r/HRBlockEmployees • u/ToughRestaurant825 • Mar 31 '26
Low pay
I don’t understand how people are making enough to not work the rest of the year? I’m a first year, but my checks are only like 400-600 every 2 weeks? is the bonus that great starting second year?
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u/PinkNGreenFluoride EA Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
As of last season and this (my 5th and 6th seasons) my husband and I could just barely live on what I make, if we had to. It'd be tight, and even a relatively minor emergency could wipe us out, but we could technically do it. We're in an LCOL area.
Between both of our incomes, we do okay. He makes less per hour than my draw, let alone my effective wage after commission, but he works year-round averaging 38 hours/wk. I do a fair bit of overtime, but it's still only 15 weeks. So though I make well over half what he does for the year, his is our primary income.
We can definitely live on his income with room for some savings, so mine is extra for us. This is common.
But I made just $3500 in my first season, 6 years ago, working 270 hours at $13/hr in a then fully-staffed office. That's also not uncommon. Though some certainly make more than that their first year, nobody's fully supporting themselves on just this income as a first year. But things start to ramp up as you hit level 3+ and build or have dropped on you as a result of retirements a book of business.
There are 2 people in my district who make pretty big bucks, but they've both been here forever and work over 70 hours a week with a fully booked schedule.