The table shows the number of hours an employee worked each day of the week.
Which of the payment options would you recommend to a new employee?
a. Either one. Hourly and salaried employees earn the same amount per week.
b. Hourly pay. Hourly employees make more per week than salaried employees.
c. Salaried pay. Salaried employees make more per week than hourly employees.
d. There is not enough information given to compare weekly earnings.
Answer (1)
Calculate the total hours worked per week: 0 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 9.5 + 7.5 + 4 = 46 hours.
Recognize that we cannot compare hourly and salaried pay without knowing the hourly rate and the fixed salary.
Conclude that there is not enough information to determine which payment option is better.
The final answer is: $\boxed{D}
Explanation
Understanding the Problem We are given a table that shows the number of hours an employee works each day of the week. We need to determine which payment option (hourly or salaried) is best for the employee, but we don't know the hourly rate or the salary.
Calculating Total Weekly Hours First, let's calculate the total number of hours the employee works in a week. We sum the hours for each day: Sunday (0 hours), Monday (8 hours), Tuesday (8 hours), Wednesday (9 hours), Thursday (9.5 hours), Friday (7.5 hours), and Saturday (4 hours).
Total Hours Worked The total number of hours worked in a week is: 0 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 9.5 + 7.5 + 4 = 46 The employee works 46 hours per week.
Determining the Best Payment Option Now, we need to compare the total hours worked with a standard 40-hour work week. However, we don't know the hourly rate or the salary. Without this information, we cannot determine whether the hourly pay would be more beneficial than a fixed salary, or vice versa.
Conclusion Since we don't have enough information to compare the weekly earnings for hourly and salaried employees, the best answer is: There is not enough information given to compare weekly earnings.
Examples
Imagine you are starting a new job and need to decide whether to be paid hourly or with a fixed salary. To make the best decision, you need to know how many hours you'll be working each week and the specific pay rate for each option. This problem illustrates that without knowing the hourly rate and the fixed salary amount, it's impossible to determine which payment method would result in higher earnings.
