How do salaries work?

[Greatshield17]

This week I'm starting to actually go out there and begin my search for employment as a content writer. However I'm a bit confused about how salaries work, I googled how much a content writer actually makes and had difficulty finding the $X per hour bit. Also, if I'm doing this as a freelancer, do actually have to like keep tack of much time I spend working for a client?

Do salaries have to be $X per hour, as oppose to X per month? And how do I negotiate salaries with a client or employer if I have to?

 

[Judge]

Technically salaries are usually a fixed regular payment by the week or month. Often quoted with an annual figure. Wages tend to be fixed regular payments by the day/hour or week. From what I see online, content writers tend to be paid on a salaried basis.

However as a freelancer, there's no telling how one might be remunerated. Depends entirely on your client.

Get Paid What You're Worth: 37 Negotiation Tactics for Every Freelance Writer - Copyblogger

 

[Sherlock77]

I've not done work like this before, but I suspect that you will have to be very careful with record keeping, including time, especially if you are working with multiple clients...

A good friend of mine does lots of freelance writing and always has lots of good tips, his instagram is Login • Instagram It is the Canadian perspective but otherwise very similar

 

[Greatshield17]

A good friend of mine does lots of freelance writing and always has lots of good tips, his instagram is Login • Instagram It is the Canadian perspective but otherwise very similar

Thanks, I am a Canadian by the way.

 

[Magna]

"Salary" could mean different things in different countries but in the U.S. a "salaried" employee is paid a set monthly amount as previously stated. Also in the U.S., a "salaried" employee is typically not paid overtime pay.

In the U.S. for non-salaried employees, at least in the state I live in, any hours worked over 40 hours in a week are paid as overtime which means the overtime hours are paid at 1.5 times the regular hourly pay.

For a SALARIED employee...there isn't overtime. They aren't paid by the hour. Management is most often salaried. Salary can have the benefit of being paid the same amount per month even if the employee doesn't work the full work week. Take a day off? No problem. Still get paid the whole salary. Leave work early? No problem. Still get paid the full salary. However...salary can be a disadvantage in the sense that salaried employees can also be expected to put in MORE than the typical 40 hours in a work week. In some cases a LOT more. Some salaried employees may put in 50 hours+ per week, work on weekends, etc. Do they get paid overtime for that? No.

 

[Crossbreed]

Some salaried employees may put in 50 hours+ per week, work on weekends, etc. Do they get paid overtime for that? No.

But if their salary is as high as (or higher than) an equivalent hourly wage with overtime, it doesn't mean that they are getting underpaid for a 50-hour week. It means that they are getting overpaid the rest of the time.