Question about Overtime Hours

[Mitsu3000gt]

Ok, now that I have my situation worked out I have another couple questions.

I will be a full time employee, but I will be a contractor (or consultant) and therefore I am paid by the hour and not an actual employee, per se. I will be working a full work week, which is 38 or 40 hours or whatever. I have two questions:

1) I will be "on call" some weekends, requiring me to get up for about 10-15 min and check/balance our natural gas account by phoning a counterparty to do a deal. I do this already, and they only pay me for 1 hour and not 3. Now, I thought there was some sort of law that says they have to pay me for a minimum of 3 hours for working on a non-work day even if I only am doing 10 min of work? Or because I'm a contractor, do they not need to pay me extra?

2) Are these overtime hours? I would think so if I am working a full work week, but I am not 100% sure.

Thanks.

[realazy]

1)I think the overtime law is over 8 hours per work day or 44 hours per work week.

2)I think the 3 hour rule applies for hourly employees (not sure about contractors exactly) but it's only when the company tells you to leave.

i.e. The company tells you to show up and the company wants you to leave in 1 hour, they have to pay you 3 hours.

but if it was your decision to leave, you only get paid what you worked.

[benyl]

You can't be a full time employee and be a consultant at the same time.

Do you have a numbered company?

[lint]

You should have done more research before you signed on with your employer it seems. You are either a full time employee OR a contractor, but you won't be both with the same employer. Contractors don't get overtime, sick days, vacation days, rrsp matches, etc etc etc UNLESS stipulated in your employment contract.

[Afrodeziak]

When I was younger and on an internship, I worked with an O&G.

I received paycheques and thought nothing of it, at the end I was told that I was paid as a contractor and had to claim the income, etc and have cpp, ei, tax, etc. The whole time I thought I was "Full time"

I guess I was nieve and didn't realize. Lesson learned.. figure out the details before it's too late.

If you're a contractor, you can be writing off a lot of your expenses though, transportation, electronics, computer, etc. Read up on all of this though.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by lint
You should have done more research before you signed on with your employer it seems. You are either a full time employee OR a contractor, but you won't be both with the same employer. Contractors don't get overtime, sick days, vacation days, rrsp matches, etc etc etc UNLESS stipulated in your employment contract.

Sorry I don't think I explained it very well.

I'm a contractor, I don't have sick days, health care, bonuses, etc. I did however negotiate 3 weeks paid holiday but that is pretty well my only "perk".

I am paid by the hour, and I hand in a "time sheet" every two weeks. I will be working full time hours, and so I'm 99% sure I will be eligable for overtime beyond the normal work hours in a week.

My main concern is if I should be getting paid 3 hours for the 10 min of work I do every weekend or not, and if those 3 hours should be overtime or not. If that is the case, I will volunteer to be on call every weekend because 6 hours @ time and a half every weekend for 20 min total work will be significant.

[yue]

here's the government website:

http://employment.alberta.ca/cps/rde/xchg/hre/hs.xsl/1470.html

talk to your superior about it. if you qualify for overtime, your employer MUST compensate you.

[benyl]

Who is your pimp?

No, you get paid for the time you work. There is no such thing as overtime for a contractor.

You will not get time and a half.

[Euro838]

You should check with the company's oncall policy regarding what you can charge and what the compensation is for being oncall. In my experience, company's will only pay straight time for oncall hours worked (not 1.5 overtime) and will be like min 15 minutes of work to charge 1 hour. They'll probably let you charge X number of hours just for being oncall. It should be CLEARLY written in your contract or you should get it in writing so there are no confusions later on.

As for paid vacation, don't you just include that in your hourly rate? It's basically an extra 2% for every week you want to be paid.

For example, if you are being paid $10 and hour as a contractor and you want 3 weeks holidays (6%), your rate would be $10.60 an hour.

[BigMass]

being a contractor is easy. You work 1 hour you get paid for 1 hour. There is nothing else you need to know.

[Euro838]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt

My main concern is if I should be getting paid 3 hours for the 10 min of work I do every weekend or not, and if those 3 hours should be overtime or not. If that is the case, I will volunteer to be on call every weekend because 6 hours @ time and a half every weekend for 20 min total work will be significant.

Yes, wouldn't that be the gravy!

[lint]

Originally posted by benyl
Who is your pimp?

No, you get paid for the time you work. There is no such thing as overtime for a contractor.

You will not get time and a half.

+1

You're still confusing contractor and employee if you're 99% sure that you get paid OT.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by lint


+1

You're still confusing contractor and employee if you're 99% sure that you get paid OT.

Damnit, I thought I could get overtime. I looked at my employment contract again and it actually says "consultant", but I am refered to as a contractor. I will technically be an employee, just not a salaried one with all the usual benefits. I guess I don't know exactly what I need to be to quality for overtime. I haven't actually signed yet so I will look into that.

Thanks

[BigMass]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


Damnit, I thought I could get overtime. I looked at my employment contract again and it actually says "consultant", but I am refered to as a contractor. I will technically be an employee, just not a salaried one with all the usual benefits. I guess I don't know exactly what I need to be to quality for overtime. I haven't actually signed yet so I will look into that.

Thanks

you can add stipulations to your contract. For example, if you're getting $50/h you could say that all work done after 9pm on weekdays and all day weekends your rate increases to $100/h.

If i was "on call" after hours i would probably do this myself. I'm not coming in at 2 am in the morning for my normal rate. Would have to be closer to tripple. But it has to be written into your contract.

[lint]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Damnit, I thought I could get overtime. I looked at my employment contract again and it actually says "consultant", but I am refered to as a contractor. I will technically be an employee, just not a salaried one with all the usual benefits. I guess I don't know exactly what I need to be to quality for overtime. I haven't actually signed yet so I will look into that.

Thanks

What exactly do you think the difference is between a contractor and an employee?

As explained earlier, you need to be AN EMPLOYEE to qualify for OT. If you want overtime, don't sign the contract and try to get hired as an EMPLOYEE.

start here
http://entreprisescanada.gc.ca/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1102079893391&lang=fr&pagename=CBSC_MB/display&c=InfoResources