Full time to part time working

[AndyPC]

Hello - hoping someone can give me some advice
I am a full time working company director with two main partners. My brother has recently had a heart transplant which has made me decide to work part time from June 2023
My salary is currently £5000 a month which is approx £1150 a week.
If I worked 3 days a week I assumed my new salary would be calculated at 3/5 of my current salary so expected to receive £690 a week

One of my partners works over 65 hours a week and the other works 55. This is because they love work and refuse to employ anyone to help them with their work load
When the complany started 25 years ago I also used to work the same number of hours but now i can get my work done in 45 hours a week

The problem I would like advice on is that my partners are suggesting that when I go part time I should be paid based on what their hourly rate is
my pay would therefore be £1150 / 55 hours multiplied by 27 hours (this being 3 x 9 hour days) = £565 a week
Is this legal ?

many thanks in anticipation of your assistance

 

[BubbaWY]

I think it is irrelevant what hours your partners do, and you should tell them that. Do you all have contracts stating salary and working hours?

Im salaried, and contracted to do 37.5 hours but I do at least 1.5-2 hours more each day, for no additional pay. Its my choice...mainly to beat the traffic in the morning.

 

[AndyPC]

Many thanks for your reply BubbaWY - I completely agree with you.
I have told them I think the calculation is wrong but their reply is "we think it is fair"
They have said if I work more than 27 hours a week i can book it as extra time and get paid for it but its a salary not a wage. Working less hours means trying to get work done in a limited time period which I doubt will happen so I would have worked extra hours as necessary for nothing

 

[Mark T Jones]

There is no wrong or right answer here - it's something you have to negotiate

I'd say a central point is what is actually required / what measurable outcomes there are

Is it a role that requires physical presence to be productive?
What measurable metrics do you use?

 

[AndyPC]

Thanks Mark
My role is office based designing steel strutures. I am not being replaced so less hours means i will have to work harder

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thanks Mark
My role is office based designing steel strutures. I am not being replaced so less hours means i will have to work harder

You need to present your case in terms of the metrics that add value to the business

 

[HFE Signs]

So do they take less money when they work less hours or are on holiday? (guessing they don't)

I think your proposal is fair 3/5 of what you currently take, especially as you will delivery the same amount of work.

 

[AndyPC]

We all get paid the same as we are equal shareholders. Their hourly rates are obviously lower than mine as they work more hours but this is their choice. As mentioned they refuse to employ additonal staff to help even though I have suggested they do - the company can afford the additonal staff overhead

 

[HFE Signs]

We all get paid the same as we are equal shareholders. Their hourly rates are obviously lower than mine as they work more hours but this is their choice. As mentioned they refuse to employ additonal staff to help even though I have suggested they do - the company can afford the additonal staff overhead

Hourly rate shouldn't come into it, hourly rate is for staff (mainly production) not Directors.

If you pay yourselves in dividends it gets a bit complicated though, if you are all equal, the dividends should be the same regardless of hours or days worked.

I think your suggestion of 3/5 is a fair proposal.

 

[IanSuth]

If they wont talk output, frame in terms of days not hours

They work 5 days, you will work 3 therefore 3/5 of a week

If they say they work on 1 day of the weekend as well, say fine, you work 50% the weekend, I will work 3/5 of that (a long Saturday morning)

Tell them, it makes as much sense as looking at pure hours

Personally I would suggest as you are planning to do this in 6 mths time that why dont you all measure output (income to firm) from now until then, use that as a benchmark and then look at first month after you cut hours to decide up[on % of current pay based upon actual contribution. That reduces any perceived risk to them and rewards your efficiency as well

 

[AndyPC]

Many thanks for your replies but back to my original question
Can they legally impose the reduced hourly rate when I go part time

 

[AndyPC]

If they wont talk output, frame in terms of days not hours

They work 5 days, you will work 3 therefore 3/5 of a week

If they say they work on 1 day of the weekend as well, say fine, you work 50% the weekend, I will work 3/5 of that (a long Saturday morning)

Tell them, it makes as much sense as looking at pure hours

Personally I would suggest as you are planning to do this in 6 mths time that why dont you all measure output (income to firm) from now until then, use that as a benchmark and then look at first month after you cut hours to decide up[on % of current pay based upon actual contribution. That reduces any perceived risk to them and rewards your efficiency as well

Ian - many thanks for your reply and I would agree except that we all do different jobs - design - contracts - commercial

 

[IanSuth]

Ian - many thanks for your reply and I would agree except that we all do different jobs - design - contracts - commercial

You can still measure your output now (which they are happy to pay a 33/33/33 split on) and then compare it to your output post june and work out a fair change from that which should be fair to all parties

 

[AndyPC]

You can still measure your output now (which they are happy to pay a 33/33/33 split on) and then compare it to your output post june and work out a fair change from that which should be fair to all parties

yes thats a reasonable approach but not easy to quantify - many thanks

 

[Mark T Jones]

Many thanks for your replies but back to my original question
Can they legally impose the reduced hourly rate when I go part time

Key question - do you have a service contract? If so, what does it say?

If not, then arguably yes, they can. With no defined payment mechanism in place it's very much a subject for debate is to what is 'reasonable'

 

[AndyPC]

Key question - do you have a service contract? If so, what does it say?

If not, then arguably yes, they can. With no defined payment mechanism in place it's very much a subject for debate is to what is 'reasonable'

Thanks Mark - im not sure what type of contract we are working under as they were put in place 25 years ago
I bet my partners have investigated this though so I need to do some homework of my own

 

[Newchodge]

Many thanks for your replies but back to my original question
Can they legally impose the reduced hourly rate when I go part time

No. They are not your employers. You are all (apparently) equal partners in the company. This is all down to negotiation

 

[AndyPC]

many thanks Cyndy - this is what i thought
I work more efficiently than they do so why should i get penalised for starting work the second i get in the office.

 

[fantheflames]

If they wont talk output, frame in terms of days not hours

They work 5 days, you will work 3 therefore 3/5 of a week

If they say they work on 1 day of the weekend as well, say fine, you work 50% the weekend, I will work 3/5 of that (a long Saturday morning)

Tell them, it makes as much sense as looking at pure hours

Personally I would suggest as you are planning to do this in 6 mths time that why dont you all measure output (income to firm) from now until then, use that as a benchmark and then look at first month after you cut hours to decide up[on % of current pay based upon actual contribution. That reduces any perceived risk to them and rewards your efficiency as well

Really great advice in this thread. I would agree with the above, that a fair negotiation is worked out per day and not hour. You are not an employee.

You are putting in the same amount of work for less pay, which is a sign, in my view, of someone who is willing to compromise for the greater good (the company).

The amount of extra hours they work is irrelevant.

 

[fantheflames]

Hello - hoping someone can give me some advice
I am a full time working company director with two main partners. My brother has recently had a heart transplant which has made me decide to work part time from June 2023
My salary is currently £5000 a month which is approx £1150 a week.
If I worked 3 days a week I assumed my new salary would be calculated at 3/5 of my current salary so expected to receive £690 a week

One of my partners works over 65 hours a week and the other works 55. This is because they love work and refuse to employ anyone to help them with their work load
When the complany started 25 years ago I also used to work the same number of hours but now i can get my work done in 45 hours a week

The problem I would like advice on is that my partners are suggesting that when I go part time I should be paid based on what their hourly rate is
my pay would therefore be £1150 / 55 hours multiplied by 27 hours (this being 3 x 9 hour days) = £565 a week
Is this legal ?

many thanks in anticipation of your assistance

What's the current update @AndyPC? Curious to know how it's all working out for you.

 

[AndyPC]

What's the current update @AndyPC? Curious to know how it's all working out for you.

Hi Fantheflames - I have a bit of time to negotiate but Im still pretty pissed off that my partners do not appreciate how much work I get through. I suppose they class pointless meetings and one hour phone calls as productive but not me. It has got even more complicated since I posted my issue as the partner who is driving my pay reduction has had an affair with his secretarywhich has now ended badly. Rather than ask he to leave has decided to leave the company - this is devastating as without him we will struggle. He has resisted my insistance to employ an assistant (hence his excessive work hours) - can you give advice regarding this ? If his secretary left he would withdraw his resignation