2 jobs in company -how to pay and how to classify

joeyHR · April 2004

Hello,

I am pretty sure that if an employee does two jobs in a company (different rates, program, and responsibilities), that he/she must be paid at the weighted average for the two jobs for both regualr pay and OT pay. Can anyone confirm?

Secondly, if the two jobs are both part time (PT), and together they total enough hours to be considered either a percentage full time (PFT) or full time (FT) employee within the organization, are we supposed to combine the hours and mark the employee as a PFT/FT and therefore provide all the benefits that go with that?

Hunter1 · April 2004

If I understand your question, no, you don't need to pay the weighted average for the regular time, just the overtime. The benefits question is controlled either by your policies, or possibly by the SPDs of your benefit plans. Do they say that an employee working 'x' number of hours will be covered?

joeyHR · April 2004

Thanks. Are you sure about the OT being the only thing required at weighted average. I read on the DOL website "Where an employee in a single work-week works two or more different types of work for which different straight time rates have been established, the regular rate for that week is the weighted average of such rates." I also thought it was just OT until I read this, but I am assuming most employers aren't aware of this, so it makes me question whether or not it is true or if I am interpreting it wrong.

And I was hoping the benefits part would be contingent upon our own policy, in accordance with our SPD. Our current policy states the number of scheduled hours worked, so I think that if both jobs were standard hours and they totaled a percentage full time status, we would give them bneenfits. Howev erf, most people that are doing a second job are doing so at a hotlines where the hours are far from regular. I think we just need to develop a more concise policy.

Thanks for your input!

Joe

Hunter1 · April 2004

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-28-04 AT 10:55AM (CST)[/font][br][br]The confusion is that the 'regular rate' is only the rate which is used for computing overtime. It has nothing to do with the rate(s) you pay the employee for hours during the first 40.

Julia · April 2004

1-1/2 times the weighted rate should be used for the overtime pay rate for hours worked over 40 for employees in the position you described.

The DOL viewed a similar situation at a company I worked for as having created part-time positions to avoid providing benefits. The company thought they were helping an employee by allowing him to work two positions to earn more money. In fact we had several part-time employees working 40 hours a week in two positions consistently - The results, the employees were considered fulltime employees and were entitled to the same benefits as anyone other employee working 30 or more hours per week on a regular basis. This was based on the fact that our company policy stated that employees who worked 30 hours or more were eligible for benefits.

Hope this helps, Julia.

System · April 2004

I agree with Hunter on both counts. I would also look at the length of time that the part-time employee works the required number of hours to be considered working full-time. If it's a temporary situation, you wouldn't want to put the employee on benefits then take them away two months later when he/she drops back down to part-time. Look at your "Types of Employees" or "Status Changes" or similar policy in addition to the SPD.

2 jobs in company -how to pay and how to classify

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