I would like to know what is the average salary for someone who has an architecture degree and 2.5 years of solid experience in the Los Angeles, CA area. Right now, I'm earning 42K/year, but with the unpaid overtime each week it comes down to $13-$14 (working 50-60 hrs/week). I am currently doing lead design work and project management and would like to know if this is the standard with others in similar positions as myself.
CA law requires overtime after 40 hours at 1.5 times base rate.
That should give you a good negotiating point. Document your time before bringing it up with the boss. At the very least you should get overtime pay for your documented hours, if you handle it right you could get a raise or other negotiated deal and some back pay as well. Big trouble with the government for violating this law.
Another way to think about it is why are you working 50-60 hours and getting paid for 40?Was it expected when you got the position? Or is it a product of the way the firm (dys)functions?
If you're salaried, you're not going to get overtime. No matter what. You might get a bonus or comp time, but that's probably it. You should assume that your annual salary is compensating you for whatever the office standard weekly workload is. That can vary from office to office, but 44 hours/week is pretty universal for accounting purposes. That's optimum from a utilization and productivity standpoint (110%), looking at it from a firm management perspective, so that's usually what salaries are indexed to for most employees. Senior, more highly-paid employees are generally expected to work more than that, since it's part of the job.
If you're paid hourly, that's another story altogether. In that case, Miles is right. CA Law has some very stern things to say about how you get paid once you clock more than 40 in a week. This is why the vast majority of non-contract architectural staff are paid salary, not hourly.
@Miles: It appears that IF you make 2x state minimum wage as calculated by a salary at 40hrs/wk then the state grants "professional exemption" to almost anyone in architecture. Is this why design firms often do not offer overtime?
For CA that's $640/wk assuming no vacation/sick time/holidays that's $33,280k/yr for exempt salary?
I am salaried not hourly. The hours every week are between 50-60 in the office and I am required to work from home if needed, answer emails, run errands, etc in addition to the 50-60 hr - so that may add an extra 5-10 hrs.
I would like to know if this is the situation with most architecture offices.
That can vary from office to office, but 44 hours/week is pretty universal for accounting purposes. That's optimum from a utilization and productivity standpoint (110%), looking at it from a firm management perspective, so that's usually what salaries are indexed to for most employees.
Total bullshit. I've never once seen a firm that expected its employees to be 110% billable. Interns are generally expected to be around 90%. Salaried employees even less so (anywhere between 60-80%) given expectations around non-billable business development activities. If the expectation is to be at 110% either billable rates are too low or the firm is understaffed, both of which are management problems.
Also, the rules laid out in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for overtime exempt "salaried" professional employees are not clear as they apply to architect interns. The more upright firms in our profession will pay interns overtime throughout the completion of the IDP process; the more unscrupulous firms will claim that a degreed intern "exercises discretion and judgment" and is therefore exempt from the FLSA overtime requirements. The Department of Labor has not to my knowledge come out with a clear position on architect interns (however they really should clarify this issue!). Although now dated, over the years I've come back to this article in Arch Voices as a good resource on the issue.
Not 110% billable. 110% total time . And most firms have average utilization rate targets for staff that are around 95% (that's what ours is for all billable professional employees in non-leadership, non-bizdev positions).
The 110% (44 hours) number is usually used for staffing planning for max productivity. There's a ton of background research which suggests that people working more than 44 hours per week start to become substantially less productive the more they work beyond that number on a continuing basis, to the point where someone working 60 hour weeks for more than a couple of months becomes less productive than someone working 36 hours per week (the typical full-time threshold). People working less than 44 hours per week generally can be made more productive by shifting their workload toward 44. It's kind of a "sweet spot."
In California a professional has a license and at that point you make the transition to salary. In other states simply having a degree will be the point where you are salaried. It is pretty simple - have a stamp, get a salary. There are wobblers (legal term) and that tends to happen when you've been in a position of managing staff and you clearly could have gotten a stamp.
Keep all your time cards and have good records of what you did. You go to the labor board, with an attorney, and present a case with damages. If you can not prove harm then the labor board will dismiss your case. You are very likely to get back pay for your overtime provided legal council agrees that you have a case. Be honest and have the records to prove what you claim. Be certain that you weren't simply putting in more effort than you were asked to do by the employer. Often in architecture we go well beyond what was asked of us because we have a personal need excel. If you were busting budgets so you could be a show off then you can't get compensation from the employer.
You are entitled to be paid and you are making the profession better if you keep an unruly firm in check. It is clear that firm won't screw anybody over again after a suit. Just make certain you aren't being a dickhead litigant.
In California, the language that defines the "professional" exemption from Overtime Laws is as follows:
professional exemption:
A person employed in a professional capacity means any employee who meets all of the following requirements:
1. Who is licensed or certified by the State of California and is primarily engaged in the practice of one of the following recognized professions: law, medicine, dentistry, optometry, architecture, engineering, teaching, or accounting, or
2. Who is primarily engaged in an occupation commonly recognized as a learned or artistic profession. "Learned or artistic profession" means an employee who is primarily engaged in the performance of:
3a. Work requiring knowledge of an advance type in a field or science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study, as distinguished from a general academic education and from an apprenticeship, and from training in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical processes, or work that is an essential part of or necessarily incident to any of the above work; or
3b. Work that is original and creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor (as opposed to work which can be produced by a person endowed with general manual or intellectual ability and training), and the result of which depends primarily on the invention, imagination, or talent of the employee or work that is an essential part of or necessarily incident to any of the above work; and
3c. Whose work is predominantly intellectual and varied in character (as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work) and is of such character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time.
4. Who customarily and regularly exercised discretion an independent judgment in the performance of duties set forth above.
5. Who earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment. Full-time employment means 40 hours per week as defined in Labor Code Section 515(c).
Regarding the requirement for the exemption to apply that the employee "customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment," this phrase means the comparison and evaluation of possible courses of conduct and acting or making a decision after the various possibilities have been considered. The employee must have the authority or power to make an independent choice, free from immediate direction or supervision and with respect to matters of significance.
For the learned professions, an advanced academic degree (above the bachelor level) is a standard prerequisite.
For the artistic professions, work in a "recognized field of artistic endeavor" includes such fields as music, writing, the theater, and the plastic and graphic arts.
Presumably, unless you meet ALL of these requirements and your employer cannot classify you in some other exempt classification (i.e. managerial or administrative, for example) then your pay should be governed by the State's overtime laws.
No way I would ever work for a firm that doesn't pay overtime. F That! You have to have respect for yourself.
I get paid for overtime at my hourly rate... wish it was time and a half... but it sure beats nothing!
I used to work at a firm where I was putting in 40/hrs a week. I was getting my work done on time, and was on pace to finish schedules. Owner corned me as asked me to put in more time in even when I was finishing tasks on time and everything was in order. He just wanted to grease the client, and screw me! F THAT! I quit the next month. I don't tolerate bullshit... and I recommend everyone here not to tolerate it... because once you start tolerating it, it will create a chain effect of these firms that don't respect employees. I am lucky to work at a firm that respects me and pays me what I am worth. When you treat employees right, you will have loyal hard working people working for you.
What is the "average" salary of someone like me? I work in Los Angeles, CA, have a bachelor's degree in architecture, am currently the only designer who is working on the project so that makes me the "lead designer" even though I'm not licensed. The hours vary from 50-60 per week maybe more if you count the hours worked from home and driving back and forth to the site. I have about 2.5 years of work experience.
Average Salary /Underpaid?
I would like to know what is the average salary for someone who has an architecture degree and 2.5 years of solid experience in the Los Angeles, CA area. Right now, I'm earning 42K/year, but with the unpaid overtime each week it comes down to $13-$14 (working 50-60 hrs/week). I am currently doing lead design work and project management and would like to know if this is the standard with others in similar positions as myself.
Have you looked at salaries.archinect.com?
unpaid overtime <- that's the problem, not your salary.
CA law requires overtime after 40 hours at 1.5 times base rate.
That should give you a good negotiating point. Document your time before bringing it up with the boss. At the very least you should get overtime pay for your documented hours, if you handle it right you could get a raise or other negotiated deal and some back pay as well. Big trouble with the government for violating this law.
Another way to think about it is why are you working 50-60 hours and getting paid for 40?Was it expected when you got the position? Or is it a product of the way the firm (dys)functions?
If you're salaried, you're not going to get overtime. No matter what. You might get a bonus or comp time, but that's probably it. You should assume that your annual salary is compensating you for whatever the office standard weekly workload is. That can vary from office to office, but 44 hours/week is pretty universal for accounting purposes. That's optimum from a utilization and productivity standpoint (110%), looking at it from a firm management perspective, so that's usually what salaries are indexed to for most employees. Senior, more highly-paid employees are generally expected to work more than that, since it's part of the job.
If you're paid hourly, that's another story altogether. In that case, Miles is right. CA Law has some very stern things to say about how you get paid once you clock more than 40 in a week. This is why the vast majority of non-contract architectural staff are paid salary, not hourly.
Are you just salaried?
@Miles: It appears that IF you make 2x state minimum wage as calculated by a salary at 40hrs/wk then the state grants "professional exemption" to almost anyone in architecture. Is this why design firms often do not offer overtime?
For CA that's $640/wk assuming no vacation/sick time/holidays that's $33,280k/yr for exempt salary?
I am salaried not hourly. The hours every week are between 50-60 in the office and I am required to work from home if needed, answer emails, run errands, etc in addition to the 50-60 hr - so that may add an extra 5-10 hrs.
I would like to know if this is the situation with most architecture offices.
3tk, I think the qualification for the professional exemption requires a license.
Can i get an architectural job in new jercy, us. i have B ARCH degree from india with 8 yrs of experiene
That can vary from office to office, but 44 hours/week is pretty universal for accounting purposes. That's optimum from a utilization and productivity standpoint (110%), looking at it from a firm management perspective, so that's usually what salaries are indexed to for most employees.
Total bullshit. I've never once seen a firm that expected its employees to be 110% billable. Interns are generally expected to be around 90%. Salaried employees even less so (anywhere between 60-80%) given expectations around non-billable business development activities. If the expectation is to be at 110% either billable rates are too low or the firm is understaffed, both of which are management problems.
Also, the rules laid out in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for overtime exempt "salaried" professional employees are not clear as they apply to architect interns. The more upright firms in our profession will pay interns overtime throughout the completion of the IDP process; the more unscrupulous firms will claim that a degreed intern "exercises discretion and judgment" and is therefore exempt from the FLSA overtime requirements. The Department of Labor has not to my knowledge come out with a clear position on architect interns (however they really should clarify this issue!). Although now dated, over the years I've come back to this article in Arch Voices as a good resource on the issue.
Not 110% billable. 110% total time . And most firms have average utilization rate targets for staff that are around 95% (that's what ours is for all billable professional employees in non-leadership, non-bizdev positions).
The 110% (44 hours) number is usually used for staffing planning for max productivity. There's a ton of background research which suggests that people working more than 44 hours per week start to become substantially less productive the more they work beyond that number on a continuing basis, to the point where someone working 60 hour weeks for more than a couple of months becomes less productive than someone working 36 hours per week (the typical full-time threshold). People working less than 44 hours per week generally can be made more productive by shifting their workload toward 44. It's kind of a "sweet spot."
In California a professional has a license and at that point you make the transition to salary. In other states simply having a degree will be the point where you are salaried. It is pretty simple - have a stamp, get a salary. There are wobblers (legal term) and that tends to happen when you've been in a position of managing staff and you clearly could have gotten a stamp.
Keep all your time cards and have good records of what you did. You go to the labor board, with an attorney, and present a case with damages. If you can not prove harm then the labor board will dismiss your case. You are very likely to get back pay for your overtime provided legal council agrees that you have a case. Be honest and have the records to prove what you claim. Be certain that you weren't simply putting in more effort than you were asked to do by the employer. Often in architecture we go well beyond what was asked of us because we have a personal need excel. If you were busting budgets so you could be a show off then you can't get compensation from the employer.
You are entitled to be paid and you are making the profession better if you keep an unruly firm in check. It is clear that firm won't screw anybody over again after a suit. Just make certain you aren't being a dickhead litigant.
In California, the language that defines the "professional" exemption from Overtime Laws is as follows:
professional exemption:
A person employed in a professional capacity means any employee who meets all of the following requirements:
1. Who is licensed or certified by the State of California and is primarily engaged in the practice of one of the following recognized professions: law, medicine, dentistry, optometry, architecture, engineering, teaching, or accounting, or
2. Who is primarily engaged in an occupation commonly recognized as a learned or artistic profession. "Learned or artistic profession" means an employee who is primarily engaged in the performance of:
3a. Work requiring knowledge of an advance type in a field or science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study, as distinguished from a general academic education and from an apprenticeship, and from training in the performance of routine mental, manual, or physical processes, or work that is an essential part of or necessarily incident to any of the above work; or
3b. Work that is original and creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor (as opposed to work which can be produced by a person endowed with general manual or intellectual ability and training), and the result of which depends primarily on the invention, imagination, or talent of the employee or work that is an essential part of or necessarily incident to any of the above work; and
3c. Whose work is predominantly intellectual and varied in character (as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work) and is of such character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time.
4. Who customarily and regularly exercised discretion an independent judgment in the performance of duties set forth above.
5. Who earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment. Full-time employment means 40 hours per week as defined in Labor Code Section 515(c).
Regarding the requirement for the exemption to apply that the employee "customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment," this phrase means the comparison and evaluation of possible courses of conduct and acting or making a decision after the various possibilities have been considered. The employee must have the authority or power to make an independent choice, free from immediate direction or supervision and with respect to matters of significance.
For the learned professions, an advanced academic degree (above the bachelor level) is a standard prerequisite.
For the artistic professions, work in a "recognized field of artistic endeavor" includes such fields as music, writing, the theater, and the plastic and graphic arts.
Presumably, unless you meet ALL of these requirements and your employer cannot classify you in some other exempt classification (i.e. managerial or administrative, for example) then your pay should be governed by the State's overtime laws.
No way I would ever work for a firm that doesn't pay overtime. F That! You have to have respect for yourself.
I get paid for overtime at my hourly rate... wish it was time and a half... but it sure beats nothing!
I used to work at a firm where I was putting in 40/hrs a week. I was getting my work done on time, and was on pace to finish schedules. Owner corned me as asked me to put in more time in even when I was finishing tasks on time and everything was in order. He just wanted to grease the client, and screw me! F THAT! I quit the next month. I don't tolerate bullshit... and I recommend everyone here not to tolerate it... because once you start tolerating it, it will create a chain effect of these firms that don't respect employees. I am lucky to work at a firm that respects me and pays me what I am worth. When you treat employees right, you will have loyal hard working people working for you.
What is the "average" salary of someone like me? I work in Los Angeles, CA, have a bachelor's degree in architecture, am currently the only designer who is working on the project so that makes me the "lead designer" even though I'm not licensed. The hours vary from 50-60 per week maybe more if you count the hours worked from home and driving back and forth to the site. I have about 2.5 years of work experience.
$1, Bob
lol
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