Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with wages

How much should a nanny get paid and how to ask for a raise

beccyjoe — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:52:09 -0800

What do other Canadian nannies earn? I get $12 an hour and want to ask for a raise. Never done this before, any advice on hour to go about it? I work part time (20-25 hours p/w) as a nanny for a very nice couple with one 2 yr old daughter. They treat me very well and I like them a lot. I am not expected to do any cleaning or housework - just look after/entertain their kid. It's a good job and I enjoy it, I like the kid a lot.

But I can't help but feel that $12 an hour is measly. For similar work in Australia I was paid $18. I do a great job, and the parents constantly tell me how happy they are with me. I'm 31 and and very experienced.

I've been working with them for 3 months now and I feel it's time to ask for a raise. I'm nervous about it because I have a great relationship with them and it's obviously not business-like at all. It's not like approaching a boss in an office environment.

Also I know that a lot of other Canadian nannies get paid much less. However I still think $12 is measly...

PLease offer suggestions on hour to go about asking for a raise in this casual, friendly employment situation. I feel very respected and appreciated, so I don't want to go about this the wrong way.

Also if you are a Canadian nanny and earn more, please tell me so I know it's reasonable!

Thanks!

I gotta pee

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:56:25 -0800

Despertaly needing some extra income, I've applied to Target for a position unloading trucks at night. I have two concerns. Drugs and money. I do not do any illicit or illegal drug, and haven't for over six months (pot). I do, however, take a rather low dose of Lithium (300mg daily) as well as Prozac (60 mg), Serequal
Serequal (50mg) and 1-2 mg of Klonopin a day.
Additionally I take massive vitimas and minerals. I inject (MD prescribed) 2 mg of liquid (obviously) B12 every 3 days. Orally I take 10,000 MG of B12, 35 of Niacin,45 MG of B6, a liquid concoction of 130 nutrients and vitamins. 10 ml of cod liver oil, 15 mg of Flaxseed oil, and a quart of sugar free fruit juice.
This is excessive, but temporary. My concern is...the urine/drug test, not only will I pass it, but will I come off as a freakin psyco dude.
And if I can slip this in, I'm used to making a salary. I am supposed to ask them for an hourly wage, which they will meet, offer a comprmise, or just laugh and tell me to hit the highway? What's that kinda job pay in the North East (US)? $15?
This is not as desperate as it might come across, but things will be pretty grim if I don't get a second job.
Advice?
Sorry for the length and the rambling on about me and my rather minor problems. Thanks for any imput.

Calc: how to work out what I'm being paid

Solomon — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:40:58 -0800

I need some help finding/creating a Calc/Excel formula that will help me track my breaks at work, depending on how long I work per day. I work shift of varying different lengths. One day I might work 3 hours, 7 the next and 4h30m the following day. I get a break time dependent on how long I've worked, which means I'm not paid for that period of time.

For example, if I work 3 hours, I get paid for 3 full hours. If I work 7 hours, I get a 45 minute unpaid break, which means I only get paid for 6h15m. If I work 4 hours, I get a 15 minute unpaid break, which means I get paid for 3h45m.

I want to be able to track in Openoffice Calc (by preference, though Excel will do) what hours I'm at work & what hours I get paid for, every week. I've uploaded a working copy of the spreadsheet here.

What formula do I need to put into F2, F3, etc, to work out how many hours I've been paid, and then return that number as a percentage (so I can easily multiply that number by my hourly wage, and get an idea of how much I'll actually be paid)?

I hope this is clear. I don't use spreadsheets very often.

They want their money back - but should they get it? (UK)

almostwitty — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:31:32 -0800

My British employer overpaid me back in June 2008 to the tune of £1k. I pointed this out at the time, but never heard from anyone. Now it's December, and they want the money back. However, I've heard that I can contest this, on the grounds that the employer made a mistake, and that it's illegal to force employees to rectify companies' mistakes. Is this true? And what legalese can I quote? :)

Provide your own wage: how much do I ask for experienced heavy labour?

Acer_saccharum — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:44:48 -0800

Asking for a friend: If starting wage for unskilled heavy labour was $13/hr. What would one ask for (in wages) if they were asked to provide a wage for themselves for skilled and experienced heavy labour? Ritzy landscaping company. Cocoapples can follow up with more details if needed in the questions, but he just registered and is unable to ask his time sensitive Q for a week.

Am I being underpaid to sit in a little grey box?

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:29:32 -0800

How much should an online marketing manager be paid? With a base salary and a 100% trackable sales? Company description: Sell shippable custom widgets, which must be bought online.

Job description: Online Marketing Manager, recruit affiliates for our affiliate program. Find websites to advertise on that will convert to sales.

I know I'm leaving money on the table, I've only been there 3 months, but I think my value will be extremely high from a ROI perspective.

With analytic data we can track almost 100% of the sales that I will bring in directly to the site.

I'm only being paid salary currently, but I feel like there is a better payment equation based on my skills
and abilities (lower salary + commission). Is there a standard equation for something like this?

Are there websites that focus on on this particular question for my particular niche?

Do companies have a particular ROI for this particular position? Example they expect to make $2.5 profit for every dollar I'm paid.

Basically there are a lot of little questions that all equal up to the generic question that we all ask when it comes to working, am I receiving the proper compensation?

Suing over unpaid wages

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:54:12 -0800

Suing over unpaid wages when it's a small amount? I worked for a blog for 13 months. The blog's owner is in Canada and I am in the US. The blog owner decided to change my contract (to require more content in each post), which I declined and decided to quit. He decided not to pay me for the past month, saying that I was lucky he'd kept me on staff as long as he had. That makes no difference as there was no hint of a contract change before then... I had every reason to believe I'd be paid.

The blog is not incorporated - it is simply the owner himself paying people. My mom works for a debt collection lawyer, and he said I can sue him for 3 times the amount he owes me, plus court costs and attorney's fees, despite Canada and the non-business status. Because I was being paid regularly, I was reasonable to expect my wages. I haven't directly asked him to take the case yet... my mom feels he is busy and may not be able to, and I'm just waiting a few days to think it over. (She did not tell him how much I am owed.)

The thing is, it's only $80 he owes me. I know, most people think it's such a small amount that I should just let it go. And life is short, and all that. The thing is, I need that money very badly. I am on the verge of bankruptcy and filing for food stamps, and I have a crapload of medical bills. I expected that money and I was relying on it. If I wasn't so broke, I probably would let it go.

Will lawyers take me seriously when I mention $80, or will they laugh me out of the office? I don't know that I can represent myself in small claims court, since the blog owner is in Canada.

How much should they pay me?

anaelith — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:23:09 -0800

In Northern Virginia, for temporary office work through an agency, how much should I ask the agency for, per hour, in USD? How much will I actually reasonably get? I'm in Northern Virginia, Chantilly/Centreville area. I've never had a job (not even flipping burgers) before. I have an A.S. in Computer Science and an A.S. in Science/Mathematics. GPA is not terribly good, but not failing. I can type, do basic computery things, use complete sentences, etc. Mostly I am just sick of school and would like a no-heavy-lifting job without being taken for a fool or an easy mark. So how much should I ask for, per hour, in USD, and how much should I actually expect to get? (And a bonus question, are there other trick questions I should prep for?)

Should I ask my employers if they're being generous or just stupid?

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:36:31 -0800

I'm in the UK, working part-time for a large company. They're paying me too much. What now? I work a few days a week for an hourly rate. I was just paid for the first time and the only way this amount makes sense is if they were paying me the proper hourly rate for a full 5-day working week. I get paid directly into my bank account and my payslip only has information about tax-withholdings, not about hours worked or any other clues.
Am I required by law to bring this to their attention? If I'm not (or even if I am) and decide not to tell them, what can they do if they notice the mistake? Can they retrieve the money from my account without my consent? Or just pay me less next time so that their bottom line is still the same? Could they fire me or take me to court to get their money back?
I'm leaving in a month for a better job, so I'm not worried about hurting future advancement here.

canned cat food or sushi?

the dief — Fri, 18 May 2007 07:25:11 -0800

So I will be making x dollars gross in Ontario, that translates to... Yet another delightful question in the I'm-moving-to-Ontario-from-the-US series. If I've got a salary of X dollars gross, is there any sort of online widget or happy little calculator that can tell me approximately what my take-home pay will be after taxes? Obviously I'm not looking for spot-on laser accuracy, but just a general gist so I can plan for housing, whether or not I buy a new bike, etc.

I've found lots of Canada-related money calculators online, but they all deal with after-tax income for things like home buying or investing or what-have-you.

Overtime pay versus comp time

Optimus Chyme — Tue, 01 May 2007 06:16:25 -0800

What are the rules, if any, governing overtime pay versus comp time? Yesterday afternoon, my employer told all employees that there would be no more overtime pay, only comp time. Neither I nor anyone else on my team is salaried.

I live in Arizona and as far as I can tell, Arizona does not have an overtime law, so we should be covered under federal law. But I can't find any explanations of overtime pay versus comp time here.

So, my questions are pretty simple:

1) Is it legal to give employees comp time in lieu of overtime?

2) Would that comp time be accrued like overtime pay, that is, one and a half hours for every hour worked over 40?

3) If it is not legal, what are the specific laws and penalties covering it?

Thanks!

Restaurant Nazis

Mach3avelli — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 19:15:09 -0800

Fed up with corporate bullsh*t. This one's going to need a bit of groundwork to lay down....

I work as a server for a nation-wide restaurant chain in California. We earn $6.75 an hour (min wage), and therefore earn nearly everything from tips. Labor laws in California restrict workers from working six hours straight without a break. Naturally, most shifts during a busy night will exceed six hours, and we can't just walk away and abandon our tables, so we have something called a "server breaker," or someone who leap-frogs from one server to the next every 30 minutes to assist their tables so everyone has a chance to take a break (there is no designated full-time server breaker at our restaurant, every server on staff has to do it every once in awhile). Instead of doling out a portion of our tips to the server breaker, they're instead placed on a $15/hr. wage (hardly comparable to the amount you'd make doing the same task as a regular server, but that's not where I'm going with this).

So now we come to certain afternoon shifts, where business is slower and only 1 or 2 servers are in danger of exceeding six hours. Consequently, they need to be broken. However, with no assigned server breaker (silly to have someone come in to work for 30 mins), the management takes it upon itself to use servers at the tail-end of their afternoon shifts to step up and break those 1 or 2 servers. The only difference, however, is that, since they're still managing their own tables in the meantime, they're still technically "servers" and therefore still earn min wage. The argument I brought forth to management is that it's ridiculous to pay someone min wage for doing a $15/hr job--on top of taking care of their own tables.

I've tried to negoatiate getting clocked in as a server breaker for that 30 mins or finding compromise by giving the temporary server breaker a free meal ticket. All of my points have been taken but given no accreditation. I'm often met with lines such as, "When you signed up to work at XXX you signed up to play by the rules and policies we have set here."

To further push the point that compromise wasn't in their best interest, there was an employee meeting where the issue was discussed...."You have two options: either we continue with our current policy or we start scheduling you guys to come in and break people for 30 mins." You can guess the overwhelming vote on that one. My response to this was why not just use servers already there and geared up at the end of their shifts? No dice.

The corporation has a 3rd-party help line that I've been directed to, and they take all the information down and pass it back to corporate. It's more often used for personnelle issues, and my policy issue reports have gone unanswered.

So my question to you all is the legaility of all this. I've tried going through the arbitration route with no luck, so I'm wondering if there exists any legal options. What are the (California) standards and labor laws regarding unequivocal wage distribution? Or maybe some resources I can be directed to to learn more about my rights and/or whether they're being infringed.

Thank you.

Employmentfilter: Mandatory overtime for a salaried position - can it be required?

mockjovial — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 11:08:46 -0800

Quick question for those of you with any knowledge of the subject: Is it possible (by possible I mean legal) for an employer to change the pay structure for an employee from salaried but eligible for overtime pay to a salaried but not eligible for overtime? This is a case where working overtime is required by the job. This is in Illinois. Someone I am close to has been working for a large manufacturer of edible oils for many years. He just received word that management is going to be coming through department by department and instituting changes to the pay structure of employees. Specifically, they are going to eliminate eligibility for overtime payment, but a requirement to work overtime will still exist.

If this is the case, the person would effectively lose roughly $30,000/year in wages, because in a typical week they work 20-30 hours of overtime.

Is this really possible?

Why was I changed from exempt to non-exempt at my job?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 20:42:31 -0800

Changed from an exempt to a non-exempt employee; what gives? First, background: I work in Chicago for the technology division of a large investment bank based in NY. I am within a couple days of receiving my year end bonus and raise numbers. Yesterday, my bosses' boss called me directly to inform me that I was being changed from an exempt to a non-exempt employee, effective in the new year. I was told not to expect a change in my job responsibilities or hours. With my new status, I will make my base salary based on 40 hours per week. In addition, my "overtime premium" will be one half (not time-and-a-half) of my hourly rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. They claim this is not being done to reward or compensate me. Every person in my group and department is exempt AFAIK (though some may have just received the same news I have). I am being told so far that this status will not affect my eligibility for my yearly bonus and raise. I currently work on average 45-55 hours a week, make a base salary of $70,000 and a bonus of $30k-$40k.

Questions/concerns: why the hell would they do this? Knowing I already work over 40 hours a week as a rule, why would they change my status to non-exempt and be effectively paying me more money for the same work? As I said, this is not considered a comp reward. Could they be doing this in reaction to a lawsuit or settlement by a former employee who claimed a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act? Could this sudden change to non-exempt at my salary level and amount of hours I work in any way forecast my being layed off? Finally, as I understand it, the FLSA defines overtime as being time-and-a-half; why are they defining my "overtime premium" as 50% of my normal hourly rate?

How much do you pay your nanny?

bonheur — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 12:10:45 -0800

How much do you pay your nanny? I'm in the process of hiring a regular babysitter for my kids. I've found someone I like, a college student with tons of experience who's really great with my little ones. She'll just be here two mornings a week-- one morning with just my infant and the other morning with my toddler as well. How much should I offer her? What about tips? What else do I need to know? This is in Chicago, but I'm also curious if the going rate varies in different parts of the country/world.

Where can I find a reasonably up-to-date file of wage earning statistics for the US, broken down by age?

ph00dz — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 13:36:04 -0800

Anyone know where I can find a reasonably up-to-date of wage earning statistics for the US, broken down by age?

Windfall!

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 10:58:48 -0800

My latest paycheck is for double the amount I'm supposed to be getting paid. I get paid by direct deposit, so the money is already in my account. What do I do?

Should I get a raise?

skryche — Thu, 27 May 2004 09:02:59 -0800

How much should an Advanced Excel (PivotTable, lookups, etc.) hombre in Manhattan be getting paid? I've been temping in this hole of an office for a few months and almost all spreadsheetery has become my responsibility. I think some sort of raise is in order, but I'm not sure what my target should be.