Overtime

Joined: 08 Oct 2004 Posts: 158

I am considering a position at Lowes

Can someone please explain the store staff structure, and how this "variable overtime" works?

Joined: 27 Jan 2005 Posts: 17

dont work for lowes take it from a 14 yr vet u will hate it

Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 214

Lowe's can't even explain it, how can we? The best way to say it is the more you work over 40 hrs. the less you make.

Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Posts: 110 Location: illinois

If you are a regular full time associate, you will get 1 1/2 for any hours over 40. If you are a specialist or above you will get variable overtime. It is suppose to be salary is figure on 48 hours, anything over 48 is paid at 1/2 time. Anything over 48 is anybody's quess. It is calculated but not at 1 1/2 pay.

Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 8 Location: ohio

as far as the variable overtime goes let me see if i can explain it

for the sake of easy math lets say your weekly salary is 480. they look at each week individually. the first week you get 48 hrs in. you get your salary of 480 for the 40 hrs then you need to determine your 8 hours of "overtime". you'll have to determine your hourly rate so that you get that time and a half. its kinda misleading b/c you think you get time and a half for those 8 but the 480 covers your "time" and you need to determine your half now. so you divide you salary by hours worked.

$480 / 48 = $10/hr. hourly rate for the week

now you need to half this to get the half

$10/2 = $5/hr

so for that week you'll get 480 + ($5/hr*8hrs) = $520

then you look at your second week. lets say you had inventory and you worked 56hrs. it will be the same thing just different numbers

$480 / 56hr = $8.57/hr
$8.57 / 2 = $4.28/hr
$4.28 * 16 = $68.48
$480 + $68.48 = $548.48

so your gross amount = $520 + 548.48 = $1068.48
i know its a bit late for the explanation but its there for you if you need it.
hope this helps.

Thumbs Up

good luck

Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 3

Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 21 Location: LOWESLAND

be worried. Be Very Worried (unless your of course a seasoned veteren of LOWES and knows what tricks they have up their sleeve)

Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 8 Location: ohio

took me a while to figure it out but i wanted to so i didn't get the shaft when they gave me my figure for department manager. i don't count on the over time really. i made sure the figure they quoted me was for my base salary. it certainly a littel extra cash but the more you work the less per hour you make overtime so if you go in for interview and at the end make sure the number they quote you is base salary and doesn't include overtime and incentives. if your store performs and your department does well you can make extra cash for the month, quarter, and year. but if not make sure your salary is where you want it. b/c they'll say "we're offering you x base salary but with incentives and overtime you'll be where you want to be" no i need y base salary to make it worth my while.

big_poppa_pump

Joined: 08 Oct 2004 Posts: 158

Thank you for all the helpful advice!

Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 22

Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 8 Location: ohio

don't know kitchens specifically however sos commissions are only based upon margin and doesn't increase/decrease as sales increase/decrease. as long as you keep a positive margin above 10% (i believe) on these sales you'll get commission. this is standard across the board so the more sales you make with good margin the more you take home. you could easily bring home an extra couple hundred a paycheck.

big_poppa_pump

Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 22

Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 214

hsthompson,
The pay depends on the market you're in and your experience, and you seem to have the experience. As for salary, do it like a yard sale, always ask for more than you need in case you have to come down, but don't go lower than what you need. Cabinet companies don't give spiffs, you can get a commision depending on the margin of the sale, if you have to drop the margin to make the sale you also lower your commision. The more you sale at top margin (which is hard to do in my market) the more your commision will be. You can make spiffs by selling appliances, myself I normaly turn that over to the appliance employees, if they're real busy or not there then I handle it. Specialist don't have personal budgets but you will be responsible for the budget for the whole department. You will work between 48 to 54 hrs per week and the more hrs. you go over 40 the less you make. I hope some of this helps you. Thumbs Up

Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 22

Thanks for the reply Cabinetman. 48-54hrs seems really hard to pull. You would think the overtime thing would be illegal. If i figure what i make now v/s what i might get at Lowes w/all that ot i just might be not that farther ahead. I make $14.05 an hour now. I'd have to get $18 at Lowes to balance it out. Sound too high?

Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 214

On the East Coast and #8 store in sales, $18.00 should be reasonible.

Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 10

im an hourly and worked 6 hours overtime last week pay period. please explain how they calculate it.

Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Posts: 214

The six hours overtime should have been paid at time and ahalf. (example) if you make $8.00 an hour the six hours should have been paid at $12.00 an hour ( $72.00.)

Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 1

Have not worked for Lowes since 96 but isn't variable or chinese ot as we used to call it just for dept sups and or zone managers? At least it used to be...

Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 8 Location: ohio

sorry hsthompson i haven't been to the site in a while. the calculation for commission is based on each sale. they will take each sale, determine your margin, then give you a percentage of the sale on your next check for that pay period. now if you department hits its monthly budget you get 5 dollars for every thousand dollars over dept. budget. my plumbing specialists got 160 or so for last months budget. it takes a good crew or good luck to get alot each month for the specialist. dept managers like my self just need to hit and we get 250. its unfair sometimes especially in a tough market or slow month but the cabinets in my store consistently blow their budget out of the water so coupled with the sos commissions and occasional appliance spiffs these folks are doing well.

hope this help,
big_poppa_pump