Promotion with 15% pay cut and 25-50% less hours?

[steph96]

Sorry it seems like I ask you guys every.single.thing. I need some honest opinions on what would be best.....I'm not sure if I'm being selfish or what.

FI's current job: works 75-100 hours a week. Paid hourly. All hours over 40 are 1.5 times the hourly rate. Holidays are 2.5 times his hourly rate. Each overnight stay earn $30 for meals. Basic entry level job. Stays out quite a bit.

Promotion: supposed to only be 50 hours a week. Paid monthly salary. Allowed to put meals on company credit card, but you don't get paid meal $$ if you have to stay out. Technically he shouldn't ave to stay out with this position. Supervises entry level employees.

He is hearing 50 hours a week max and saying "awesome i will take it!!". I'm running the numbers and saying "honey, that is a pay cut and you know you will still end up working your normal hours. You are getting screwed." I looked at his income in Mint and it really is a small pay cut. If you factor in his extra play dates (2 months of the year he gets an "extra" check) and his meal money, it nearly doubles the pay cut.

I had our budget all planned out to where a lot of things would be paid off this year and next. With the promotion, only half that stuff will get paid off. I feel like I'm being selfish because I don't think he should accept their offer. I know he is tired of working so much, but now is not the time to take a pay cut. I'm not sure how much the payroll tax change will impact our incomes.

I'm not sure how to handle this. Yeah, the promotion would look good on his résumé and possibly open up a lot of doors, but we can't depend on the oilfield $$$ to last forever. I feel like if we don't get things paid off soon, it will never happen. I know he is tired of working all the time and I really do wish he was home more often, but I know that if he was home more, we would end up spending more money doing fun things. It just seems like a downward financial spiral if he takes this promotion.

I'm not sure what to tell him. I told him to negotiate, but he doesn't think it will be effective. It took him over a month of daily pestering to get his last raise that they were supposed to give him and that was only $1 per hour...

Edited to add that there is absolutely no guarantee that he will end up working less hours.

[marylou]

I feel like while it is fair for you to point out why you don't want him to take it, you need to be understanding and supportive if he decides he does want to take it. 100 hrs/week is ridiculous, nobody should have to work that much. And getting the promotion will set you guys up for bigger and better things in the future.

[dexteroni]

Jan 7, 2013 21:12:08 GMT -5 steph96 said:

I know that if he was home more, we would end up spending more money doing fun things.

I'm sure this isn't your intent, but that's a really shitty reason to want to make him continue working 100 hour weeks. If my DH worked 75 - 100 hour weeks, I would gladly trade that for a bit less income. Not everything is about money.

[Deleted]

his job, his decision.

I also think it would be kind of crappy to tell him not to take the promotion (for $$ reasons) so that he would continue working 100 hour weeks if you're working ~40 hrs* a week. if debt pay off was that much of a priority, could you pick up a part time job?

*this is a total assumption - I have no idea how many hours you work.

[hopecounts]

For me if DH was working that much I'd be all over shorter hours even if it was a pay cut especially if it was a promotion.
Do y'all want kids? Do you want him to be working this much when you have them?

For me people are more important than things/money so I'd be supportive of this unless it would mean us not having enough money to live on each month and even then I'd try to figure out a way to make it work.

[kadams767]

Unless you are in a really tight financial spot, this is his decision, IMO. I work a lot of hours and if I was offered something with less that I was interested in and my husband told me I can't take a pay cut, I would be pretty peeved unless we really, really needed the additional income.

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 21:23:30 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Jan 7, 2013 21:12:08 GMT -5 steph96 said:

I know that if he was home more, we would end up spending more money doing fun things.

I'm sure this isn't your intent, but that's a really shitty reason to want to make him continue working 100 hour weeks. If my DH worked 75 - 100 hour weeks, I would gladly trade that for a bit less income. Not everything is about money.

That was just thrown in there to show how it seems like a downward financial spiral if he takes it.

100 hour weeks don't happen all the time. Most weeks are 80-90ish. It isn't guaranteed that he will actually only have to work 50 hours with the promotion. Based on how they have ran everything in the past, he will still be working lose to the same hours as before.

I just think he is screwing himself if he takes the job. Especially if he takes a pay cut to get less hours and ends up still having to work the same amount of hurs.

[marylou]

Jan 7, 2013 21:34:56 GMT -5 steph96 said:

Jan 7, 2013 21:23:30 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

I'm sure this isn't your intent, but that's a really shitty reason to want to make him continue working 100 hour weeks. If my DH worked 75 - 100 hour weeks, I would gladly trade that for a bit less income. Not everything is about money.

That was just thrown in there to show how it seems like a downward financial spiral if he takes it.

100 hour weeks don't happen all the time. Most weeks are 80-90ish. It isn't guaranteed that he will actually only have to work 50 hours with the promotion. Based on how they have ran everything in the past, he will still be working lose to the same hours as before.

I just think he is screwing himself if he takes the job. Especially if he takes a pay cut to get less hours and ends up still having to work the same amount of hurs.

80 hours is still totally ridiculous. That's two full time jobs.

And it sounds more like he would be screwing over your vision for your finances this year, not screwing himself. I think it sounds like an awesome opportunity for him in many different ways.

[rosiedozie]

I would want my husband home more - I'm sure there is something you can cut in your buyer to make up the difference and still reach your goals.

[noodleoo]

I'm sorry, but I could never ask my H to work that much for longer than 1 year unless we were really in dire straights. Even then, that kind of a workload is not sustainable. You said that you are on track to pay things off in 1-2 years. That is really great, but if he takes the promotion, would that push it to what, 2-3 years? I'd be fine with that.

I think it is really unfair of you to force him to work 2 to 3 times a normal workload. Are you working? Can you get a part time job to make up for the decreased pay? Think of how much he'd resent you if you forced him to keep working crazy hours when he doesn't want to?

Eta: also, how would it bear on his future if he turns down this promotion?

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 21:36:28 GMT -5 marylou said:

Jan 7, 2013 21:34:56 GMT -5 steph96 said:

That was just thrown in there to show how it seems like a downward financial spiral if he takes it.

100 hour weeks don't happen all the time. Most weeks are 80-90ish. It isn't guaranteed that he will actually only have to work 50 hours with the promotion. Based on how they have ran everything in the past, he will still be working lose to the same hours as before.

I just think he is screwing himself if he takes the job. Especially if he takes a pay cut to get less hours and ends up still having to work the same amount of hurs.

80 hours is still totally ridiculous. That's two full time jobs.

And it sounds more like he would be screwing over your vision for your finances this year, not screwing himself. I think it sounds like an awesome opportunity for him in many different ways.

Is it still as awesome of an opportunity if he still ends up working 80-100 hours, but is getting paid less? I found a month where he worked close to 100 hours each week. This salary would be a 30% cut from what he would have been making. I don't think it is fair if he ends up making less money to have more responsibility.

[vanillacourage]

Running the numbers to make an educated decision is good. Wanting your FI to continue to work 100 hours/wk (or, "only" 80/wk on a light week) rather than sometimes have time off to do fun things with his partner is crappy. Get a new budget together and try to take the long view.

ETA - no snark, why do you think he'll still work 100 hours, that you know his job better than him?

[marylou]

Jan 7, 2013 21:39:59 GMT -5 steph96 said:

Jan 7, 2013 21:36:28 GMT -5 marylou said:

80 hours is still totally ridiculous. That's two full time jobs.

And it sounds more like he would be screwing over your vision for your finances this year, not screwing himself. I think it sounds like an awesome opportunity for him in many different ways.

Is it still as awesome of an opportunity if he still ends up working 80-100 hours, but is getting paid less? I found a month where he worked close to 100 hours each week. This salary would be a 30% cut from what he would have been making. I don't think it is fair if he ends up making less money to have more responsibility.

No, but you seem to be focusing on this weird "what if" scenario rather than what is actually being presented. It's very selfish of you. He's big boy, if he doesn't see that as a potential reality, then you need to back off from it.

[y4m]

Does your FI agree that there's a good chance he'll end up working the same hours for less money? Is his thinking that its worth taking that paycut because his future earnings will be so much better? What's his take?

[steph96]

I would be completely supportive if he was still getting paid hourly and getting per diem. I can't even imagine how angry he would be when he worked 100 hours on salary and realize how little he made per hour. I have already dealt with it before and it was hell. It was such a horrible, stressful, angry environment to be in.

[Deleted]

Unless he can get some kind of guarantee that his hours will be cut or has a greater future earning potential then I think it is a bad move. If I were getting 30% less I most certainly would be working 30% less.
Can he negotiate to take the higher level job as an hourly rate?
I think people are getting up in arms about the idea that you are making him work more hours when the hours might be exactly the same just making an equivalent of 30% less per hour.

[flygirl22]

If he really is only working 50hrs/week I would take that job in a heart beat. 100hrs/week is a lot to ask of someone for an extended period of time.

It seems like this promotion is a necessary step to move up and although may be a temporary pay cut the earning potential is likely higher. Plus, it sounds like his quality of life would go up tremendously. If this were my husband I would be jumping for frickin joy, I can't imagine you get much time together, and I considering how fast he wanted to accept that position I bet he's not so happy right now either.

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 21:41:52 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

Running the numbers to make an educated decision is good. Wanting your FI to continue to work 100 hours/wk (or, "only" 80/wk on a light week) rather than sometimes have time off to do fun things with his partner is crappy. Get a new budget together and try to take the long view.

ETA - no snark, why do you think he'll still work 100 hours, that you know his job better than him?

When he started this job, he was only supposed to work 60 hours a week. He was on salary. There were weeks where he worked 120 hours. They kept on saying they would cut back his hours, but they ended up just switching to hourly. He seems to think that with this position, he will be able to just eave so he can be home at 5. I know that will never happen. It's like when he tells them he needs off by a certain time....he ends up leaving 3+ hours late.

[dexteroni]

Are there other people in this position? What are their hours like? Why do you think you know what this position will entail better than your FI does?

How many hours do you work?

[Deleted]

Maybe you should pick up an additional job to make up some of the money differential and give him a break from 80-100 hour weeks.

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 21:47:12 GMT -5 @forcuatro said:

Unless he can get some kind of guarantee that his hours will be cut or has a greater future earning potential then I think it is a bad move. If I were getting 30% less I most certainly would be working 30% less.
Can he negotiate to take the higher level job as an hourly rate?
I think people are getting up in arms about the idea that you are making him work more hours when the hours might be exactly the same just making an equivalent of 30% less per hour.

Yay or someone on my side! He actually told them that he would only take it if it was hourly, but they came to him with a salary offer. This is basically as high as he can get in that company. They don't promote management from within, but he could possibly take his supervisor skills to another company after a while. There is no guarantee though.

He actually wants to go back to college for an unrelated degree, so this is another issue with the pay cut. His college would have to get pushed back until he is at least 30 unless we want to take out student loans. It just impacts so many things that he isn't thinking about.

[dexteroni]

Jan 7, 2013 21:57:59 GMT -5 steph96 said:

He actually wants to go back to college for an unrelated degree, so this is another issue with the pay cut. His college would have to get pushed back until he is at least 30 unless we want to take out student loans. It just impacts so many things that he isn't thinking about.

I think there are things you aren't thinking about either. Like how he won't be able to go to college while working 80 - 90 hour weeks.

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 21:51:17 GMT -5 @mx said:

Turning down a promotion now because you want the overtime pay may mean he is passed over for the opportunity in the future.

I would never ask my spouse to keep working 90 hour weeks. I've pulled a few of them in my time and it makes me a bad wife, friend, and overall human being. It's absolutely untenable in the long run and it's bad for your health.

If everyone at every level of this company is working 100 hour weeks then he needs to take the promotion and leverage it into a lateral move at a sane employer.

I feel horrible about it too.

Most of the employees work close to the same hours. FI is always the first one to get called out and to be sent farthest away, so he does tend to get a few more hours than most people. The managers don't even go into work half the time and they are the only ones working less than that (but they take calls 24/7).

It's the oilfield. Hours like this are normal.

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 21:54:45 GMT -5 @libgrl said:

Maybe you should pick up an additional job to make up some of the money differential and give him a break from 80-100 hour weeks.

He doesn't want me to get another job. There is no way for him to just decide to work less hours.

[vanillacourage]

He should take it with the agreement between the two of you that if the job shits the bed, he'll look for another at the six-month mark. Especially if he may have reached the upper limits of his possible trajectory at the company.

[gumi]

Damn, what entry level job makes you work 100/hr a week??? I can't handle 40, nonetheless another 40 and another 20. That is insane.

Don't you miss him?? I would demand my FI takes the promotion. Working that much cannot be fun.

Sent from my DROID3 using proboards

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 22:00:50 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Jan 7, 2013 21:57:59 GMT -5 steph96 said:

He actually wants to go back to college for an unrelated degree, so this is another issue with the pay cut. His college would have to get pushed back until he is at least 30 unless we want to take out student loans. It just impacts so many things that he isn't thinking about.

I think there are things you aren't thinking about either. Like how he won't be able to go to college while working 80 - 90 hour weeks.

If he continues working for more money, we can save more, which means that he can quit working and go back to college sooner. He will not be working any sort of job like this while going to school. The sooner we save, the sooner he gets to quit and go back to school.

[steph96]

Jan 7, 2013 22:04:27 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

He should take it with the agreement between the two of you that if the job shits the bed, he'll look for another at the six-month mark. Especially if he may have reached the upper limits of his possible trajectory at the company.

He has been looking for a new job for over 6 months with no success. A lot of companies are on hiring freezes.

[Deleted]

If money was a big enough concern that I wanted my fiancé to keep working 100 hour weeks, I'd get another job because I wanted to...

[dexteroni]

Jan 7, 2013 22:07:50 GMT -5 @libgrl said:

If money was a big enough concern that I waned my fiancé to keep working 100 hour weeks, I'd get another job because I wanted to...

:Y: