r/ABA • u/bubbieblubber • 18h ago

Inconsistent hours

Hello, RBT of 1.5 yrs here. I am very passionate about Aba and I’m good at what I do. My nephew has autism so it helps me remain patient in challenging times as well as it’s just a natural strength of mine. With that being said I cannot survive financially on the inconsistent hours. I worked in a clinic for 6 months and had guaranteed 40 hours every week and I was better off financially than I’ve been in years ($16.50 an hr.) I moved 3 months ago and got a position making $22 an hr (in Oklahoma) and I haven’t averaged 40 hours a week once. On my last check I was missing 45 out of the “60” hours I was supposed to get on my check because my only client was on vacation and I didn’t average 30 hours the previous week in that same pay period as my bcba isn’t comfortable with me doing community outings yet with my client because of their behaviors and understandably so considering their age is higher than I’m used to working with. They have drs appointments and ended session early for other reasons, we’re all human I understand. I’m not maintaining my bills and I’m in a small area so there aren’t a lot of opportunities for company switches. I’m extremely stressed financially and I live with my sister and don’t even pay rent at the moment and I still cannot maintain my phone, car, and car insurance bills.

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u/bumblegirl326 10h ago

Let me just say as a fellow RBT in Oklahoma, find a clinic to work in. They are so much better about providing hours if a client is sick. I know my company has like 6 clinic around Oklahoma so depending where you are it maybe worth looking into more stable employment at a new company.

1

u/asianchic15 12h ago

I understand your frustration. I've been rbt for more than 2yrs. When I worked in clinic in MA, they guaranteed 32hr/week. When the clinic has afternoon clients, they will assign me to get to 40hrs. Then I moved to GA, working in home with 1 client, 25hrs/week. Now, I'm taking over my client's sister as well, trying to work more hours but it's exhausted. They go vacations and doctor's appointments, and when they get sick, both of them will get sick at the same time. I used to not work for a month. As much as I love what I'm doing, and I'm pretty doing well with my clients, I don't like the unstable hours and paychecks. I'm planning to looking for something else more stable now but it's not easy.