# Stupid math question I can't figure out... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-math-question-i-cant-figure-out/122465 "2002-08-05T19:29:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-math-question-i-cant-figure-out/122465/1 "2002-08-05T19:29:29Z")
Assume that I am paid an hourly wage ($10, just for ease of figuring). I miss one day of work, limiting me to 32 hours one week instead of the usual 40. Assuming time and a half in overtime, how many hours would I have to work the next week to make up for the 8 hours missed the week before? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-math-question-i-cant-figure-out/122465/2 "2002-08-05T19:34:53Z")
40 + 8/1.5 = 45.3333 ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-math-question-i-cant-figure-out/122465/3 "2002-08-05T19:39:21Z")
If you missed one day of work, you lost $10 an hour for 8 hours, or $80. To make it up next week, you’ll have to work x hours making $15 an hour, so that you earn the lost $80: 15x = 80, so x = 5 hours, 20 minutes (exactly two thirds of the time you originally missed). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-math-question-i-cant-figure-out/122465/4 "2002-08-05T22:40:46Z")
I agree that 45.333 hours is the correct answer. But let’s get realistic: will an employer allow it under normal conditions? Let’s say Bob & Joe are co-workers, and both make $10/hour + 1.5X OT. Joe worked two 40-hour weeks and earned $800. During the same time period, Bob worked 32 hours the first week and 45.333 hours the second week. Bob worked _less_ hours for the _same_ amount of money, bringing his effective pay to $10.34/hr. Using this same strategy, Bob takes an entire week off without pay, then works 66.667 hours the next week. Bob’s making out like a bandit; his effective rate is now $12/hr.! ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-math-question-i-cant-figure-out/122465/5 "2002-08-06T00:30:30Z")
yep, **Crafter\_Man** , that’s the way it works. In our plant, folks will often pull a Saturday (1.5x) and a Sunday (2x) and take the rest of the week off, or take a 4-day weekend the following work week. If one goes over 8 hrs on Sunday, he’s bumped up to the coveted TRIPLE TIME, and can sip coffee and hum a happy tune as the nickels and dimes clatter away in his mental soundtrack. It’s a supply-and-demand/seniority gig. If you want the work, it’s there. If you’re top dog, you get the shift. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-math-question-i-cant-figure-out/122465/6 "2002-08-06T03:03:28Z")
There was something like this on “ER”: Carol was trying to save the nursing department from laying off a nurse. She saw that her nurses were working 3 12-hour shifts a week, but got paid time-and-a-half for hours over 8 worked in any 24-hour period. So they were getting 3\*(8+4\*1.5) = 42 hours worth of pay for only 36 hours of work. Carol then suggested they work 5 8-hour shifts. The department would save 5% on wages, which would save her from eliminating a position. Greedy nurses didn’t like that idea. ☹