The wage rate in a certain trade is $8.60 an hour for a 40-hour week and


times the base pay for overtime. An employee who works 48 hours in a week earns

1 answer

To determine how much an employee earns when working 48 hours in a week, we need to calculate both their regular pay for the first 40 hours and their overtime pay for the additional 8 hours.

  1. Regular Pay:

    • Regular wage rate = $8.60 per hour
    • Regular hours = 40 hours
    • Regular pay = Regular wage rate × Regular hours \[ \text{Regular Pay} = 8.60 \times 40 = 344.00 \]
  2. Overtime Pay:

    • Overtime hours = Total hours worked - Regular hours = 48 - 40 = 8 hours
    • Overtime pay rate is generally 1.5 times the regular wage rate.
    • Overtime rate = 1.5 × $8.60 = $12.90
    • Overtime pay = Overtime rate × Overtime hours \[ \text{Overtime Pay} = 12.90 \times 8 = 103.20 \]
  3. Total Earnings: \[ \text{Total Earnings} = \text{Regular Pay} + \text{Overtime Pay} = 344.00 + 103.20 = 447.20 \]

Therefore, the employee who works 48 hours in a week earns a total of $447.20.