Network Engineer Extremely Low Pay

SickenZ

I am highly aware of the situation I am in, but I am just looking for opinions if I should stick it out with the company.

Current job title: IT Field Engineer (Outsourced)

Core Job Duties:
-Onsite/Remote scheduled preventive maintenance working with client specific point of contacts
-Troubleshooting/Network Diagnostics in response to client network down
-Configuring/setup/managing client solution based firewalls (Sonicwall, Watchguard, Barracuda)
-Configuring/setup/managing Domain with AD and EMC (small and medium sized businesses 5-150 users)
-Software troubleshooting (Office, Timberline Accounting, OST, P6, Expedition) to name a few
-Consulting with clients for long term solutions and cloud based computing solutions

There are a number of other tasks I perform on a day to day basis, but this here should paint a good picture of my abilities and my day to day routine.

I have 1 years college experience with no degree as well as no official certifications in the IT industry.

I have been working for my employer for nearly two years now without any substantial pay increase. Here is my predicament:
-Full time 40 hours/week
-$10/hour + 10% commissions of $100-$150/hour billed to client EDIT>>>(10-20 hours billed weekly)<<<EDIT
-A job as an Engineer in general requires much more time than 40 hours a week to attain successfully - I receive about 25% of the overtime I actually do work.

The senior engineers in the company make upwards of $80,000 salary + 10% commissions + benefits.

I have been promised a salary raise for over a year now, but with many internal and client issues within the company, cash flow is not substantial rendering me with nothing. Should I stick it out with these guys or kick the can and take my chances elsewhere?

Also, I can barely afford to pay my bills, and my bills are at an absolute minimum...



Thank you for any input or suggestions.

Iristheangel

I would ask for a raise and try to get certifications on the side. If they won't give you a raise, you can quietly send resumes out and see if someone will actually hire you for more. Don't burn any bridges.

pram

Two years?? You should have been looking for a new job a long time ago, that situation sounds intolerable imo.

psenior

You can make $10 holding a street sign. Start looking for another job ASAP.

YFZblu

You only receive 25% of the overtime you should be receiving? This opens your employer up to a host of lawsuits unless they aren't legally obligated to pay you overtime because of the commission situation. Do they know you aren't being paid for the work you do? If so, what is their response?

You provided financial information, but it's impossible to determine how much you actually make if we don't know how much OT you're getting.

My opinion: You have valuable experience and I think it's time to move on. I think you need to pick up some industry certifications and leverage your experience to find a better job.

lunchbox67

Iristheangel wrote: »

I would ask for a raise and try to get certifications on the side. If they won't give you a raise, you can quietly send resumes out and see if someone will actually hire you for more. Don't burn any bridges.

You nailed it.

Go to them with what you do and WHY you are WORTH more. Make sure your is not out of line, just sell them on how valuable you are to them AND their clients.

See what happens ... either way, start getting your Certs NOW ...

Do not burn any bridges in life. You never know when you may need to cross over them again.

shodown

if your paid 10 dollars a hour you should be eligible for overtime, the fact that they even pay it 25 percent of the time they know they should be paying it. Now if your manager or someone is cooking the books, the payroll people may not even be aware. The other side is that they pay you some of the hourly rate, i'm not sure how its worded in your contract. Depending on your location 80K for a senior engineer maybe kinda low. I've even looked in some real rural low cost of living towns and have seen 90k.

drkat

They're breaking the law - the OT rules dont apply to commission only employees, if you have a base then they are required to give OT

cyberguypr

WHAT? Is this job in the US?

Zartanasaurus

psenior wrote: »

You can make $10 holding a street sign. Start looking for another job ASAP.

He's actually making $15-$20 an hour with commissions. Still not a lot, but not $10.

Tackle

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

He's actually making $15-$20 an hour with commissions. Still not a lot, but not $10.

That is certainly acceptible. I make the low end of that and do pretty much the same as he describes. Location could be a big factor though.

drkat

maybe I'm numb to cash but $15 aint jack

onesaint

beyond all the gasps and shock, do what Iristheangel said. Two years is great, but you're only worth what someone is willing to pay you. Now, go find someone who will pay you what you want.


Keep in mind, having a job makes getting a job somewhat easier. You might consider posting your resume on TE for feedback. Don't burn your bridges as you can use them as ferences at some point in the future. I would put feelers out even if you don't intend on leaving. Just see what bites you get and if you're skills are in demand. You should also look into certs and a degree, but one step at a time.

Good luck and start looking.

kurosaki00

Thats really low
You should ask for a raise or use the experience a get a new job

DB Cooper

In this biz, don't be stagnant. Always look to improve your skills, and keep one ear to the ground.

lunchbox67

No one can say the pay is high or low until you see the quality of work.

But if you are working 4 hours OT and they pay you 1 hour OT ... stop that today. And that is NOT burning a bridge ... you should be paid for the hours you work at the agreed upon amount, no more no less.

If you are paid to little OR too much is all theoretical.

Get your Certs or a degree and more doors will be open for you

m3zilla

kurosaki00 wrote: »

Thats really low
You should ask for a raise or use the experience a get a new job

I wouldn't bother asking for a raise. I made $9.50 for my first job in fast food. There's no reason to stay at a company paying their tech $10/hr.

Zartanasaurus

Can you unpack the OT thing for us? Seems blatantly shady for them to just say "you logged 4 hours OT so we are paying you for 1 hour". Gotta be more to it than that.

SickenZ

To sum things up about the OT... All OT has to be approved by my manager or president of the company. Most of my requested OT is denied due to company financial issues. However as previously stated, being and engineer requires more effort and time than a typical 40 hour work week. If i didn't spend at least an extra 5 hours a week managing/reviewing my responsibilities, I would likely be demoted or fired due to under performance - so I work continually whether I am payed for it or or not (the denied OT that I work is not officially documented). (Most field techs/engineers at our company spend roughly 55 hours working during one week; all other field techs/engineers are on exempt employee salary pay).

m3zilla

Well, that's a different story. If you're putting in extra hours before getting it approved for OT, then I can see why they're not paying you. Technically, you're not suppose to be on the clock.

Having said that, why are you still there? Sounds like a terrible company to work for.

YFZblu

m3zilla wrote: »

Well, that's a different story. If you're putting in extra hours before getting it approved for OT, then I can see why they're not paying you. Technically, you're not suppose to be on the clock.

If the employee is working when he isn't supposed to, the company should be putting him on disciplinary action immediately. You don't just let it happen and say "oh well".

m3zilla

I'm not saying they're right, but it's different than "I receive about 25% of the overtime I actually do work."

drkat

Yeah sorry about that but Yes by law they have to pay you, but they dont have to keep you around if it isnt approved dont work it.

Zartanasaurus

Sounds to me like you're working on your own time to stay caught up then trying to get paid OT after the fact. Welcome to the working world.

SickenZ

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Sounds to me like you're working on your own time to stay caught up then trying to get paid OT after the fact. Welcome to the working world.

Yes I completely understand that. But by my reasoning, one gets paid an exempt employee salary to work 20 hours a week or 100 hours a week - as long as the job gets done correctly. From a typical hourly wage job, you are paid by your schedule and no more. An exempt employee should be expected to work extra hours at times to attain their job with reasonable standings. An hourly employee would/should not be expected to work additional hours to attain their job with reasonable standings.

Basically the dilemma is that I am expected to work as an exempt employee yet not paid or legally treated as one. As I previously mentioned, I am the only field engineer without exempt employee salary pay - I keep running into a cluster**** of legality/OT issues by default.

I thank all of you for the intuitive replies - I will be grabbing my MCITP: Windows 7, MSCA/MCITP Windows Server 2008 Administrator, and MSCE Private Cloud certifications ASAP, then moving on from this hell hole of a company to bigger and better things.

Zartanasaurus

SickenZ wrote: »

Yes I completely understand that. But by my reasoning, one gets paid an exempt employee salary to work 20 hours a week or 100 hours a week - as long as the job gets done correctly. From a typical hourly wage job, you are paid by your schedule and no more. An exempt employee should be expected to work extra hours at times to attain their job with reasonable standings. An hourly employee would/should not be expected to work additional hours to attain their job with reasonable standings.

Basically the dilemma is that I am expected to work as an exempt employee yet not paid or legally treated as one. As I previously mentioned, I am the only field engineer without exempt employee salary pay - I keep running into a cluster**** of legality/OT issues by default.

I thank all of you for the intuitive replies - I will be grabbing my MCITP: Windows 7, MSCA/MCITP Windows Server 2008 Administrator, and MSCE Private Cloud certifications ASAP, then moving on from this hell hole of a company to bigger and better things.

Stop working overtime without getting it approved first.

techdudehere

Gracefully leave this company with a good work history and find a better work place. At the next place, don't put in extra hours. I may look something up on my own time to make things go faster the next day, but I never work outside of the known hours.