Section 1-1 Hourly Pay

Hourly pay is the rate of pay (in dollars) that you receive for each hour of work that you perform. To calculate the total amount of money you will receive for your time, simply multiply the rate of pay by the amount of straight-time hours that you work. Straight-time hours are also referred to as regular hours.Calculation of pay for overtime (usually defined as more than 40 hours per week) will be discussed in an upcoming section.

In Example 1 on page 92 of your textbook, Shawna Jackson is paid every two weeks. Remember that straight-time pay, or "regular pay," is computed per week. So, to accurately calculate her pay, the hourly rate is multiplied by the number of hours worked per week. Then each week's pay is added together to compute the amount of money she will be receiving in her check. If for any work week the hours worked exceed 40, then only multiply 40 hours by the hourly rate. You will be shown how to compute pay for overtime hours (hours worked beyond 40 in a given work week) in the next section of this lesson.

To double-check your work, simply take your answer for straight-time pay and divide it by the hours worked, and this should equal the hourly rate. Or, divide your straight-time pay by the hourly rate to get the hours worked. If, after double-checking your answers in this manner, you do not get the same answer as the given hourly rate or hours worked, then go back and retry your calculations.