Unquestionably, we all want more money. But did you know that a remarkable 44% of people have never asked for a raise during their performance reviews? This astonishing result comes from a survey of Salary.com. So why are people scared of negotiating their pay rate? Do they consider negotiating the rate of pay meaning something scary? Maybe, but it is not as scary as not doing it.
No matter which level you are in, whether you are male or female, it’s always essential to grasp the basis of the rate of pay firmly and learn to negotiate. Keep reading to get the wealth you deserve.
Table of Contents
Rate Of Pay Meaning – What Is Rate Of Pay?
Basic Rules Of Regular Pay Rate
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) considers the amount of money an employee earns hourly as their regular rate per hour. An employee’s pay rate can consist of wages, commissions, pay differentials, incentive pay, bonuses, and other types of compensation.
How Does The Rate Of Pay Work?
Before getting to know the concept of how the rate of pay works, let’s distinguish between non-exempt and exempt employees.
Non-Exempt Vs. Exempt Employees
Their difference lies in the extra pay for overtime. Exempt employees don’t get additional payment for working more than 40 hours per week. They get paid for completing the job. On the other hand, the employer has to pay overtime for non-exempt employees if they work more than 40 hours per workweek. Accordingly, employers need to limit the hours that non-exempt employees work.
Regular Rate Of Pay: The Key For Calculating The Overtime Rate
Notably, the regular rate of pay meaning is the basis for calculating employees’ overtime rate, which generally equals one and a half times their regular rate. For example, if one’s regular pay rate is $20 per hour, the overtime rate will be $30 per hour. The FLSA requires employers to pay overtime pay rates when employees work more than 40 hours in a workweek.
This basic rule of calculating overtime pay seems quite simple, but variable work schedules may complicate it.
The 8/80 rule: Another rule to calculate overtime
As mentioned above, a typical employee working more than 40 hours a week can receive overtime pay. But hospitals and healthcare facilities have another way to determine overtime pay by implementing the 8/80 rule.
The underlying cause for this rule is that on-call doctors, nurses, interns, and other hospital staff members need flexible options for calculating weekly hours. If you are unfamiliar with the “8 and 80” system, keep reading to see how they could benefit you.
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The “8 and 80” rule requires employers to pay overtime for every working hour over 8 hours per day. Let’s say, if an employee goes on a 12-hour shift, they will earn overtime pay for 4 extra hours regardless of how many total working hours during the 14-day work period.
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Similarly, the employer must pay overtime for every hour above 80 hours during the 14-day work period. For example, if an employee performs 84 hours in the work period, they will be due 4 hours of overtime.
A firm can have some staff working under the standard overtime policies and others under the “8 and 80” system. However, they can’t apply both rules to the same employee.
How To Calculate Your Pay Rate?
When You’ve Got The Hourly Rate And The Remuneration
The regular rate of pay is the sum of the hourly rate of pay plus all remuneration per week, in whatever form, divided by the total number of hours worked in the workweek.
When You’ve Got The Monthly Salary
To calculate the regular pay rate, first get the weekly income by multiplying the monthly salary by 12 months, then dividing that number by 52 weeks.
Once we get the weekly salary, divide the weekly salary by 40 hours. The final result is your regular rate of pay.
When You’ve Got Multiple Rates Of Pay From Multitasking
Within a single workweek, you perform different types of jobs. For multitasking, your regular rate for that week is the weighted average of all rates. Your total earnings will include all compensation from these rates during the workweek. The final step is to divide them by the total number of working hours at all these jobs.
Let’s be specific with the following example:
If you work 30 hours in a position paying $20 per hour and 15 hours in a job that pays $15 per hour, what is rate of pay? A total of 45 hours a workweek makes the average of your regular rate of pay meaning “30 multiply by $20 + 15 hours at $15 = $825 /45 = $18.33.”
What Does It Mean When The Employer Asks Your Rate Of Pay?
Why Is Your Answer Closely Scrutinized?
Employers need to be careful when responding to employees for legal and practical reasons, especially where various wage differentials, specialty pay, on-call pay, performance reviews, and bonuses might lead to legal claims. Setting and following the regular pay rate for non-exempt employees lay the foundation for establishing legal payroll practices.
5 Tips For Answering Smartly
Indeed, candidates will have a comparison of salaries and benefits between companies when choosing a job. They tend to opt for competitive salaries. If you still wonder ‘what does competitive salary mean‘, this term describes the one that stacks up well compared with similar jobs from other employers. So pick up the following handy tips to come up with a competitive salary.
Tip 1: Know Your Value
If you want to get the pay you deserve, first know the market rate for your position in its industry and your geographic area. Otherwise, an experienced recruiting manager can control the conversation.
Don’t be pushy when negotiating your salary. Do online searches on job websites such as Payscale or Glassdoor in advance. Additionally, ask people in your field, ideally both men and women, to avoid the misconception of the gender gap.
Furthermore, you can refer to our figures:
How Much Is 6 Figures Salary In The United States?
70 000 A Year Is How Much An Hour? The Most Well-paid Jobs In 2021?
Tip 2: Be Able To Say “No” To A “Walk Away Point”
When negotiating, you may come up with a “walk away point”, which is the unacceptably low final offer that you have to turn down. Walking away from an offer is never easy, but it’s essential to know when to do so. It’s your power to be able to say “no.”
Tip 3: Pick The Top Of The Range
While doing your research, you tend to develop a range that represents your market value. It will be wiser if you ask for something at the top area. Needless to say, your employer tends to negotiate down, so you need to make a pretty high proposal to still end up with the pay you are pleased with.
Tip 4: Give The Exact Number
Researchers at Columbia Business School recommend asking for a precise number, such as $70,750 rather than $70,000.
Employees proposing a precise figure in the initial negotiation request are more likely to receive the final offer closer to their expectations. In this case, the employer will assume you have done in-depth research into your market value to come up with that specific number.
Tip 5: Timing Is Everything!
Timing is everything. Many people wait until performance review season to ask for a pay rate adjustment. But by then, your manager has likely already decided which raise the team will get.
Instead, “Start talking to your boss about getting a raise three to four months in advance,” – Suzanne Lucas, writer and former human resources professionals of EvilHRLady.org, told. This period is the golden time when they decide the budget.
If you want to boost your salary much higher, our Hints To Persuade Your Manager will be helpful.
Visit our Career advice section for more tips to get to the top of your career ladder. Explore more on Jobandedu.
Our Final Recommendations
“The way you enter a room can dictate how the rest of an interaction will be,” says James Clear. Walk with confidence as now you get the rate of pay meaning and basis. Keep your head high and smile when entering. Remember to start everything off with a positive vibe, no matter how small it is. During the conversation, paying attention to the other party shares the same importance. By attentively listening to what the other person is saying, you can understand their needs then proposing an option that makes you both happy.
