[swanstone1]

I have been caring for a sweet little disabled man lately and have been getting paid through the state. I keep him every other weekend at a rate of $120 a day.(24 hour period) Yet on the time sheet it lists hours as 16 cuz I was told I couldn't be paid for his "asleep" time.

Sometimes his care provider asks for me to keep him overnight only (asleep time) but in reality it means 14 hours for $30. Alzheimers isn't fun but it "is". So after a few pissy remarks by his home provider I put a calculator to it. If he actually "slept" and I was paid for the hours marked, I'd make 7.50 hour including all meals. OK, his alzheimers was getting worse and I was awake 24 hours at a time which equated $5 hour (my choice to feed him on top cuz it was never for the money anyway)

But, can the State of Vt pay someone less than minimum wage? (He is a ward of the state)

[MRVphotog]

Originally Posted by swanstone1

I have been caring for a sweet little disabled man lately and have been getting paid through the state. I keep him every other weekend at a rate of $120 a day.(24 hour period) Yet on the time sheet it lists hours as 16 cuz I was told I couldn't be paid for his "asleep" time.

Sometimes his care provider asks for me to keep him overnight only (asleep time) but in reality it means 14 hours for $30. Alzheimers isn't fun but it "is". So after a few pissy remarks by his home provider I put a calculator to it. If he actually "slept" and I was paid for the hours marked, I'd make 7.50 hour including all meals. OK, his alzheimers was getting worse and I was awake 24 hours at a time which equated $5 hour (my choice to feed him on top cuz it was never for the money anyway)

But, can the State of Vt pay someone less than minimum wage? (He is a ward of the state)

Think I'm following you here.....?
The simple answer is your not being paid by the hour so the minimum wage law is moot in your type of contracted employment. Vermont has alot of people in the care business and paying folks by the day or hourly increments of a day saves money administratively versus paying folks by the hour.

$120 a day sounds like alot but since your either helping the man or your on call as he sleeps, making $5.00/hr is not a great wage from a per hour perspective. Not being paid for his asleep time is absurb. Your on call to help him if needed.

In a sense your on a salary, not a yearly salary but a daily salary. One thing I learned when I used to be a yearround salaried employee is never try to figure out your hourly wage based on the hours you actually work....it never looks good.

[68vette]

Minimum wage laws still apply to salary workers. A salary employee’s regular rate cannot be less than the minimum wage and is calculated by dividing the salary by the number of hours for which the salary compensates. In your case the state compensates you for a stated 16 hours. That comes out to 7.50 an hour. In most cases when a person is sleeping, they only need help if they are awake for going to the bathroom and such. In home nursing care, they are paid during the night because they have to be awake and at the bedside. The other issue is state law limits the number of hours you can work in a day. You guessed it, 16 hours. It prevents employers having people work 24 hour shifts. I know what you are thinking, I work in health care. Show me a resident physician who hasn't been at the grinding stone for more than 24 hours and I'll give you a weeks salary.

[MRVphotog]

Originally Posted by 68vette

Minimum wage laws still apply to salary workers. A salary employee’s regular rate cannot be less than the minimum wage and is calculated by dividing the salary by the number of hours for which the salary compensates. In your case the state compensates you for a stated 16 hours. That comes out to 7.50 an hour. In most cases when a person is sleeping, they only need help if they are awake for going to the bathroom and such. In home nursing care, they are paid during the night because they have to be awake and at the bedside. The other issue is state law limits the number of hours you can work in a day. You guessed it, 16 hours. It prevents employers having people work 24 hour shifts. I know what you are thinking, I work in health care. Show me a resident physician who hasn't been at the grinding stone for more than 24 hours and I'll give you a weeks salary.

$7.50/hr is below Vermont's minimum wage of 8.06/hr.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by MRVphotog

$7.50/hr is below Vermont's minimum wage of 8.06/hr.

That is true. There are certain exemptions such as tipped employees (which the OP would not be). I am not positive if this state paid income is in the exempt list of jobs. The other possibility is the state is not paying for meal breaks/and required breaks. This sounds crazy, but employers do not have to pay you during meals. I know at FAHC our work shift is 8.5 hours or 12.5 hours (not paid for half hour meal). If we do not get a meal break, we have to put in for it on our time card. Some places have 8 hour or 12 hour shifts and only pay for 7.5 or 11.5 hours. If the state is knocking off one hour in a sixteen hour shift, he is right around the minimum wage. If they are also deducting the mandatory breaks, then he is slightly higher than minimum wage. It's very nit-picky, but this could be what the state is doing.