Year-End Financial Checklist: Uncommon Tips for Hourly Workers

Hourly workers face unique financial circumstances. While we’re familiar with the challenges of variable income and sometimes unpredictable schedules, it’s important to look beyond common financial advice and make moves to ensure you’re making the most of your money. Here’s a look at uncommon year-end financial actions you can take to improve your financial situation.

Review Your Pay Stubs (Yes, All of Them)

It’s easy to ignore your pay stubs and assume your paychecks are correct, but managers and payroll departments can make mistakes that lower your take-home pay. Even if it seems tedious, reviewing every paystub from the last 12 months is a good idea to ensure accuracy. Places to look for errors include:

• Correct overtime calculations when you worked more than 40 hours
• Holiday pay was correctly applied
• Proper tax withholdings
• Raises accurately added
• Shift differentials included 

Pro tip: Create a simple spreadsheet tracking your hours and pay. You’d be surprised how often you’ll catch discrepancies that put money back in your pocket.

Ensure Enough Hours for Benefits

Many companies determine benefits eligibility based on average hours worked. If you’re close to the threshold for benefits, often 30 hours weekly, talk to your manager about picking up extra shifts to ensure you qualify.

To calculate your average, divide your total hours worked year-to-date by the number of weeks you worked this year. For example, if you worked for the company for 50 weeks and your year-to-date hours add up to 1495, you’re five hours short of an average of 30 hours per week.

Talk to your manager about extra shifts or hours if you’re under the cutoff. And during your next open enrollment period, ensure you’re taking advantage of everything your employer offers.

Examine Your Time Clock Habits

Small time clock habits can cost you serious money. Look for patterns like:

• Clocking in a few minutes late
• Clocking out early to avoid traffic
• Missing break adjustments

Consider this: 5 minutes daily adds up to over 20 hours of lost wages annually. That’s half of a full-time week!

Check Your State’s Labor Laws

Labor laws change frequently, and you might be entitled to benefits you don’t know about. Recent updates worth checking:

• Predictable scheduling requirements
• Mandatory breaks
• Shift differential regulations
• COVID-related sick leave
• Minimum wage increases

Every state has different labor laws. Spending a little time to learn your local laws could pay off significantly. While big businesses often employ large human resources departments to ensure compliance with labor laws, small businesses may be unaware of changes unless employees tell them.

Plan Your PTO Strategy

Paid time off (PTO) is a valuable benefit, but only if you use it. Make sure you don’t leave dollars on the table. Review your PTO policies and plan ahead to ensure you take full advantage. Even if it’s too late to get all PTO hours for this year, you can set yourself up to get all of your hours next year.

• Hourly workers often leave PTO on the table. Create a strategic plan:
• Check if unused PTO expires or rolls over
• Calculate the cash value of your remaining PTO
• Look at next year’s holiday schedule now
• Plan PTO around company slow periods when hours might be cut

The average employee leaves 6.5 days of PTO unused every year. You work hard for your benefits, so take full advantage of your PTO.

Turn Downtime into Income

Look at your work schedule and identify blocks for additional income. Side hustles can help you pay off debt, build an emergency fund, and break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.

• Can you pick up shifts at a different business during slow seasons?
• Are there overtime opportunities coming up?
• Could you earn from gig apps like Uber or DoorDash during your off hours?
• Do you have skills that you can monetize on your days off?

Every additional dollar you bring in counts, whether from your primary job or elsewhere.

Create a Variable Income Budget for Next Year

Most budgeting strategies assume steady paychecks, but this approach doesn’t work as well for hourly workers. The key for variable income is starting with your minimum expected income.

If applicable, calculate your minimum guaranteed hours and use this as your foundation. This is the amount you can count on every month, so your essential expenses like rent, utilities, and groceries should fit within this number.

From there, create a priority list for any extra income you earn from additional shifts or overtime. Set up separate savings buckets for irregular expenses like car maintenance or holiday gifts. When you get those bigger paychecks, immediately move the extra money into these dedicated savings accounts. This prevents the common trap of spending more during good months and coming up short when hours are lean.

Make the Most of Your Income

Year-end financial planning is critical when you work hourly. Focus on maximizing your earned income, understanding your benefits, and building flexibility into your financial plan.

Take action now, before the busy holiday season arrives. Your future self will thank you for taking control of your finances.

Want to level up? Share this checklist with your coworkers. Building financial literacy in your workplace benefits everyone – and might even lead to positive changes in company policies.

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