Salaried employee. Offered raise with an increase in hours. Is this normal?

[boomerangdang]

I'm currently working as a 40-hour salaried employee. The company I work for recently said that I'm one of their most efficient employees, and has offered me a 22% raise if I increase my hours to 50 hours a week. The logic was "we know you're working a second job, so why don't you work those hours here?".

Now, I understand that this is a personal decision, but my math side is coming out here.

If my hours go up by 25%, shouldn't the pay go up by more than 25%? I understand that salaried positions don't have to stick to an hourly rate, but is this typical of companies and offers like this? If so, why?

[davismwfl]

If you are in the U.S. a couple of things come to mind.

First, you have a decent employer if they are making this offer at all. In the U.S. a salaried employee has no set maximum hours and an employer could require you to work 50 hrs under many circumstances without additional compensation (there are of course limits). But in general your only real recourse is to leave if you don't like it.

Second, The fact the employer is using a carrot and not a stick is also a good sign, e.g. I have seen employers go to employees and tell them to quit their second job or risk their primary one, and then force them to sign a document stating they won't work for other employers without prior approval which will never happen. Some states have protections against this behavior but not all.

In the end, to me the money wouldn't be the biggest factor, it would be what do you want to do? If you are happy doing side work or your second job and that is fulfilling and not just about money this isn't worth it. If you are doing it solely to earn extra income, than this is an option.

If you are interested in their offer, I would not approach them with the argument of 25% more hours deserves 25% more pay. I'd approach them and say you respect their offer and are very happy they consider you valuable, but the second job is already earning you more and you are enjoying it. So you want to point out that essentially their offer is to give you less, without being an ass about it. You want to imply, not demand here, be humble it will go further. If they are really interested in your extra time and they seem to be good people they'll automatically offer to go up some more or give you other options.

[vectorEQ]

your rate should go up at least as much as the time spent working. so you are right to think that. However, an employer isn't obligated to give a pay raise on every offer. an offer is just that, it's not the same as a raise. If they project to you that it is a raise in pay while its not, then that's actually not ethical, and depending on the wording and where you live might even be in breach of some terms/laws.

For example in my country it's not really allowed to reduce someone's pay, but if you agree to it and sign it is allowed. (so they can offer it and you are allowed to deny it without that reflecting back on you negatively...). This means that if they would want to lower your pay they will think of something creative like the offer you got, to try and reduce pay compared to productivity and wrapping it up in something that might get accepted by someone who doesn't dig a bit deeper.

I would advise just to make a counter offer, and say what you explained here, 'if i'm working 25% more i expect that much more in pay' , or if the other job is actually paying you MORE than these extra hours would yield you, you can even haggle with that and tell them the other job's hours are worth more to you. don't accept anything that feels like a step back, if your employer insists in putting you down like that, perhaps it's time to find a more decent employer.

[sharemywin]

What's your second job and how much is it paying?

Also, what's the work like? do you enjoy it?

Seems like it's a one way street to. If you decided to quit your other job you could always stick to 40 hours. If you go to 50 your stuck at 50.

[boomerangdang → sharemywin]

My primary job is in Software and my second job is at a restaurant.

I get paid over $12/hr at my second job plus tip shares -- on average it's about $50 in tips per shift and on weekend close to $100 on tips.

I make about $20/hr at my primary job, but with the "raise" I'd be making less per hour. I like my job, but I don't like this offer much.

[davelnewton]

Why would it go up more than 25% for 25% more hours? Did you mean the 22% you stated originally? If you work 25% more, you should make 25% more, seems pretty simple.