Re:Ask YC: Salary vs. Hourly for the Startup
by ardit33 on Saturday March 15, 2008 @12:48AM
(#137387)
Here is my two cents:
Salary, in USA, usually means an exempt worker, which is for those professions (software engineering included), where you can't directly measure their output. So, you pay somebody a fixed early salary, then the person can work 30 or 50 hour or whatever, that's something between you and the employee.
A non-exempt employee is sombody that the work can be measured directly (QA, secretaries, call center help support people, factory workers), and they are usually paid hourly, with overtime kicking after 40 hrs of work.
The only time you see a software engineer working hourly, is when they are hired in a contract basis (i.e. work for a given amount of time, 3-6 months etc.). Even this contract can't be longer that 18 months, as you will be breaching labor laws, as this person should probably be considered as full time, exempt employee.
Now,in a startup, if you hiring somebody full time (not contract work with fixed amount of time), you are probably breaching labour laws. A graphic designer working hourly is ok, a software engineer, no no.
In most startups I know, when the first employees are highered, they usually are highered salary basis, so they can work as many hours it is needed.
Salary, in USA, usually means an exempt worker, which is for those professions (software engineering included), where you can't directly measure their output. So, you pay somebody a fixed early salary, then the person can work 30 or 50 hour or whatever, that's something between you and the employee.
A non-exempt employee is sombody that the work can be measured directly (QA, secretaries, call center help support people, factory workers), and they are usually paid hourly, with overtime kicking after 40 hrs of work.
The only time you see a software engineer working hourly, is when they are hired in a contract basis (i.e. work for a given amount of time, 3-6 months etc.). Even this contract can't be longer that 18 months, as you will be breaching labor laws, as this person should probably be considered as full time, exempt employee.
Now,in a startup, if you hiring somebody full time (not contract work with fixed amount of time), you are probably breaching labour laws. A graphic designer working hourly is ok, a software engineer, no no.
In most startups I know, when the first employees are highered, they usually are highered salary basis, so they can work as many hours it is needed.