June 2007 ECR Exam Paper query

anniebabe

Morning - just trying to work through an ECR past paper.
Monday 18 June 2007 - ECR

Task 1.3

Thought I had answered this question right till I referred to the answer paper.

You are to complete the colums headed Basic Pay, Overtime premium and Total pay.

I have done Monday - Saturday correct

But, Sunday I put £36.00 in Basic and £36.00 in the premium column as it stated that any hours worked on Sunday are paid at Double Time - basic plus an overtime premium.

basic is £12.00 and he worked 3 hours

BUT the answer says that all the 72.00 should be allocated to premium - can someone explain.

Alternative answer is the way I have done it.

Many thanks.

SandyHood

The right answer is £36 basic £36 overtime premium

Don't let the answer paper put you off.

(Does the question say: "Only pay at more than the basic rate per hour should be included ion the Overtime Premium column." ?)

anniebabe

Sandy - this is the question exactly as on paper.

Data
Below is a weekly timesheet for one of the Scheduled Services bus drivers. These drivers work as follows.
• They have to work a basic six-hour shift every day from Monday to Friday, paid at basic pay.
• If they work for more than six hours, on any day from Monday to Friday, the extra hours are paid at
time-and-a-half (basic pay plus an overtime premium equal to half of basic pay).
• They also have to work for three hours on a Saturday morning, paid at basic pay.
• If they work for more than three hours on Saturday, the extra hours are paid at double time (basic
pay plus an overtime premium equal to basic pay).
• Any hours worked on Sunday are paid at double time (basic pay plus an overtime premium equal to
basic pay).
Task 1.3
Complete the columns headed Basic pay, Overtime premium and Total pay.
Note:
The employee’s total pay for the week was £570.
Basic Pay is £12.00 per hour

anniebabe

Sandy - also if you are reading this post - can you point me in the direction of anything to do with breakeven and/or limited factors - havent been able to get into class due to foot operation and have missed my class - so behind, and not fully understanding the arithmetic.
Many thanks Anne

donnas1977

Hi Annie

I got the answer as follows

Monday, Basic Pay £72 , Total Pay £72
Tuesday, Basic Pay £72, Total Pay £72
Wednesday, basic pay £96, OT Premium, £12, Total Pay £108
Thursday, Basic Pay £72 , Total Pay £72
Friday, Basic Pay £84, OT Premium £6, Total Pay £84
Saturday, Basic Pay £60, OT Premium £24, Total Pay £90
Sunday, OT Premium £72

Basic Pay, £456, OT Premium £72

Donna

anniebabe

have I just read the question wrong then? misunderstood something?
thought you put the basic and the premium?

Rinske

I think the idea is that Sunday doesn't have any basic pay, as they would not work on Sundays normally, while they work standard 3 hours on Saturday.

However I am not completely sure if that is the answer and the whole what is premium and what not also depends on from what info you need from it, so it might be depending on your point of view.

donnas1977

i thought that the Overtime Premium was only the difference between the basic pay and the rate of overtime, ie basic pay £10 per hour, double time is £20 per hour so OT premium is the £10 difference between the too.

donnas1977

i thought you would put the Sunday to premium as this is over and above the standard working hours

mge

I also find this confusing. Also check out (on the AAT website) the Practice Assessment for this unit under the new QCF standards - Task 1.3. They do the same thing here - I'm not sure why!

At least it looks as though you will still get full marks for splitting the payment 36/36

anniebabe

not 100% sure on that one - it gives both ways on the answer sheet.

SandyHood

I stand by my earlier point
Saturday should be Basic Pay £36 Overtime Premium £36

No ambiguity

I know it can upset you when you look at the exam model answer and expect it to be correct and then get told it is not. But be in no doubt, I am telling you that Saturday Basic Pay £0 Overtime Premium £72 is not correct.

anniebabe

Sandy
thats what I thought - but I am only a learner.
any thoughts on the breakeven etc?

Many thanks

SandyHood

There a lot of costing text books
3 publishers aim specifically at this paper:

1. Osborne
2. Kaplan
3. BPP

Are using any of these?

anniebabe

I have the Osborne Book - but it doesnt seem to be making much sense at the moment, maybe I am reading something wrong - just basically not sinking in.
I understand what breakeven is. its the forumlas that are totally throwing me - maybe I am just reading too much into it all. not sure.

SandyHood

If you look in search here there have been plenty of threads on it before

If you've got a big lump of fixed cost, say the room hire for the firm's christmas party and a quote per person from the caterer
then you decide on your price per person take off the quote per person to get a contribution per person

And then divide the room hire by the contribution per person to find how many must buy a ticket before you break even

anniebabe

ok will look

emma123

i was confused by break even too but I did a past paper question on it today and it's helped me understand it alot better. i defintely think that doing past papers is helping me understand and learn all the topics better

donnas1977

I have just started doing past papers as well for this unit even though exam not till dec. hopefully my the time it comes around it will all have clicked into place .