Human Resource Blog

Nevada Fluctuating Work Week

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Can you explain the fluctuating work week or Belo plan in Nevada?

The fluctuating work week is utilized mostly for industries with seasonal workers, such as golf courses and landscaping companies. Employees are paid a flat salary for all hours worked in a week, and only half the hourly rate for overtime.

Normally, overtime is paid at the rate of 1.5 times the usual rate. Federal and Nevada laws allow the fluctuating work week or Belo plan to pay only 50% because the flat salary covers the hourly rate. Average hourly rate for the Belo plan is calculated by taking the flat rate and dividing by the number of hours worked. The resulting hourly rate must remain above the Nevada state or federal minimum wage to remain legal.

This plan provides two advantages. The employer saves money on overtime, and the worker receives a reliable rate of pay during a fluctuating work season.

To illustrate how the plan works, let’s look at an example. Todd works for a golf course and gets paid $500 per week on the Belo plan. If he works 35 hours in week, his hourly rate ($500/35) is $14.29. If Todd works 70 hours, though, his hourly rate ($500/70) plunges to $7.15 per hour. He is entitled to overtime, though, which is calculated based on the average hourly rate.

Take $7.15 per hour, multiply by 30 overtime hours and multiply that by 0.5. The result is $107.25, which comes to only $3.58 per hour for the overtime. That may seem unrealistic, but Todd’s overall hourly rate is $10.73 per hour, which exceeds the federal and the Nevada state minimum wage for Nevada.

Clearly, working extra hours doesn’t make Todd a lot of extra money, but he can count on at least $500 a week, no matter how slow or busy the season.

All employees under the fluctuating work week plan must clearly understand the payment plan. Ideally, the worker should receive the information in writing, of a document that the employee signs.  JH