WAGES & SALARY
WHAT YOU EARN FOR THE WORK YOU DO?
WHAT ARE WAGES?
• An hourly rate you earn for the work you do.
• A fixed regular payment (hourly rate), typically paid on a daily or
weekly basis, made by an employer to an employee.
• For example if you made $10 per hour and you worked 5 hours today
you would earn $50 for that work, but be paid every other week for
your total hours worked in that time. If you worked 60 hours over that
period of time you would have earned $600 for that paycheck.
WHAT IS A SALARY?
• A yearly rate for work performed – not based on hours worked.
• a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a monthly or biweekly basis
but often expressed as an annual sum, made by an employer to an
employee, especially a professional or white-collar worker.
• For example if your yearly salary is $60,000 and you are paid monthly
your monthly paycheck would be 1/12 of your annual salary - $60,000
divided by 12 months = $5,000 a month no matter how many hours you
worked.
WAGES VS SALARY
Wages are:
• Salary is:
• Hourly rate
• Yearly Rate for all work performed
• Often paid weekly, bi-weekly or
• Often paid bi-weekly or monthly
monthly
• Usually associated with manual
labor and non-skilled work requiring
little to no advanced training – such
as food service, retail sales,
mechanical work, etc.
• Usually associated with professional
or “white-collar” jobs requiring
training or higher education
(college) – such as teachers, doctors,
accountants, etc.
MINIMUM WAGE IS LAW
• In 1938, a federal minimum wage went into effect under the Fair
Labor Standards Act. Congress initially set the wage at 25 cents an
hour
• It also mandated that work week consists of 40 hours of work and that
anyone working more than that should be paid time and a half for their
“overtime”. For example: if you earn $10 per hour your overtime
pay rate, if you are eligible, must be at least $15 per hour: $10 per
hour x 1.5 = $15 per hour.
MINIMUM WAGE
• The current National Minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
• It has not increased since July 2009. However, some states, cities, and
counties have a higher minimum wage rate.
• When the state, city or county minimum wage rate is higher than
the federal rate, employers are required to pay workers the higher
amount.
ACROSS THE NATION MINIMUM WAGE
• Alaska - $9.89
• Indiana - $7.25
• Arizona $11.00
• Kansas - $7.25
• California - $12.00
• Massachusetts - $12.00
• Washington D.C. - $14.00
• Missouri - $8.60
• Florida $8.46
• Oklahoma - $7.25
• Illinois $8.25
• Texas - $7.25
WHY DO MINIMUM WAGES VARY FROM STATE TO
STATE?
• So, because different states have different costs of living, economic
conditions, and political tastes, and it isn't prohibited, they've set
different minimum wage laws. Note that they can only set their
minimums higher than the federal one, they can't set theirs lower.
• For example it is cheaper to buy a home, gas, and food in Oklahoma
than it is in California. The things we buy here we would pay more for
if we lived in California.
WAGES CAN ALSO VARY WITHIN A STATE.
• For the same reasons wages can vary from state to state wages can also
vary in a region or area within that state.
• For example the state of New York has a minimum wage of $11.10, but
employees in New York City have a minimum wage of $13.50.
SO LETS TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME
SPECIFIC CAREER OPTIONS AND WHAT
THEIR EXPECTED WAGE OR SALARY
WOULD BE.
MANUAL LABOR OR “BLUE-COLLAR” JOBS
REQUIRES LITTLE TO NO TRAINING PRIOR TO HIRE
• McDonald’s worker - $9.00/hr - $18, 720 per year
• Lowe’s employee - $13.00/hr - $27,040 per year
• Wal-Mart employee - $14.25/hr - $29. 640 per year
• Landscaper (yard work) - $9.60/hr - $24, 000 per year
• Auto mechanic - $18.24/hr - $37, 939 per year
PROFESSIONAL “WHITE-COLLAR” JOBS
JOBS THAT REQUIRE COLLEGE EDUCATION OR OTHER SPECIFIC TRAINING
• NASA Astronaut - $66,000 per year
• Lawyer in Oklahoma- $65,000 per year
• Veterinarian - $58, 000 per year
• Teacher in Oklahoma – 40,000 per year
• Neurosurgeon - $318,000 per year
SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON
MANUAL LABOR
PROFESSIONAL CAREERS
• McDonald’s worker - $18, 720 per year
• NASA Astronaut - $66,000 per year
• Lowe’s employee - $27,040 per year
• Lawyer in Oklahoma- $65,000 per year
• Wal-Mart employee - $29. 640 per year
• Veterinarian - $58, 000 per year
• Landscaper - $24, 000 per year
• Teacher in Oklahoma – 40,000 per year
• Auto mechanic - $37, 939 per year
• Neurosurgeon - $318,000 per year
WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF YOUR CAREER?
• Make money?
• Do something you enjoy?
• Be able to work with your hands?
• Work with people?
• Help people?
• Something else…
MOST IMPORTANTLY – HOW WILL YOU GET
THERE?