trainee for such position earning more than eighty dollars per week.(4) as an outside salesman or outside buyer.(5) as a learner, apprentice or handicapped person under a special license as provided in section nine.(6) as a fisherman or as a person employed in the catching or taking of any kind of fish, shellfish or other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life.(7) as a switchboard operator in a public telephone exchange.(8) as a driver or helper on a truck with respect to whom the Interstate Commerce Commission has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of section two hundred and four of the motor carrier act of nineteen hundred and thirty-five, or as employee of an employer subject to the provisions of Part 1 of the Interstate Commerce Act or subject to title II of the Railway Labor Act.(9) in a business or specified operation of a business which is carried on during a period or accumulated periods not in excess of one hundred and twenty days in any year, and determined by the commissioner to be seasonal in nature.(10) as a seaman.(11) by an employer licensed and regulated pursuant to chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A.(12) in a hotel, motel, motor court or like establishment.(13) in a gasoline station.(14) in a restaurant.(15) as a garageman, which term shall not include a parking lot attendant.(16) in a hospital, sanatorium, convalescent or nursing home, infirmary, rest home or charitable home for the aged.(17) in a non-profit school or college.(18) in a summer camp operated by a non-profit charitable corporation.(19) as a laborer engaged in agriculture and farming on a farm.(20) in an amusement park containing a permanent aggregation of amusement devices, games, shows, and other attractions operated during a period or accumulated periods not in excess of one hundred and fifty days in any one year."
*Hey Local,Time and a half.......that's it. The double time on Sundays is someting the unions sometimes write in their contracts, but it's not the law.Four employees?How much you paying this service?I can do payroll for four employees during lunch break.Ed.
*Ed, if you're doing payroll, you aren't having a lunch break!I used to use a payroll service. I found it to be very cheap, something like $12 per week for my few employees. It was a great deal since all the tax stuff was done, complete ready for the IRS and Accountant. Then they started creeping the price. We switched to Quickbooks. Now it still costs me something each month to pay for tax updates!blue
*Blue,My wife is the bookeeper for our company...she does the payroll. $12 a week is a small price to pay for a payroll service. I've just never liked the idea of anyone else in my books besides me, my wife and the accountant.Ed.
*Ed, if you don't like people peeking into your books, you'd love a payroll service. They don't know anything other than the hours you tell them and the rate of pay.If your wife doesn't mind the work, then God Bless her. I'd rather saw off my foot than do payroll.blue
*payroll service is the cat's meow... after more than 10 years with a payroll service, i've never paid a fine for late payroll taxes nor filled out a single form...two minutes a week to fax the hours in...before payroll service, it was one screw-up after another...best thing i ever did as a businessman was sign up for payroll service...and most of my employees are on direct deposit ,too..local... anything over 40.....timeX1.5
*I agree with you Mike the payroll service is great. I just wish they knew about the time and a half thing. I called both my attorney and accountant neither one knew. I looked up the DET website and its as clear as day X 1.5 after 40. My plan was and still is to pay because that was the expectatation. Then find out what the law is and come up with a policy for my company. How do you guys handle knowing that if you stay a little late to finish something to get ahead ? Just pay the X1.5 or knock off early on Friday?
*local... on my payroll reporting form... i am the one who designates wether it's time-&-a-half....so i would report the guys time as (((40.0 + 1.0)))and the 1.0 would be in the OT column...... i also made a column for Prevailing Wage... and i have a number in that column to tell the data input people what that particular Prevailing Wage is...so.. i guess it's they pay whatever i tell them to pay...or not....do you remember when you were working for a wage?......remember how neat it was to get time&half ?...well, i look at it as a bonus...or.. if the guy wants some comp. time i arrange that also.. depends on who you're dealing with...i'd rather try to keep the morale up than worry about a couple hours overtime..
*I'd rather cut off Blue's foot than do payroll, too.b : )
*luka, you better have a new sawzall blade for that!blue
*b : )
*I'm sorry guys....Payroll and taxes ain't rocket science.It's really pretty simple.I did it for the first year of my business before my wife agreeded to take it over. Now that we have so many employees it is a bit more time involved, and best left to her. However, if you have five or less employees, it doesn't take that much time.If I can do it, any fool can do it. I wouldn't trust it out no matter how cheap it is.Ed.
*Ed, I can't do payroll taxes. I refuse to read the IRS instruction book. I refuse to read the updates.The tax laws are constantly changing. I wouldn't trust myself to stay on top of things, since I'd only be dabbling in the accounting business. Of course, the programs (Quickbooks, etc.) that we now can use are created and kept updated by people who have made payroll taxes their livelihood. It is simple if you can learn how to do a computer program. Any fool can't do it....properly.blue
*Blue,If that works for you, that's great. I don't want anyone to change a successful method.All I'm saying is that it's really not that scary at all and I hate to see anyone scared away from something just because they don't know. The IRS Circular E is all you need to do payroll taxes. They're free, just call and ask for one. Or get it at http://www.irs.gov online.Ed.
*Ed, I don't think I could read circular E. Remember...I've got a carpentry edukation.blue
*Blue,Poor guy, I guess rafter tables are out of the question too.Too bad.Ed.
*Ed, I've never looked at a rafter table. If I ever needed to, I'd do it. I've spent a great deal of time learning my trade, my craft. If I ever decide to enter the bookeeping/accounting field, I'll invest just as much time. I'm very skeptical about one dimensional, part time bookeepers/accountants. I know I've paid substantially too much in taxes over the years because of my limited financial knowledge and my lack of consulting professionals. My own stubborness has cost me dearly. An analogy would be like hiring a guy who has only built dog houses to frame your custom home. Hey, he knows how to build four walls and a roof, doesn't he? The dog house builder knows what he knows, but doesn't have any idea what he doesn't know. The same goes for carpenters that dabble in bookeeping. Reading one circular isn't going to tell you everything that you need to know about payroll. For instance, I've always taken all my pay as payroll, but just found out that I could save some taxes by taking dividends instead. How did I find this out? By consulting with pros in the accounting field.I'm not saying payroll is difficult. I'm saying that not knowing everything about it and everything adjacent to it is risky.blue
*Blue,Ease up there good buddy,I really don't give a flip who does your taxes or how it's done. I'm talking about payroll tax deductions for your employees. For the hourly employee, it's cut and dried. Nothing fancy and no way around it. The 941 deposits are done by phone. You can't play with the numbers.I hire an accountant to do my corporate and personal taxes. The corporation pays no income taxes...none...zip. Our starting balance is always the same as the ending balance. He earns his pay on my personal taxes. How you deal with your employees (through a service or not) is none of my business or concern.If anybody else is interested, my opinion is that payroll deductions and the 940 and 941 deposits are not that hard to do yourself.One of the advantages I see to doing payroll in-house is the fact that I take small weekly deductions for tools I buy the employee that he may not want to pay for all at once. I buy the tool and take usually a $35 deduction from his weekly payroll until it's paid for interest free. If he wants to bump that up at the end to pay it off? No problem. That might be tough to deal with for a service and you would still have to deal with the running balance in-house.Another thing is happening this week. We're taking Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving. Two guys are leaving Wednesday to go out of town, and asked to get their check on Tuesday. No problem. The rest will be paid on Wednesday, no problem. Everything is done in-house. If I accidently short (it's happened once or twice in 12 years) a guys pay? No problem. I call my wife for the decuctions and pay him on the spot. If it's just an hour or two, I usually just give him cash. If a man comes to me and says his sisters in town on Friday and can he take off early and get his check early, no problem. We prefer everything concerning payroll be done in-house because we feel it gives us flexability, controll and security.That's the way I like it.A paid payroll service could probably do those things I mentioned, I don't know. But I'd guess it would cost above and beyond the normal fee. I don't know.My opinion.Ed.
*I'm as eased up as I'll ever be Ed.I'm quite sure you don't care who/how/why I do my payroll. I know I really don't care how anyone does theirs. I am commenting for the benefit of the original poster, and others that care however. All of the things that you've mentioned are easily done with a payroll service...and more, at no extra charge. The payroll service that I used was quite personable. The catered to the small business guys like myself and were quite accomodating in every thing that we asked. We juggled loans, early pays, lost checks etc through them. Each week, we would simply tell them the hours, reg and ot, rate (all on record unless changed) and any additional deductions for reimbursments, loan repayments, etc. Our checks would arrive in the mail, at our request by Wednesday, but we could actually request the amount over the phone and write a check on Monday. The rep would bend over backwards if we had a special need (vacations etc.)We could do it (get them the hours) by fax, or leave a voice message. I'm sure you could now email it. It really was a hassle free service. It's perfect for those contractors that don't have a willing wife at home. Certainly a carpenter shouldn't be adding that hour to his week unless he likes saving $15 per hour while not earning his $50, $100 or whatever. It's a penny wise, pound foolish choice.Like Mike, I'll agree that it was one of the best business decisions I've ever made! So eased up, Im heading for bed,blue
*Blue,I guess for some businesses it is the right choice.Night,Ed.
*I'm awake again Ed and ready for round two. How about state taxes? I remeber reading my MI state tax manual (I was young, stupid and ambitious). I swear I couldn't read more than one paragraph without having to flip to some chart, which caused me to need another pamphlet, which led me to another chart, subject to a different table.Paragraph two started the same runaround. There ain't no way in the world I'd indulge myself in stuff like that. Hell I'll throw out my sidewinders and use a wormdrive, hand pound, put bridging in and strap the hell out of every ceiling rahter than pick up another tax manual!And what about the quarterlies, 1099's, 1041's 1794's, 1234's etc? How about worker's comp, futa, fecal, pooh pooh and all the rest of the alphabet soup deductions and reports?Paychex did it all for 2 or 3 bucks per check per week! If I paid bi-weekly, I could cut that bill in half!My wife is doing all that now with Quick books. It's easy. I don't think she'd want to do it longhand. Some wives do and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just a little old fashioned. If it works, don't fix it.blue
*blue,If you can't handle it, don't advertise the fact that you can't. Not good for business.Ed.
*Ed, why would using Quickbooks or a Payroll service be bad for business? I don't think Bill Gates could do payroll longhand.blue
*Well I paid the T&H and the guy still isnt happy.....he quit. He's been unhappy for awhile so I think this was just the final thing for him. Did I mention the payroll service still wont take ownership of the fact that they missed paying this guy the T&H ? Shouldnt they know???
*Localdog,You're probably lucky he quit. The wrong guy with his attitude will find a way to steal from you later...MD
*No Bulldog they shouldn't know. If you tell them that the guy is owed ten overtime hours, then they'll pay them ten overtime hours. If your overtime hour is 1.5, then they'll pay 10 x 1.5 x the hourly rate. You have to tell them. Why? because you are allowed to pay more. You could pay your hourly guys quadruple time after 6 hours, or triple time after forty, or what ever. The government sets the minimums. All hours over 40 aren't necessarily overtime.blue
*blue,If using software or paid services is right for you, then it's the right thing for you. I wouldn't change your system if it works.I just don't trust something that serious to a machine that crashes on Thursday night or a service that may or may not get it in the mail (no way would I trust all those checks in the mail).But that's just me.The best choice is what works best for each persons individual style.That's my take.Hey LocalB,I'm with Mad Dog...I'll bet you're better off.Ed.
*ed. ten years of payroll service...one time the checks got delayed in the mail..they couriered them down to me.. for $5...but most of the time it doesn't make any difference because tehy also offer direct deposit.. all of my employees have opted for direct deposit...so they get a confirmation that looks like a check.. but the money is already in their account..40 quarterly reports to state & feds.. that i never filled out or sent in.. didn't even have to lick a stamp...all done for me by the payroll service...not one single penalty in ten years paid to either state or federal...my bookeeper can concentrate on the other aspects of the business.. because payroll is covered...
*My experience was the same as Mike's although I only used them for about five years.One time, maybe two there was a glitch. We called our sales rep and she got us the amounts. WE then wrote the net amount on our "regular" checks and still got our guys their payroll. They had to wait till monday for their check stubs but that info was easily available if they really wanted it.There really wasn't ever any panic situation. Our package was supposed to arrive in the mail by Wednesday, but usually showed up on Tuesday. A couple of times they showed up on Thursday. If they didn't come in the Thursday mail, that's when we called, got the numbers and wrote the net amounts ourselves. I highly recomend it for most small operations. The overall organization of many small outfits is sometimes poor and using this service is a very easy and economical way of keeping a set of books. No all guys want their wife involved in the bookeeping. Not all wives are capable. If I was the wife, I'd be screwing it up every week!It worked for me....blue
*Mike it is nice to have that nice tidy payroll package sent to the feds and state automatically isn't it? One other benefit is that the IRS is less likely to do an audit on your payroll ledgers if a respected payroll service is handling it. blue
*blue... my wife manages a travel agency.. she ain't got time to take care of my books too ..... i remember filling out those 941's.. as ed. says..not much to it....but you gotta do it..so.. lemme see. do the 941's .... or the proposal for the job i'd like to start next week..hmmmnot to mention payroll deductions... lessee... send in the monthly withholdings.. or pay the lumber bill so we can keep working....hmmmmcash flow and time management made payroll service a no brainer....now in ed's case.. he's got it under control...but for me.. the payroll service was like a goddsend...where had it been all my life ?
*Good point Mike. One thing I hate doing, after putting in a solid hard day at work, is to come home and have more work to do. Personally, I won't do it. Clerical workers work for a lot less than carpenter foremen.Delegate, delegate, delegate. But don't delegate too much on your wife...It sounds like your wife is in a business that's changing rapidly. Is her job safe?blue
*blue.. yes , her agency is in an affluent area.. and u no the old adage... the rich get richer and the poor get poorer"..after an initial falloff. they're streaming thru the door looking for all the travel bargains...like Paris..$299 roundtrip...hah, hah,hah...
*In California overtime is anything over 40 hours AND any day over 8 hours. So an employee can work a 32 hour week and get overtime for 2 hours if one day was a 10 hour day. Isn't it like that elsewhere?I've done the books for our store for 14 years. Went from a manual system to Quickbooks Pro 2 years ago. Ahhhhh. Tried a bookeeper once - he made 7 mistakes on one payroll. That was the end of that!
*Lisa,In Texas, they let you pick you're own pay week. It can be Monday through Friday or Wednesday through Tuesday like we do. Forty hours is forty hours. If a person works forty hours in the first two days of the pay week, then everything else is OT from there on out. A person can't come in for three ten hour days in the pay period and expect to get six hours overtime.That's the labor law here, and I assumed everywhere else.Ed.
*That's interesting, Ed. Just one more reason employers are leaving California in droves, I suppose.
*I don't mean to let my Libertarian views fly to much but doesn't this seem a bit intrusive of the government? If I have employees who want to work 60 hours a week at there regular pay rate, why shouldn't they be able to? If I have trouble finding people to do this, I either pay more or do the time and a half thing. I don't mind the goverment stepping in if I'm doing something unsafe but what I pay my people should be my business. Is there some justification out there that I'm missing? By the way, I do my own payroll taxes on excel. It's quick and easy and I can write checks whenever I want.Eric
*Eric,The reason the government has the rules on wages, etc. goes back to the days before such rules existed. In a completely free market, business has the upper hand over labor. It is easy to say that someone can quit and find other work if they don't like your terms, but the reality is that most won't succeed in the attempt. This is why communism was so attractive in the early twentieth century, capitalism simply wasn't giving the working man a decent share.It is not impossible that the improvements in mobility and information technology has given labor a stronger hand, but I doubt we are near that point yet.Unfettered capitalism is not a pretty sight.Rich Beckman
*eric.. don't you remember when you were working for wages?that's not libertarian.. it's capitalist.. the labor laws are in place to protect labor.. not management... working conditions, hours , child labor.. they all protect labor and level the playing field..
*E Pinkston,It's to keep the sweat shop owners from working people as many hours as they want them to.I guess you could say it's a deterent for people with no feelings for there fellow man.Ed.
*To all who responded,I agree 100% that when labor laws were "invented" they had their place. The "labor" does need to be protected but as Rich stated, things have changed significantly since the laws went into effect. I certainly don't think we should go back to the days of sweat shops and unsafe work places but if my guys want to work Saturday to make a little extra cash for the holidays, why should the government force me to pay 150% of my normal rate? It's a pleasure to have guys that are hard working and want to work an extra 2 hours a day during the week or on a weekend. I've got one guy that is saving up to go to school. He'd work 14 hours a day 7 days a week if I would let him. I don't mind paying time and half when I ask the guys to because we're running behind or something simply needs to get done but when a guy wants to earn extra money, why should I have too? I hope there's some kind of middle ground out there.Mike, when I worked for wages I didn't mind at all volunteering for extra hours at my regular rate. If I was forced, i expected time and half and that was always our agreement. I don't feel like I was taken advantage of.Eric
*Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. -- J.K. Galbraith
*Luka, that one's a keeper. Thanks for posting it.
*eric.. if you do the math.. you'll find that time and a half is a bargain for the employer.. it helps to even out the workload so you don't have to hire and train new people..it is not chargeable to your WC rate. and a lot of the burden (unemployment, etc) has already maxed..so anyways... the average burden is around 50% on regular wages... it is not that on overtime wages...and it is an inexpensive bonus to your employees......but beyond that...there is nothing out of date about the labor laws...just imagine what the market would do if we got rid of them...lemme guess.. your state doesn't have mandatory WC , or does it ?if it doesn't , lemme make another guess.....you don't have it.. why should you protect yourself and your employees?.. its a free country... they oughta have the right to be injured on the job without WC coverage ..anyways..... if it is left up to the employers what laws will be enforced and when they will be enforced , we'll just go back to the laws of the jungle...here's the law...anything over 40 is time and a half...wether someone "volunteers" or doesn't..if you want ot stick your neck out.. just go on with the volunteer system..but watch out when a disgruntled former employee files a labor complaint against you.. they'll come in and audit your payroll, force you to pay back wages , and levy fines...it ain't worth it...we (the US ) are way behind the rest of the western world in our labor laws and mandatory benefits to workers...
*I agree,I welcome the day that WC is required in Texas again in order to run a business.Ed.
*Mike, I wanted to clarify that I do follow the law and pay the time and a half when it is required I'm just not sure it should be required. Regarding WC, my state requires it only after a certain number of employees but I carry it anyway because I want to protect my guys. Keeping people physically safe is very different then paying them a required amount. If one of my guys works for me 40 hours M-F and another job 20 hours on the weekend should someone pay him time and a half? What's the difference between this and him working for me 60 hours a week? Again I want to emphasis that I treat my guys more than fair and give them every perk Imaginable (well maybe not everyone!), I just don't want to be tols what "perks" I have to give.Regarding the rest of the world, if we are so far behind why are we as a country so financial successful? Do we want to go to France maximum 32 hour work week? How is it that we are so far behind? Things seem awfully "safe" around here compared to many places.Thanks for the chat so far!
*eric... intentional or not.. employees can't "volunteer" to not get time & a half...here's one.. no universal health care for hourly workers.. but it's a given perc of management..no paid vacations for hourly workers.. but another given for management..and on , and on...ceo's used to get 10 x the hourly rate ... now they get 300 x...the rich get richer and the poor get poorer..but i digress...
*Eric,If the time and a half requirement were dropped, it would be about forty hours later that an employer told an employee that he or she would work eight more hours at straight pay, or else end of job.Yes, I said things may have changed, but I also said I didn't think they'd changed enough (and I doubt they ever do).Rich Beckman
*Hey Mike and Rich, Good stuff. Maybe I'm a little to idealistic about the whole thing. I know employees can't legally volunteer for regular pay overtime but again my point is why shouldn't they be able to.For out economy to grow and prosper, businesses have to grow and prosper. I look at it like this. If there is to be a tax cut, where is it going to be most effective? If you give a break to the lowest 20% they can afford a few more things and life is a little easier. If you give it to the top 20%, they invest it in business, stocks, etc. and create more business and more jobs for unemployed or underemployed people. Plan B seems to have a more widespread positive effect.If I can cut out overtime and spent that money on marketing and create more work and thus more jobs is that not going to more long term effective? Maybe this is a stretch but I'm just thinking!Mike, Regarding healthcare, paid vacations etc. The best companies are the ones with the best people. You get the best people by offering the best package (not just financial either). Companies that grow and succeeed offer those perks to hourly workers and eventually mediocre companies will have to do the same or else lose business because they don't have the best people. When government steps in and forces the situation they take out the natural competition and everyone suffers.If we move to a system where everyone, "labor" and "management" get exactly the same "treatment", where does the drive to become management come from? To me this is the problem with communism. The concept is OK, everyone gets everything they need - job, insurance, house, food. The problem is that if everyone has those things noone is motivated to get more and thus raise everyones standard of living. If I know I can bust my butt to make my communist company successful and in turn the extra money I make the company is given to the guy sitting next to me doing only his part, I'm going to stop busting my butt.Again, maybe to simplistic but I'm still enjoying the chat. And thanks for keeping civil!!
*In Mass see for some info.http://www.ago.state.ma.us/wkques.asp#paymentFederal has some requirements but doesn't cover everyone seehttp://www.workers.gov/child1.asp?IntCategoryId=6&IntSubCategoryId=6The "problem" with "volenteering" for overtime at less than t&h is the employer who will expect it to always be a "volenteer"Some types of employees are not required to be paid overtime and are "allowed" to "volenteer" their time for neither pay nor compensatory time off.
*Awright, I'm in this discussion.First, I agree with Mike. O.T. is a good thing. The guys like making a little money once in a while. I don't agree with Mike's rail against automatic corporate perks however. I know too many corporate people who have to sell their soul to get those "auto" percs. Often, they don't get paid overtimes too!If you want to avoid paying ot, you can always set up dual entities and make payroll out of two companies. There are legal ways to do it. OT will be cheaper however.blue
*eric... commies.. those nasty bums !when i was a kid in parochial school the nuns used to tell us of the horrors of communism...both parents had to work.....the kids were raised in day schools....can you believe it ?anyways... starting a family in the '70's was sure a lot different than it is today... health coverage was a given...7 to 9 paid holidays was standard...companies had cradle to grave employment policies...now... i pity the young families trying to get it together...nope.. there is too much money at the top.. and not enough at the bottom...and i'm talking working poor... not welfare..b but hey , whadda i no ?
*when my wife and I go to a restaraunt (Applebee's. Chili's, etc) and I see families come in with 2 or 3 kids about 10 yrs old, I wonder how they afford it.
*mike, when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's my dad had a good salary job with a Fortune 500 company------6 weeks paid vacation a year and a lavish medical plan( I don't think he paid a nickel for the birth of 6 kids)----Of course none of that slowed tem from forcing him out into early retirement when that became expedient.that little view of corporate life has shaped my choices today)Front page news of my local paper this AM. 2 former secretaries formerly employed by the city will recieve approx. $1.5 million after winning their lawsuit against the city.they had sued to recieve approx. $2,000 in overtime pay that the city refused to pony up. The city tried to force the 2 secretaries to take comp time at straight pay rates( not even time and a half rates) instead of paying them overtime. When the 2 secretaries filed suit the city then burned the time sheet records of the 2 secretaries covering the disputed pay periods.so instead of paying a lousy $2000 the city is now paying out $1.5 million. Overtime pay is nothing to F!@# around with. One or two screwed employees may cost you a bundle.
*I think I'd have a problem with the "voluntary overtime" idea. What's to keep an employer from telling you: "You either i volunteerfor some overtime at your regular pay rate, or hit the road"I'm sure there are very, very few employers who would do that. But they're the ones the laws were written for. Actually, I know of 2 contractors who do that now. They dictate what hours their guys work. (Sometimes 7 days a week)They pay them a straight hourly rate - don't take taxes out, and don't pay WC. Guess they don't care if it's illegal, and they haven't gotten caught.
*
I own a MA state business, we are small ( 3 - 4 guys most times). I had a new hire tell me that my payroll service "screwed up bad" because they didnt include his time and one half. Rarely do we ever exceed 8 hours a day. This employees hours exceeded 40 because we worked a half day saturday. So, do you guys pay after 40? After 8 in one day? Whats the law say? What is customary? I pay good money to the payroll service I would think if it were the law they would do it automaticaly. I plan on checking with my accountant on Tuesday, any help would be great, thanks.