Comments on: A salary veils economic reality

By: Luke

Luke — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 10:47:45 +0000

Not fraud as such, but a great example of the diminishing returns of effort with a salaried job would be the fact that my boss (a civil servant) actually made us stop working 1-2 hours early every day during a productive week long business trip ‘so that colleagues wouldn’t feel like they couldn’t keep up’. It’s exactly this sort of nonsense that makes me want to be my own boss!

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 00:18:21 +0000

As a salaried worker, I was always told that as long as you worked for two hours you were entitled to your full daily salary.

As an hourly worker, I only get two hours of pay for two hours of work. But at least I don’t have to sit there for 6 hours pretending to work. So long as I’m not desperate for the money, the hourly wage plus freedom to leave is making me happier for now.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:32:49 +0000

I can see the fraud analogy for jobs that pay an hourly rate e.g. reporting work hours when no work took place. I’m not so sure about salaried jobs though. Here one is here to fulfill a function and if that function is fulfilled I don’t see any fraud unless face time is written into the job offer. The only analogy to credit fraud is when someone gets paid for functions they are incapable of fulfilling. I’m sure this happens all the time and so it’s hard to think of it as fraud. Direct fraud would be lying on the resume.

By: Adfecto

Adfecto — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:23:52 +0000

Steve,

I think golfing during the work day or 2+ hour lunches on the clock. Of course we know there are people, even people we work with, that collect a salary for doing absolutely nothing and that comes pretty close to fraud if you ask me.

By: Steve Austin

Steve Austin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:19:08 +0000

Pressing the analogy, what’s the salaried equivalent to credit card fraud?

By: DNA

DNA — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:28:33 +0000

Not that I don’t concede your larger point!

By: DNA

DNA — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:15:51 +0000

If I’m ever ill or on maternity leave, I would be glad to have the paid benefits that my salary provides, because my hourly consulting gigs wouldn’t help.

By: Adfecto

Adfecto — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:34:17 +0000

You are right that both a salary job and paying with plastic disconnect you from economic reality. The best way I have to fix the disconnect is to track your net worth and debt on the month-to-month basis. By doing that I have put myself on the right path in spite of the disconnect.