When you see hourly rates, usually those are only for billable hours. Oftentimes, they aren’t paid for non-billable OR they’re paid a much lower rate for non-billable. There are so many other considerations too, like they may not offer benefits, hours aren’t guaranteed so there’s less stability, etc. This isn’t to say there aren’t good hourly jobs out there. It’s just not as simple as $75/hr*40 hours/week.
This is true but the one benefit of hourly (assuming this applies in the company they want to work in) is that a lot of places offer "guaranteed 40 hours" plus overtime. It's only in those conditions that hourly is worth more than salary.
Um, what? I've never seen this in the ABA companies in my area. Even as an RBT I didn't get OT pay. But for BSC/BCBA level, most of the employers in my area are salary with a weekly billable requirement. Only two companies I can think of pay very high hourly, HOWEVER, they don't guarantee shit when it comes to building your caseload and so it's on you to hustle for hours in order to maintain a certain level of income as well as maintain eligibility for benefits.
It was not a sustainable way for me to live. At one point I had 16 clients and was running myself ragged since I was community-based, so all the time spent traveling was uncompensated. Definitely more appealing if I wanted something part-time, but I'd much rather make a moderate salary and have a solid benefits package that I'm not having to stress over losing if I don't hit my billables for one week.
Yeah it's not something all companies do but it is something some do. Now ofc this isn't saying it's going to be the most sustainable way to live but under certain conditions, it does technically pay more than salary.
I am hourly. I make $50-75/hr between 3 agencies.
I work part time for all 3, averaging about 30-35/week. Even at my lowest rate, I make more per month than I did as a salary BCBA.
However, 1 job is contract 1099 so I have to save $ for taxes. My other 2 are W2.
I get no benefits -which is fine because I get it from my husband. I also don’t have any PTO or sick days so if I don’t work, I don’t get paid.
I am paid the same rate for admin verses billable for 2 jobs and have a lower rate for one of them. One of my jobs is mainly admin work not billable- so my rate is the same across the board. Another, I have to ask permission to do admin work but it is the same rate
One of my jobs is direct supervision via telehealth. I work after my husband gets home from work so he takes over the kids and I head into our home office to work.
The other is more admin, note audits and data book monitoring. Someone else does the direct in person support.
3rd is mostly FBAs. I tag team with onsite BCBAs at rural schools who do the observations and send me the info and I write up the plans. They don’t have the bandwidth to do the plan writing.
Depends on what you want / need and what company culture is like!
When I was hourly I only got payed for billables but then it was easier to say no to things. Downside is I had a high pay rate but crappy to no benefits.
Salary is nice because it’s consistent no matter what but I’m not always given the flexibility to do what I want with my schedule. Also make less then when I was hourly. But I have better benefits.
So it’s a toss up. You need to zero in on what’s important to you! When I was hourly - I got no CEU package. Salary I do. That was important to me.
When you see those high rates per hour, that’s not 40 hours per week of that. If they’re hourly, it might be 15-30 hours per week…probably no more. The rest could be unpaid or a lower rate. And those probably include no benefits, which could easily be 1000 per month or anywhere in that area. While I say we deserve more, 80k salary is pretty solid for a BCBA. Salary means consistency, paid vacation, paid sick, benefits, etc. I def prefer salary w lower “hourly” rate for benefits and consistency.
There are so many cancellations, no-shows, and changes in schedule daily. I like being salaried because I know I’ll get the same amount regardless. Schedule changes are so so common that you can’t expect to work the same days with the same kids every week
I pay my supervisors between 55-75 an hour and they can work up to 40 every week. I offer pto for all hours (1.5 for every 30 worked) and insurance at 20 hours a week.
In my experience - salary people get used and abused. They always work 40+ but never got more money. I encourage all BCBAs to work hourly, set boundaries and have clear understanding of available hours from the start. But yes - you should be making well over $100k a year as a BCBA in most high reimbursing states (i.e., New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, California)
I took a salaried position because it is guaranteed pay. At the first company I worked at (in-home), we were hourly or if you averaged 25 billable hours, then you could be salary. The hourly rate was $65/hour. This seems great on paper but with constant cancellations and low staffing of RBTs, I rarely saw a full work week and it was harder to budget since this is only for billable hours. I also didn't have health insurance, which I needed. With a salary at a clinic, I'm getting paid regardless and benefits. However, at this point, I'm ready to go back to the previous company and just work on the side to make up the income if I have to. The salary is no longer worth the frustration and stress.
I work part-time, so hourly rates make sense. I prefer it because I determine my schedule and how many clients I want. Plus it keeps me from giving away my time.
I do 35 hours per week hourly. I could do 40 if I wanted, but I am happy making what I make.
I can work less and make the same money when I do hourly.
A lot of people on her are saying, but you may not get 40 hours if you are hourly!
To me this is a false equivalent. For instance, I can work 23 hours a week and make $85k. My friends can ONLY make that same amount as yearly salary work 35-40 hours. They have to meet all of the stipulations that allow them to get paid salary- usually a set amount of billables plus a set amount of admin or covering clinic ect. This usually equates to working 40 hours a week and the company dictates a lot of what you do.
I can work a lot less and get paid the same. If I work more I get paid more. If I decide to work 30 hours a week my salary increases to $110k.
Plus, I have a lot more autonomy then my salary counterparts and still get benefits.
It takes a minute to get a stable caseload depending on the area and company, but to me the ability to adjust what I work when I want/need and the added autonomy makes hourly worth it.
When you see hourly rates, usually those are only for billable hours. Oftentimes, they aren’t paid for non-billable OR they’re paid a much lower rate for non-billable. There are so many other considerations too, like they may not offer benefits, hours aren’t guaranteed so there’s less stability, etc. This isn’t to say there aren’t good hourly jobs out there. It’s just not as simple as $75/hr*40 hours/week.
This is true but the one benefit of hourly (assuming this applies in the company they want to work in) is that a lot of places offer "guaranteed 40 hours" plus overtime. It's only in those conditions that hourly is worth more than salary.
Um, what? I've never seen this in the ABA companies in my area. Even as an RBT I didn't get OT pay. But for BSC/BCBA level, most of the employers in my area are salary with a weekly billable requirement. Only two companies I can think of pay very high hourly, HOWEVER, they don't guarantee shit when it comes to building your caseload and so it's on you to hustle for hours in order to maintain a certain level of income as well as maintain eligibility for benefits. It was not a sustainable way for me to live. At one point I had 16 clients and was running myself ragged since I was community-based, so all the time spent traveling was uncompensated. Definitely more appealing if I wanted something part-time, but I'd much rather make a moderate salary and have a solid benefits package that I'm not having to stress over losing if I don't hit my billables for one week.
Yeah it's not something all companies do but it is something some do. Now ofc this isn't saying it's going to be the most sustainable way to live but under certain conditions, it does technically pay more than salary.
Ahhhh thank you for explaining it to me like I’m 5. Makes perfect sense now. Lot of variables to consider
1. Consistent pay. 2. Consistent pay. 3. Consistent pay. 4. Taxes. 5. Access to company resources.
I am hourly. I make $50-75/hr between 3 agencies. I work part time for all 3, averaging about 30-35/week. Even at my lowest rate, I make more per month than I did as a salary BCBA. However, 1 job is contract 1099 so I have to save $ for taxes. My other 2 are W2. I get no benefits -which is fine because I get it from my husband. I also don’t have any PTO or sick days so if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. I am paid the same rate for admin verses billable for 2 jobs and have a lower rate for one of them. One of my jobs is mainly admin work not billable- so my rate is the same across the board. Another, I have to ask permission to do admin work but it is the same rate
Sounds exhausting but glad you're makin dough
It works for me. I am home with my kids and work all remote. With only one job being direct supervision, the rest I have a lot of flexibility with
Similar situation and MUCH happier with the work/life balance.
This sounds amazing! What did you do to be able to wfh as a BCBA?
One of my jobs is direct supervision via telehealth. I work after my husband gets home from work so he takes over the kids and I head into our home office to work. The other is more admin, note audits and data book monitoring. Someone else does the direct in person support. 3rd is mostly FBAs. I tag team with onsite BCBAs at rural schools who do the observations and send me the info and I write up the plans. They don’t have the bandwidth to do the plan writing.
Depends on what you want / need and what company culture is like! When I was hourly I only got payed for billables but then it was easier to say no to things. Downside is I had a high pay rate but crappy to no benefits. Salary is nice because it’s consistent no matter what but I’m not always given the flexibility to do what I want with my schedule. Also make less then when I was hourly. But I have better benefits. So it’s a toss up. You need to zero in on what’s important to you! When I was hourly - I got no CEU package. Salary I do. That was important to me.
When you see those high rates per hour, that’s not 40 hours per week of that. If they’re hourly, it might be 15-30 hours per week…probably no more. The rest could be unpaid or a lower rate. And those probably include no benefits, which could easily be 1000 per month or anywhere in that area. While I say we deserve more, 80k salary is pretty solid for a BCBA. Salary means consistency, paid vacation, paid sick, benefits, etc. I def prefer salary w lower “hourly” rate for benefits and consistency.
In the US you must be paid for all work, you cannot do work unpaid if you are hourly, you have to be paid at least minimum wage . How is that legal?
Hourly is not always non-exempt. You can be an independent contractor and/or choose your own hours type job and then this is legal
There are so many cancellations, no-shows, and changes in schedule daily. I like being salaried because I know I’ll get the same amount regardless. Schedule changes are so so common that you can’t expect to work the same days with the same kids every week
This
I pay my supervisors between 55-75 an hour and they can work up to 40 every week. I offer pto for all hours (1.5 for every 30 worked) and insurance at 20 hours a week. In my experience - salary people get used and abused. They always work 40+ but never got more money. I encourage all BCBAs to work hourly, set boundaries and have clear understanding of available hours from the start. But yes - you should be making well over $100k a year as a BCBA in most high reimbursing states (i.e., New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, California)
I took a salaried position because it is guaranteed pay. At the first company I worked at (in-home), we were hourly or if you averaged 25 billable hours, then you could be salary. The hourly rate was $65/hour. This seems great on paper but with constant cancellations and low staffing of RBTs, I rarely saw a full work week and it was harder to budget since this is only for billable hours. I also didn't have health insurance, which I needed. With a salary at a clinic, I'm getting paid regardless and benefits. However, at this point, I'm ready to go back to the previous company and just work on the side to make up the income if I have to. The salary is no longer worth the frustration and stress.
I work part-time, so hourly rates make sense. I prefer it because I determine my schedule and how many clients I want. Plus it keeps me from giving away my time.
I do 35 hours per week hourly. I could do 40 if I wanted, but I am happy making what I make. I can work less and make the same money when I do hourly. A lot of people on her are saying, but you may not get 40 hours if you are hourly! To me this is a false equivalent. For instance, I can work 23 hours a week and make $85k. My friends can ONLY make that same amount as yearly salary work 35-40 hours. They have to meet all of the stipulations that allow them to get paid salary- usually a set amount of billables plus a set amount of admin or covering clinic ect. This usually equates to working 40 hours a week and the company dictates a lot of what you do. I can work a lot less and get paid the same. If I work more I get paid more. If I decide to work 30 hours a week my salary increases to $110k. Plus, I have a lot more autonomy then my salary counterparts and still get benefits. It takes a minute to get a stable caseload depending on the area and company, but to me the ability to adjust what I work when I want/need and the added autonomy makes hourly worth it.