Overtime....too many....grrrr

Overtime always sounds like a good idea...but it is actually a 4 part plan you have to seriously consider. Right before you sign up you are seeing dollar signs in your head. This is the first part. Already planning on how to spend the extra money. Not thinking of having to actually WORK. It isn't until you finish signing your name, when you swear you can hear your boss giggling behind you....rubbing his/her hands together...no...it isn't giggling....it is more of a heckling sound. Shit. What did you just sign up to do?

The second part is when you actually show up/stay late/come in early. Typically you are doing the same work you always do...but it always seems worse. In my case...it is a bad machine...or a crazy material or warehouse night. You know the bosses purposely did this, because you are making time and a half...so you should do more work that normal.

The third part comes when you receive your paycheck. That extra money is intoxicating..addicting...ummm not correct. What? In your head you have calculated how much your paycheck should be...but it isn't. What is wrong? Oh wait...taxes! Stupid overtime not only put you into a different tax bracket and you ended up paying more...but it turns out that your time and a half...ends up being less that normal pay when the extra taxes come out! All of that extra time you could have been doing something else...grrr. And the best part...when someone tells you, "oh don't worry, you will get it all back after taxes"! You didn't pick up all of those extra hours just to get some more money in 2...5...10 months from now!

Wonderful! The overtime process is great! Wait...I forgot the 4th part? No I didn't. The 4th part is when you forget about all of the above...and the process starts all over again! What is even worse, is when you figure out where your tax bracket is (mine is between 20-24 hours of overtime)...and not only do you exceed it...you exceed the NEXT one!

Case in point. I got paid today. I had my normal 80 hours...plus 36 hours of overtime. Then because there was a paperwork mix up I received 12 hours of vacation time (straight time). So that totaled 92 hours of normal time and still 36 hours of overtime. Lets say I make an even $10 an hour (I don't...but $10 is a nice even number)...so that would make it $920 in normal pay and $540 in overtime (at $15 an hour)...for a total of 1460.

Not worrying about deductions...just taxes...I am usually around 17%...which would be around $250 in taxes. So check would be around $1210 (once again not taking into affect insurance/401K/shift differential...and it isn't my correct pay). BUT because I went over the NEXT bracket my taxes went to around 28% at around $400 taken out...so check would be 1060.

Ok now that I have COMPLETELY confused 90% of the people reading this...I will just put out the numbers:
80 straight hours:  $620
80+20 hours:   $830
92+36:  $1080
The extra vacation time was about $105 after taxes.. so there is around $150 difference between a 20 hours of OT and 36 hours of OT. Which is around $9 an hour after the 20 hours! GRRRR

If you wish to spend the time to figure out your own limits...I use the website:
http://www.paycheckcity.com/covaliant/netpayHRatescalculator.asp
I had played around with it until I found my own bracket. Obviously this changes based on your pay and deductions.....but still...If I go over my 20-24 hours of OT...I make less that my starting pay...grrrr

Granted this wasn't my correct pay...but it was the easiest way to show how much taxes you pay when you have a lot of overtime. It is up to you if it is worth it! To me...I need a drink and a hot bath...If I can afford either :/