Hourly vs Salary?

[California]

There were good points made by Moss. Look into them as well as getting proper legal advice. At age 57 and being on salary they may be able to do some good things for you.

From the sounds of what is happening your next supervisor may not even be on site but look after a number of buildings.

Proper knowledgeable advice on your situation and location would be advisable.

Ultrarunner, maybe the union for your nearest union hospital could direct you to a local labor attorney for pertinent advice. Or the union at this new firm's other facilities might be helpful in locating advice if the facilities are in California.

I think this goes way beyond timecard issues. You might try to get your position retitled something like VP for facilities management to preserve the breadth you have now.

 

[hawkeye08]

Years ago, we had an employee that took every advantage of the labor laws. His eventual downfall was when he claimed big overtime for working a 16 hr shift, then slept the next day and did not take time off. He expected to be paid for both the overtime and comp time (comp time was illegal at that time in our state). The company tightened the overtime rules and made it a mess. I will say though, when they played hardball with the honest folks, there were far fewer "phone fixes" and many more call outs that only took a few minutes to resolve (and get paid 4 hrs).

Ultra, you are in a good position, you can ask questions about all this without any worries about why, if you are salary now and moving to hourly, it is fair to ask how things work, you want to be able to properly complete your timecard, etc.

 

[jerrybob]

You're a smart guy......you have done well. Go enjoy life and drive your tractor. Screw the corp. life. You are 57.......you could die tomorrow....next week....next year.....who knows??? I hope you live a very long life.....go enjoy it.

 

[lennyzx11]

Having worked both ways and having managed hourly employees for the last 15 years, a lot will depend on how the company runs the budget.

You need to look up the pay/OT rules for your specific geographic location. For example, in Texas, OT (time & half) only kicks in when you work more than 40 hours within the company defined 7 day pay period (so you could work 20 hours 1 day, 20 hours the next and it would all be at straight time) and you never are eligible for double time and there are no special pay for working Federal or state holidays. In other locations, OT happens when you hit 8 hours in a given day and double time kicks in after 12 hours in a day or 60 hours in a week.

One of two things will happen:

1. You will be told do your 40 hours in week (around a standard schedule) and then go home. What gets done, gets done. What doesn't get done, doesn't get done.

2. You will be done to keep going on like you have been and let the chips fall where they may.

This is verbatim for what I wanted to say.
I worked hourly then worked on a retainer for 40 hours at a reduced rate(65%).

The absolute best deal I have so far is 40 hour salary no matter what plus what overtime I work. Norm is 60 a week when working.

I'm home 6 days every six weeks normally but have an open vacation policy.

I average working 280 days a year.

My buddy took straight salary at 20% more gross annual for same job and my gross has been 35% higher last 3 years vs my flat 40 plus overtime( which is same rate. No time and a half)
Lenny

 

[ultrarunner]

You're a smart guy......you have done well. Go enjoy life and drive your tractor. Screw the corp. life. You are 57.......you could die tomorrow....next week....next year.....who knows??? I hope you live a very long life.....go enjoy it.

The men in the family tend to kick off at age 73 and on the job... it has been this way for my Grandfather, Dad, Uncles and Dad's cousin... Mom's side, the farming side never really retire either but it is different and the men go in their 90's fairly fit... Dad's side it's always leukemia... I seem to be losing a good friend every couple of months and many are in their 60's and 70's.

 

[ultrarunner]

Around 5 pm as I was wrapping things up at work after just picking up after a homeless camp that spills over to hospital property and getting ready to take Mom Christmas shopping for the grandkids an alarm on the Tissue Bank went off... not good.

We store tissue at -80 and the freezer was trending warmer... the recorder showed over a few hours it had warmed to -70.

Had to make a dash to pick up 50 lbs of dry ice so I could move the critical grafts to a cooler while I unplugged the cryo unit... there is a good chance it will be fine after 48 hours off to thaw... then turn it on Christmas Eve in and let it take time to reach -80 and stabilize... if all goes well I can transfer the tissue to the freezer Christmas Day... so I know I will be babysitting the cryo freezer this Christmas...

Thankfully the inventory is low... about 20k of tissue in the freezer.

 

[riptides]

You have written your responsibilities and can do attitude, which appears to have save the corporation serious dollars in this thread.

I suggest you find a place for these awesome tidbits in a resume package lest you forget. They should be presented to the new employer ASAP and bargaining can start from that discussion about your worth and skills.

I am at a point in my life, where I do not want anyone calling me unless it is a civil or national emergency. There are younger people that would love to do the work. I need peace of mind. It seems you are still going strong and revel in the challenges, my fear is that you will be boxed in with the new employer, what you have written here does not bode well for the box-type managers. They will not have control and may come to view you as a threat no matter the good you are doing. Interview your supervisors, hard, when the time comes.

 

[ultrarunner]

Very insightful as I feel a 180 attitude shift on my part...

I can adhere to the new rules to the letter... make sure I take my breaks and mealtime to the minute and should something come up simply say it will have to wait as I am on mandatory meal break... not who I am but I have worked with people that have no problem saying something is not their job or clock watchers... can be frustrating as all get out for me.

Learned the regional manager is someone I have worked well with in the past and will be my direct supervisor... we back in the late 90's we were project managers and the CEO came up with the policy we could not both be off at the same time because it was important to the Hospital that one of us always be available... not that we did the same work but we were the problem solvers willing to put in the extra time and effort to see a project through and on budget.

In our brief meeting yesterday... I mention this was not at all what I was expecting and had no problem saying what allowed the Hospital to survive is having people that could think in their feet and cut through the red tape to make things happen... I was met with this was very true and it probably would have closed if it was not for the efforts of a few key people but this is a new chapter as part of a large corporate healthcare provider that has volumes of rules and policies so things will be very much different.

The new administrator did say the same concerns were voiced to the new company regarding my role but the decision is theirs at the corporate level.

Between the lines it came across as go along now and once the dust settles we can revisit... but the new administrator can only make recommendations for creating a "New" position vs staffing existing positions.

We had 15 good years working together as peers... I believe there will be friction if I follow my new job description to the letter.

Still waiting to hear back from HR on my questions...

 

[Turbys_1700]

I would imagine your questions were not addressed when your new position was identified. A lot of those corporate guys only know numbers and not operations. Hopefully they will give you the leeway you need to do your job. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm thankful to have the sounding board here at TBN and be able to tap into the knowledge base.

Some anxiety could be of my own doing... I do take things very literally, especially when I "Voluntarily" agree to the writing job description with the little footnote on the last page stating I will be evaluated by this agreement and failure to perform is grounds for dismissal... words have meaning.

The deadline to accept is at the close of business today... doesn't look like I will have answers before then... part of me wants to insert my own disclaimer at the signature line regarding unanswered questions... which will probably do more harm then good...