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Contractors on Salary?
An anonymous reader asks: "I recently got a new job (yes I am one of the lucky few) as a contract programmer. In part of the contract negotiations, the company would not allow me to work on an hourly rate, but instead placed me on salary. I have run into problems in the past where I have had to work an absurd number of hours as a programmer, and am curious where to draw the line. Obviously it is not ok to just leave at the end of an 8 hour shift if there is still lots to be done, but what if the poor project management is not your fault, and heavy deadlines are coming up? Can the company legally make you work 10-16 hour days? I would consider myself new to the industry but not unexperienced. At the company I used to work at, I worked crazy hours and didn't know it was OK to say that the hours are too much. What do you all think?"
1) Why won't they hire you on an hourly basis? Or, at least, why did they claim that salary was their preference? (Maybe they want to exploit; maybe they don't want you doing one hour of work, seven of minesweeper and then billing for all eight.)
2) If you are signing a *contract*, why don't you put an hours-per-week clause?
Joe
Joe
http://www.joegrossberg.com
A: Yes. Well, technically no, but you are not an employee so yes. You see, an employee has to be given a total of 30 minutes rest for 8 hours of work, and while I can demand that the employee stay over 8hrs/day -or- 40hrs/wk, The state law makes sure that I compensate them with breaks, food, sometimes lodging. It gets to expensive for me to hold my employees longer than normal. I once figured the breaking point is at 9.5 to 10 hours a day. If I require my people to stay 9.5hr/day, I'm not really losing anything. However, at 10hr/day, I lose my butt. On the other hand, my lawyers have written our contracts such that when I hire a developer to work on a contract, they agree:
- Work in the office on business days (M-F): This means that the contactor can't work from home or decide to work tue, wed, thu. (of course they each have a set number of sick days, and vaca, etc...
- Work at the "corporate" pace: This is requirement very arbitrary. It's purpose is two fold. One, it allows me to get out of the contract with poor performers, and two, it allows me to squeeze late nights out of any contractor. It states that the contractor(s) must perform his/her/their tasks at such a pace as to not delay the development of the companies staff.
I know that it doesn't seem fair, but my view point on it is like this. If you hire a mechanic to fix your car, and they say that for $300 they can get it done in 4 days. If it take seven days, the total cost to you is greater than the price your agreed on for the service that you got. So in effect the mechanic broke your contract. I pay my contactors for end results, not time spent creating results. The Company that I hire contractors for, expects that for $300 they can get their car fixed, and if that doesn't happen it looses money.So yes, a company can require the entity that it contracts with to what ever it takes to provide the end product on time and with a certain level of quality. And my company also requires that all work done... be done inside the confines of our building. But no, it can get really expensive the keep regular employees.
It sounds as if you're in the same situation my wife has been in (and is about to be in again). You're an employee of a contract house; your employer turns around and bills the company you'll be doing the work for (the "client").
... and keep looking for something even better. The best time to look for a job is when you have a job. Don't jump ship at the first sight of something shiny, but do keep an eye out for great opportunities.
As others have said, you're an "exempt employee"; the belief is that your hours are somewhat flexible, and that you are not guaranteed overtime no matter how many (or which) hours you work. (But you should be able to take a couple of hours off for a doctor's appointment without a lot of fuss.)
On the other hand, it's very likely that your contract house will bill the client for the number of hours you work. So you could be in a weird situation: the client could ask you to work 60 hours a week, your contract house makes 50% more than they'd expected, and you don't make an extra penny.
If everyone's reasonable, things will work out fine. The situation's ripe for potential abuse, though no more so than any other exempt employee situation.
My advice? Take the job, get what you can in writing, set expectations verbally when you can (and then take notes of what was said), don't talk about "40 hours per week" as if it's an entitlement
P.S.: My wife was offered a choice of salary or hourly. She took hourly (and will bill 40 hours per week but work whatever hours are required), at a rate corresponding to two paid weeks off. That way, if she wants to take more time off (without pay), she's able to do so. She got the position with the client (her old employer) first, and then shopped contract houses. It was great to find a supportive and flexible one.
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No blackmail about it (assuming you're right). If you're legally an employee, then you are obligated to report it to the IRS/Labor department. Otherwise you're an accomplice.