A workers period of duty increases from 56 hours to 72 hours but the wages decrease by 15%.
By what percentage do the new total wages increase or decrease?
(72/56)(0.85) = 1.0928
so, the pay has increased by 9.20%
To find the percentage increase or decrease in the new total wages, we need to compare the difference in wages before and after the change.
First, we need to calculate the initial wages. Assuming the worker's wage rate remains constant, we can set the initial wage as 100% or the original value.
Next, we need to calculate the final wages. Since the worker's period of duty has increased from 56 hours to 72 hours, the final wages will be a function of the new duty hours and the wage rate. Let's assume the wage rate remains constant.
The initial wages can be represented as 100% of the wage rate multiplied by 56 hours:
Initial wages = 100% * Wage rate * 56 hours
The final wages can be represented as 85% of the initial wages due to the 15% decrease in wages, multiplied by the new duty hours of 72 hours:
Final wages = 85% * (100% * Wage rate * 56 hours) * 72 hours
To find the percentage increase or decrease, we compare the difference between the final and initial wages.
Difference = Final wages - Initial wages
Percentage increase/decrease = (Difference / Initial wages) * 100
Substituting the initial and final wage equations into the difference equation:
Difference = ((85% * (100% * Wage rate * 56 hours) * 72 hours) - (100% * Wage rate * 56 hours))
Percentage increase/decrease = ((Difference / (100% * Wage rate * 56 hours)) * 100)
Calculating the specific values would require knowing the wage rate, which is not provided in the question. Thus, we can only provide the general formula to find the percentage increase or decrease in the new total wages.