How many hours do you think w2 contractors can bill up to per week without getting questioned? (employees, average)
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I charge the hours I work and only the hours I work. It's illegal for them to tell you to work for free.
If you are just trying to scam overtime then I don't have an answer for that.
I work more than 40 on some weeks. Sometimes up to 43-44 hours if last minute things come up or get dragged into a late meeting but I actually put in a lower amount around 41-41.5 max. Do you think 3-4 hours of overtime per week is fine to submit? I really try to be careful about this and not raise any red flags going against the norm
Are these OT hours you were directed to work or just hours you took the initiative to work? Ask your W2 administrator if there is a fixed limit. And let your work manager know you are capped at that limit.
Since you started the other thread about layoffs and how to secure a more stable FT position in the corporate world...
Employers in the corporate world expect salaried employees to work more than 40 hours. For instance, if you get paid 70K a year, and have to work 45 or 50 hours one week, you still get your 40 hours of salary. Most companies these days to expect this, and I don't think this is an unreasonable requirement, within boundaries.
You are not a salaried employee, however, you should present as one if you want a FT job.
Which includes being willing to work more than 40 hours and not necessarily get paid for those extra hours... UNLESS that benefits the company. For instance, if you're working on a contract with a client that allows OT, well then, that's great. The company profits too.
If that is not the case, then your OT is going to hurt the company financially. Just as another example, during COVID, OT has been explicitly forbidden by my company.
Another thing you should always try and do, though difficult, is gauge how many hours of work others do in 40 versus your 40. Not all 40 hours are created equal.
I work more than 40 on some weeks. Sometimes up to 43-44 hours if last minute things come up or get dragged into a late meeting but I actually put in a lower amount around 41-41.5 max. Do you think 3-4 hours of overtime per week is fine to submit? I really try to be careful about this and not raise any red flags going against the norm
Ok, yea.
So obviously if you are trying to limit it, it's not helping the company.
If you want a FT job with the company, then I'd put 40 and IF you worked more, and it was 40+ hours of legitimate, professional work that was profitable to the company, then just maybe mention it to your boss. It will make you look good.
Yep ... welcome to the corporate work world. The truth is that few employees put in 40 hours or more of REAL work per week. I would say the average in the professional white collar world for producer level employees is more like 25-30.
Contractors should be very careful about exceeding eight hours per day, assuming they are "full time."
Unless overtime is specifically authorized, managers are usually working with a budget for contractors just like any vendor. I've had to fire a few contractors (individually) who broke this cardinal rule.
Example A: a millennial doing IT Project Management who unexpectedly billed 40 hours on four-day weeks. Her time-card would change from the expected five days of eight hours to four days of ten hours on weeks with a holiday. I'm not sure she was even in the office for ten hours, she just decided that she was going to get paid 40 hours whether the company budgeted for it or not. Fired and escorted from the premises once I figured what was happening after Labor Day (we had unfortunately paid her excess billings for the weeks of Memorial Day and July Fourth, which demonstrated a pattern).
Example B: an "early retiree" baby boomer who had come back during the Y2K craze. He knew COBOL, I recall, and he would always volunteer to work on weekends (I was opposed to the weekend work as unnecessary but was overruled by a director who was obsessed that her people, including contractors, appear busy). Observed this contractor lollygagging at a local shopping mall several times during the normal workweek -- I had to pass through there for regular offsite meetings in a nearby hotel. Turns out, he was completely unproductive during the workweek, instead completing his normal workload on "overtime weekends."
It depends on your contract and expectations communicated when you were hired.
I've worked some W-2 contracts where I was specifically told "There is no budget for overtime, so you are prohibited from working overtime." So I work 40 hours a week. Period.
Some W-2 contracts allowed overtime, and I took advantage of it when warranted.
For some of these, I wind up being told "You worked 8 hours over time so you can take a day off on Monday (unpaid)" so basically the message is the same. So I work 40 hours a week.
But for the rare ones, I actually get paid overtime - usually on a straight time basis, because that's what the contract says. Since I was a highly paid computer professional, I wasn't subject to time and a half provisions in the law.
Contractors should be very careful about exceeding eight hours per day, assuming they are "full time."
Unless overtime is specifically authorized, managers are usually working with a budget for contractors just like any vendor. I've had to fire a few contractors (individually) who broke this cardinal rule.
Example A: a millennial doing IT Project Management who unexpectedly billed 40 hours on four-day weeks. Her time-card would change from the expected five days of eight hours to four days of ten hours on weeks with a holiday. I'm not sure she was even in the office for ten hours, she just decided that she was going to get paid 40 hours whether the company budgeted for it or not. Fired and escorted from the premises once I figured what was happening after Labor Day (we had unfortunately paid her excess billings for the weeks of Memorial Day and July Fourth, which demonstrated a pattern).
Example B: an "early retiree" baby boomer who had come back during the Y2K craze. He knew COBOL, I recall, and he would always volunteer to work on weekends (I was opposed to the weekend work as unnecessary but was overruled by a director who was obsessed that her people, including contractors, appear busy). Observed this contractor lollygagging at a local shopping mall several times during the normal workweek -- I had to pass through there for regular offsite meetings in a nearby hotel. Turns out, he was completely unproductive during the workweek, instead completing his normal workload on "overtime weekends."
Did those contractors not get any warnings before getting fired?
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