Proportionality of wage/work
 

Made up numbers to explain the situation my friend is facing!

Let us say that my friend works 4 days a week and earns CHF400, so basically CHF100 per day.

Boss asks my friend if he is willing to work 5 days a week. Friend says, yes. The next day, the boss comes with the contract, but the wage is shown as CHF470 for the week!!!!

If he starts working 5 days a week, he should earn a minimum CHF500 per week based on his current wages! If my friend accepts the offer then he is basically taking a pay cut!

What would your advice be to my friend?

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Depends on the role though - maybe a 5 day job would have other perks like more holidays, better pension etc which balance out purely the base salary figure being quoted.

Also maybe with 5 days he'll work say 42 hours a week vs 4 days of 4 x10 hour days ( so it's not an exact multiple) - there could be more to it.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Everything is exactly the same, the hours worked per day I mean. No extra perks. Role has not changed either, just more work!!!!

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Then i'd be going back to the employer asking why its lower for sure and asking for the higher 5 day rate.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

My wife has had several changes from 80% to 100% and back. There was never a discussion of the 100% salary being anything else than exactly 25% higher than the salary for 80%.

One thing to keep in mind is also whether this is longer days, or an additional day per week. If you extend your hours per day, you don't have higher cost of commuting. If you come in one additional day, you do.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Bulk discount :D

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Don't you mean 20%?


Exactly one additional day.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Actually this was the reason for the thread, I thought maybe there is some Swiss bulk discount wages rule thing :D

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Nope.
25% of 80% = +20%

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Ok, thanks. I will let you know if my friend loses his job tomorrow!

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Hmmm, yeah, employees never complain when it's in their favour. No matter how strange the calculation is. :msnsarcastic:

Salaries are offered in 100%. Anyone working less gets the according percentage.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

What? Is it work more or not at all?

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

If his boss says that is his final offer, can't give CHF500, and my friend rejects the lower offer, then it could potentially get tricky, no?

Not instant job loss but friend will have to keep his job change options open.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

I mean really... isn't the answer to this completely obvious... that they should ask their boss why it is 30chf lower and ask for it to be the full 500chf? I mean if you can't advise your friend of something so simple as to ask his boss for an explanation then that's a little surprising. They just need to discuss it.

Without knowing the actual figure involved it's hard to say how much of a big deal this is. Obviously 470chf vs 500chf per week may not be such a big deal to an employer, but 2k vs 2.5k probably is.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

There are no simple answers to complicate situations :D

B permits come along withheld income tax. When you earn more, you also go up in the cantonal tax brackets and pay a higher percentage of tax, thus....the net income per hour goes down. So, is your friend talking about nettolohn or bruttolohn?

Next, what kind of boss? Is your friend employed directly by the business or via an employment agency? Weekly salary sounds like an employment agency which may or may not take a larger cut for longer working hours.

One thing to remember, your friend will earn as good as he's able to negotiate. I've seen people talked into steep discounts to save the business during covid time......and people say yes :(

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Your friend is free to decide how much the extra day is worth but as others have said, in general it should be 25% more if he works the same hours each day.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Agreed, difficult without an actual figure. It depends how much salary is at 80%. If we are talking 50'000 is one thing, if we are talking 150'000 is a whole new story (as others have pointed out, deductions, etc. will increase considerably on the employer side).

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

I already advised my friend the obvious. It was on Friday that his boss spoke with him, my friend used the weekend to analyse the numbers and tomorrow he will talk to the boss. The point is that-

a. We are living in Corona times.
b. The boss indirectly told him that it is the best he can offer him.
c. Boss thinks that my friend per month will get more money, so he is somehow doing him a favour, even though per hour my friend will earn less!!!!

Yes, which I can't reveal for obvious reasons. The new contract if he takes would mean that he works 8hrs per month for free (technically), when compared with current wages.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

i would refuse, but the boss can give notice of course. He can also ask to take a pay cut or else anyway. So i don't see the point in just accepting a per-hour pay cut.
If he wants him to work more hours it's because he knows how much an extra employee costs in terms of overhead, training, risk etc. so i would negotiate the wage to its correct level. Asking such a thing is non-standard and taking the piss really.

Re: Proportionality of wage/work
 

Ok, I am satisfied that the advice I gave my friend was good. Meaning he should get per hour exactly the same or more but definitely not less (all other things being equal).

I Whatsapped him just now and told him to stick with the plan.