I just started IDP and filled out my first "experience" report. My employer saw that I listed I worked 55 hours a week (which is true) but is concerned that if I say that I work more than 40 hours a week, they might get in trouble with the AIA or NCARB or the government or something. I've been looking through the IDP guidelines and haven't seen anything about a time limit per week - does anyone know anything about this? Thanks!
smallpotatoes
Dec 18, 09 2:17 pm
I do not know if NCARB prescribes a weekly limit.
They do however want to be able to check the credits claimed against the hours worked. Email your state IDP coordinator if you are worried.
bklyntotfc
Dec 18, 09 2:51 pm
That's such bulls**t. Hey you can work 55 hours a week for me, but (my guess is) you don't get overtime, and I won't even let you get IDP credit.
My guess is they are actually worried about whether or not you're legally entitled to overtime pay for those extra hours (it varies state by state, and by what your responsibilities at the firm are), and don't want to have their signature on a document that could be used against them if you ever sued for back wages.
Philarch
Dec 18, 09 2:56 pm
Is this with the e-EVR system? I remember when I was doing it by paper, I didn't report it weekly, it was the lump sum at the end within the reporting time period... Which was somewhat surprising because I thought they would literally verify every hour of every day.
Or are you saying, even though you are submitting the total credit at the end, its averaging out to 55 hours per week?!
I remember when I was reporting, there were some times where the work I did didn't even qualify as one of the categories, so I can't imagine even with overtime that all my experience would average out to 55 hours/week.
otis151
Dec 19, 09 3:48 am
Slar...there is a box where you fill in average hours per week. They had this on the paper forms too back in the day. It's always a touchy subject because firms don't like to let Ncarb know they are overworking their employees.
pigeon
Dec 19, 09 2:33 pm
F that - if you worked the hours make your boss sign off. I have worked 120 hour weeks and got all three weeks of idp in one.
Philarch
Dec 21, 09 9:36 am
Hmmm, I always thought that box was for expected normal hours of work, not the literal average. I put 40 hours although average could be +/- that. My paperwork went through and I'm now eligible to sit for the AREs, so I guess that wasn't a big issue.
Maybe I'll double-check. Or not.
derrickpayne
Jun 8, 20 11:24 am
I have worked for nearly 28 years in our industry.
40 Hour weeks are a rarity in this buisness I have worked 100hours a week even 24 hour days especially in my younger years. If I received approval ahead of time I was paid for the O.T. On most occasions some overtime is expected if you are managerial and as part of a monthly salary. Labor laws in the US are favored towards the employer so check those out as well for your state.
As far as the experience records if you worked it and documented it and your employer knows you worked it then why would he not sign off on your hours? Many aspiring licensees have an agreement with their mentors and employers to accelerate their experience gain towards licensee. I believe you can register up to 100hours a week as an average depends on the state.
On a related note:
I read a fowl post(s) about threatening to fire people and or not sanctioning your recorded time?! (That is simply nasty and does not help bear fruit).
Not sure why someone would post such a threat but its uncalled sounds like an angry person. My suggestion would be to speak to your mentor and or employer about your goals and timeline towards that end and your recorded time most are more than happy to help you get their. Contact the NCARB of your state to clarify and ignore the posts in here unless the individual can sanction the comments with legitimacy.
Cheers
thisisnotmyname
Jun 8, 20 11:56 am
Does your employer have you maintain timesheets or a similar record that documents the amount of hours you work? Something like that should be sufficient in the event that NCARB ever questioned the amount of hours you are reporting. I wouldn't worry too much about NCARB investigating you, I have observed that they don't seem care much about looking into questionable AXP reports.
Everyday Architect
Jun 8, 20 12:54 pm
THIS THREAD IS FROM 2009
midlander
Jun 8, 20 6:51 pm
at roughly the time this thread started i was occasionally reporting 50-55 hours a week, no problem. my supervisor even assured me our office had worked with the local chapter of the aia to lobby ncarb to recognize overtime hours for interns.
Flatfish
Jun 8, 20 8:59 pm
I don't recall NCARB ever questioning overtime hours (I did IDP in the later 90s/early 2000s.) What I do recall is that they had huge problems with having more than one job at a time, so if you had 2 experience reports from 2 different places that overlapped by even a day, they would reject both. There also used to be a 4-page review that each supervisor had to fill out, and too many "below average" or "less than satisfactory" checks could also get it rejected. Things are much simpler these days from a supervisor point of view -though they don't allow for any nuanced review - the only choices are to approve the whole experience report, reject it, or send it back to the intern with questions.
I just started IDP and filled out my first "experience" report. My employer saw that I listed I worked 55 hours a week (which is true) but is concerned that if I say that I work more than 40 hours a week, they might get in trouble with the AIA or NCARB or the government or something. I've been looking through the IDP guidelines and haven't seen anything about a time limit per week - does anyone know anything about this? Thanks!
I do not know if NCARB prescribes a weekly limit.
They do however want to be able to check the credits claimed against the hours worked. Email your state IDP coordinator if you are worried.
That's such bulls**t. Hey you can work 55 hours a week for me, but (my guess is) you don't get overtime, and I won't even let you get IDP credit.
My guess is they are actually worried about whether or not you're legally entitled to overtime pay for those extra hours (it varies state by state, and by what your responsibilities at the firm are), and don't want to have their signature on a document that could be used against them if you ever sued for back wages.
Is this with the e-EVR system? I remember when I was doing it by paper, I didn't report it weekly, it was the lump sum at the end within the reporting time period... Which was somewhat surprising because I thought they would literally verify every hour of every day.
Or are you saying, even though you are submitting the total credit at the end, its averaging out to 55 hours per week?!
I remember when I was reporting, there were some times where the work I did didn't even qualify as one of the categories, so I can't imagine even with overtime that all my experience would average out to 55 hours/week.
Slar...there is a box where you fill in average hours per week. They had this on the paper forms too back in the day. It's always a touchy subject because firms don't like to let Ncarb know they are overworking their employees.
F that - if you worked the hours make your boss sign off. I have worked 120 hour weeks and got all three weeks of idp in one.
Hmmm, I always thought that box was for expected normal hours of work, not the literal average. I put 40 hours although average could be +/- that. My paperwork went through and I'm now eligible to sit for the AREs, so I guess that wasn't a big issue.
Maybe I'll double-check. Or not.
I have worked for nearly 28 years in our industry.
40 Hour weeks are a rarity in this buisness I have worked 100hours a week even 24 hour days especially in my younger years. If I received approval ahead of time I was paid for the O.T. On most occasions some overtime is expected if you are managerial and as part of a monthly salary. Labor laws in the US are favored towards the employer so check those out as well for your state.
As far as the experience records if you worked it and documented it and your employer knows you worked it then why would he not sign off on your hours? Many aspiring licensees have an agreement with their mentors and employers to accelerate their experience gain towards licensee. I believe you can register up to 100hours a week as an average depends on the state.
On a related note:
I read a fowl post(s) about threatening to fire people and or not sanctioning your recorded time?! (That is simply nasty and does not help bear fruit).
Not sure why someone would post such a threat but its uncalled sounds like an angry person. My suggestion would be to speak to your mentor and or employer about your goals and timeline towards that end and your recorded time most are more than happy to help you get their. Contact the NCARB of your state to clarify and ignore the posts in here unless the individual can sanction the comments with legitimacy.
Cheers
Does your employer have you maintain timesheets or a similar record that documents the amount of hours you work? Something like that should be sufficient in the event that NCARB ever questioned the amount of hours you are reporting. I wouldn't worry too much about NCARB investigating you, I have observed that they don't seem care much about looking into questionable AXP reports.
THIS THREAD IS FROM 2009
at roughly the time this thread started i was occasionally reporting 50-55 hours a week, no problem. my supervisor even assured me our office had worked with the local chapter of the aia to lobby ncarb to recognize overtime hours for interns.
I don't recall NCARB ever questioning overtime hours (I did IDP in the later 90s/early 2000s.) What I do recall is that they had huge problems with having more than one job at a time, so if you had 2 experience reports from 2 different places that overlapped by even a day, they would reject both. There also used to be a 4-page review that each supervisor had to fill out, and too many "below average" or "less than satisfactory" checks could also get it rejected. Things are much simpler these days from a supervisor point of view -though they don't allow for any nuanced review - the only choices are to approve the whole experience report, reject it, or send it back to the intern with questions.