Anyone a payroll expert???

I been getting boned really bad with pay work 80 hours in a pay period get paid like 900 bucks work 110 hours and only get paid 180 bucks more apparently 30 hours of time is only worth 180$ can someone explain in depth pay roll laws to me barney style in regards to travel time in a work vehicle, overtime, and how it all works I will post pay stubs without my personal data if that helps

a reply to: Brotherman

not a payroll expert - but to answer - correctly - an expert will need to know your country and if US state - and what tax cade you are

edit to add -

oh and know you basic rate / hour and overtime rate is needed too

just my opinion - but I suspect you may have " jumped tax brackets " - ie gone from 30% to 45% tax by earning more - this sucks

a reply to: Brotherman

Forget the pay slips - check your contract (assuming you have one)

If you are on salary, you'd get nothing extra for going over. If you are on an hourly rate, you should get at least the same rate per hour you are paid for the standard 80 hours. If you are lucky, penalty (overtime) rates may apply.

are you in the USA if so .. here's a Start US wage and hour board

make sure you have the latest copy of your compensation in black and white and see if anything has changed.. if so .. the payroll dept SHOULD have told you it did ...IF it did .. like compensating you for company drive time .. or being on call

if there's an issue .. head to your payroll admin and ask if they would go over the numbers with you .. if they don't .. go to payroll dept manger ..if they don't ..

talk to the link above I assure you .. they will deal with it in a short manner .. from my experience

I work sales, so direct hour comparassion wont directly apply, but I can not count the times, that doing exceptionally well in sales has led to the same thing.

Hey I made X amount more in commission YAY, OH wait, you got bumped into a higher tax bracket.


Depending on how efficient your Payroll is, I can tell you a trick we Salesmen would use.

On a flush month, go exempt, No taxes for that month.

Usually Nov-Dec in Sales.

Next tip,

GO exempt anyway, year round, PUT your own calculated tax burden aside each check in a savings and collect some interest.

BETTER than giving Uncle sam an interest free loan anyway.

originally posted by: Brotherman
I been getting boned really bad with pay work 80 hours in a pay period get paid like 900 bucks work 110 hours and only get paid 180 bucks more apparently 30 hours of time is only worth 180$ can someone explain in depth pay roll laws to me barney style in regards to travel time in a work vehicle, overtime, and how it all works I will post pay stubs without my personal data if that helps

It sounds like you got bumped to the next tax bracket. Drive time is done a couple of different ways. By the mile, by your hourly rate, a percentage(say half your hourly rate), or if salary worker doesn't matter. You might want to ask your employer what drive time is payed at or you can calculate it yourself if it's broken down on your paycheck stub.

hey guys thanks for the replies but I am looking for a guru that will look at slips

this company wants to take hours worked fabricating in shop against time installing in field and then time traveled

14.50 an hour shop

15.00 an hour field

10.00 an hour travel

problem is, is that I work more hours and get paid tons less if I work nothing but shop time I get paid ok, then they want me to take less money to travel with their stuff trucks tools etc and then run multi million dollar projects they average the pay, nothing is straight pay it may take 3 hours to drive to a place for a 20 minute job and then 3 to drive back and then i make way less then if I was just welding. If there is a guru it is better explained with pay stubs I am getting a$$ raped I weld stainless pipe for handrail structure and get paid alot less then what it is worth to do so I am about ready to quit because my little brother that works at Mcd's and wal mart makes a little more then me. I am a depressed vet been homeless before and am very angry with the way america is I would rather be back in Iraq. If anyone knows how to articulate specifics I would like to show them my stuff and ask if they can articulate for me, I do not think almost a full work week is worth 180$ but my company says it is

a reply to: Brotherman

That should be easy - add up the total amount of hours for each category type in a pay run where you feel you've been had and let's know what you come up with.

i.e. 50 hours shop
40 hours field
20 hours travel

Are you keeping a record of these hours yourself. Or are you relying on them to calculate it all correctly for you?

I'm the office manager at an oil company and I handle the payroll. I can probably help you, if you would like. Everyone here is salaried now, but I used to figure overtime up until a couple of years ago.

I will need your withholding status, gross pay and deductions info. Although, if you have this information, you can go to the IRS website and go to the payroll withholding tables (you can do the same for state payroll tax in Oklahoma, but I don't know what state you are in), look up your tax amount according to amount of gross pay and withholding status and see it for yourself. I'm just saying, those taxes are so damn crazy that it may make more sense for you to look it up on the charts yourself.

One disclaimer - I have never figured payroll with different amounts depending on what you are doing. I have only done straight overtime in which we pay time and a half...

a reply to: markosity1973

No I am a little stupid idiot that lets mommy and daddy do it all for me listen, when your pay roll stub says my overtime is worth 6 effin dollars and .49 cents I get pissed I dont need someone like you to come along and say oh did you add it up yourself. They don't add up my pay they average it or something it doesn't look right.

Should take it up with a payroll specialist at your job, or the payroll company if they outsource this. Most likely, Uncle Sam is taking a bigger chunk due to brackets....but someone at your employer is much more versed on the company policies and your city/state/nation's tax codes, so can give you a detailed answer.

a reply to: Brotherman

For drive time, are you the one physically driving the vehicle? If so you should get your full wage. If passenger, then $10 is fair considering a lot of companies are really trying to screw the employee out of drive time all together. The excuse is that we have to bid lower in order to get these jobs or else we wouldn't be working at all... I'm sure you've heard it all before.

You're in Michigan right? Go to your state website, department of labor and industry. And like was mentioned, Wage and Hour are pretty much on the ball and act swiftly. A lot of companies will try to pull some questionable if not downright illegal #, and if you don't call them on it, they just keep doing it. If you learn enough about the law in your state to at least sound like you know what you're talking about, the management will cave, on the other hand, it's also a way to get to the top of the list when layoffs come around.

Also, as benrl mentioned, you are legally allowed to adjust your exemptions on a check to check basis. They might tell you they can't, because it's a pain in the ass for them, but they do have to if you ask in writing. This is a good thing to do when you have a huge week or are getting a bonus tacked onto your check. Sucks you get paid every two weeks. Also sucks when you work all that extra overtime and only get $180 more. Even though it's technically illegal, a lot of construction companies will bank their employees hours for when it's slow or weather, etc. That way you still get a paycheck and you're not stuck for unemployment, sort of a win/win.

As mentioned, always keep track of your own hours.

a reply to: Gazrok

what they do is they add up all the hours and then divide it with how many hours and average it. How it all works out is say I have to drive 3 hours to the site for a 1 hour install then drive 3 hours back, they only will pay the average, its not worth my time I am going to more then likely quit and leave them in a bad way I'm a pipe welder/ fabricator and deserve to be paid more then double of what they are paying.