Last Updated on May 9, 2023
GMAT OFFICIAL GUIDE DS
Solution:
We are given that an employee is paid 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for each hour worked in excess of 40 hours per week, excluding Sunday. If we let x = the regular hourly rate and h = the number of hours worked Monday through Saturday, we can say the following:
total pay for days Monday through Saturday = 40x + 1.5x(h – 40)
We are also given that on Sunday an employee makes 2 times the regular hourly rate. If we let y = the number of hours worked on Sunday, we can say the following:
total pay for Sunday = 2xy
We need to determine the total pay for the week. The total pay can be expressed as:
40x + 1.5x(h – 40) + 2xy
Statement One Alone:
The employee’s regular hourly rate is $10.
From statement one we know that x = 10. Because we don’t know the values of h and y, we do not have enough information to determine the total pay for the week. Statement one alone is not sufficient to answer the question. We can eliminate answer choices A and D.
Statement Two Alone:
Last week the employee worked a total of 53 hours but did not work more than 8 hours on any day.
From statement two we know h + y = 53; however, we still do not know the values of either h, the number of hours the employee worked on Monday through Saturday, nor y, the number of hours worked on Sunday. Statement two alone is not sufficient to answer the question. We can eliminate answer choice B.
Statements One and Two Together:
Using the two statements together we know that x = 10 and h + y = 53; however, we still don’t know the value of h, the number of hours worked on Monday through Saturday, nor do we know the value of y, the number of hours worked on Sunday. Thus, we cannot determine the total pay for the week.
Answer: E
