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Tech pay issue

Jimbob661

By Jimbob661
in Human Resources, Employees

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Jimbob661 Contributor

Jimbob661

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Wondering how other shops handle this. A tech starts a head gasket job on Thursday. The head is sent out to the machine shop for a valve job. It returns the following Monday and the job is completed on Tuesday. Do you pay him that week for the teardown or wait till the following week and pay him for the whole thing? It seems kind of confusing sometimes if you split it up and then you are wondering the next week how much time you paid him for the previous week. Don't want to cheat yourself or the tech. Any better ideas?

KMS Collaborator

KMS

Posted
Posted

We were having that issue a while back. What we implemented were tech time sheets. We found this to work out great, then the tech would get paid the week he had time into the job. Not only is it good for the tech, it is also good for the shop to be able to track properly. So, each week the tech would get paid off of his weekly time sheet. It works really well.

KMS Collaborator

KMS

Posted
Posted

pay him when the job is done, as a tech myself thats what I would do to myself. you get paid when the job is done and ready to ship.

This is when it won't be fair to the tech. Scenerio: Tech does 8 flat rate hours worth of work on a vehicle on Weds, then finds out a part you were waiting for isn't going to come in until the following Monday. How is that fair? So what you are saying is the tech should not get paid for a full day of work because he was unable to finish the job?

  • Like 1
Shopcat Community Regular

Shopcat

Posted
Posted

Keeping track of what was paid last week is the way to go. Its easy to do. As far as what to pay, pay the tech for what is complete at the end of the pay period. The cylinder head example is a good one, The tech has no control over the machine shop, or when correct parts arrive. Its not fair to withhold his pay over things out of his control. It will kill his motivation and create animosity in the shop.

mmotley Proficient

mmotley

Posted
Posted

pay him when the job is done, as a tech myself thats what I would do to myself. you get paid when the job is done and ready to ship.

Agreed. I did plenty of engine jobs that I didn't flag till Monday morning, just made the next weeks paycheck that much better.

UsedTireShop Collaborator

UsedTireShop

Posted
Posted

I have worked for more companies then I care to admit and not one ever paid for 1/2 the job. From the stand point of paper work it makes no sense.

 

I pay percentage of sales and the percentage depends on the dollars sold. That being said, it is better for the tech to get paid when the job is complete. It will give him a good head start towards the current weeks sales so he can climb from 15% to 18% of his sales.

John Pearson Collaborator

John Pearson

Posted
Posted

This is when it won't be fair to the tech. Scenerio: Tech does 8 flat rate hours worth of work on a vehicle on Weds, then finds out a part you were waiting for isn't going to come in until the following Monday. How is that fair? So what you are saying is the tech should not get paid for a full day of work because he was unable to finish the job?

 

 

Pretty much sorry about your luck better luck next time, some weeks are good and some are bad. I will pay him when he hands the ticket in and the job is done. If it take the customer a week to come pick up their 30 hour stupid 6.0 headgasket job then sucks to be me and I have to float that. But thats also where having strong financials helps.

Jimbob661 Contributor

Jimbob661

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Right now I pay actual time on the tear down and the rest of the book time on completion. It's just a pain the next week trying to remember how much you have already paid him for. I would rather give him the benefit of a doubt than cheat him, but I don't want to cheat myself either. I also try to keep up with my gpm each week and it looks like it messes up my numbers if I split it up.

KMS Collaborator

KMS

Posted
Posted

KMS, how often do you review/audit the time sheets? I would think daily makes sense since at the end of the week any errors or mistakes can be harder to track since its been days since the work was done.

All time sheets are gone through daily, so I know what a tech has produced each day. Then, at the end of the week, the times sheets are what their pay is based upon. The service advisor should be going over all work performed daily with the techs so the time sheets stay current. It helps keep the numbers accurate for each week.

KMS Collaborator

KMS

Posted
Posted

 

 

Pretty much sorry about your luck better luck next time, some weeks are good and some are bad. I will pay him when he hands the ticket in and the job is done. If it take the customer a week to come pick up their 30 hour stupid 6.0 headgasket job then sucks to be me and I have to float that. But thats also where having strong financials helps.

Its not the techs job to float the costs of the business ever. It is up to the business to pay the techs for what they have done weekly.

weighit Enthusiast

weighit

Posted
Posted

I'm surprised this is an issue, in the body shop business when I owned or ran one each tech had a time sheet with job number, time, dollar amount or if needed time stamp and it was sticky on the back. The tech may have a job in one of his stalls for weeks depending on the severity of the repairs and as the week ended if he accrued time on the repair vehicle he could flag money against that job. I as the owner/manager would initial the time sticker on each repair order that he wanted to flag, then took it off his ticket and stuck it to the back of the repair order, and collect the employees time sheet at the end of the work week, so he could collect his pay check for that week the following week. It was my responsibility to ensure that he was not over collecting, or collecting more time that was needed to complete the job. Some guys never touched the time/money allotted on a job till it was done, others took is as a draw so they had a pretty steady paycheck. The shop was large enough that each employee had 3 stalls and if held up on parts, adjusters or some other delay, they had work in another stall. Some of these expensive repairs could be in a stall for may weeks and if the tech was putting hours in on that job he could flag time/money if he wanted. These techs were making 75 to 100 grand a year and some paid their helpers out of their gross still leaving them with these incomes.

mmotley Proficient

mmotley

Posted
Posted

Its not the techs job to float the costs of the business ever

 

I don't think anybody every said it was the techs job to float the costs of the business... And I don't think anybody would ever expect that. Regardless, the idea of paying a tech when a job is completed isn't exactly floating the costs of the business.

 

It is up to the business to pay the techs for what they have done weekly.

 

I disagree. We sell entire services and complete jobs. I pay my tech and service writer when all the services are finished and the whole job is complete. Not if they spent 15 minutes on it here, 2 hours there, 45 minutes the other day, etc.

  • Like 1
mspecperformance Mentor

mspecperformance

Posted
Posted

For ease of tracking and for selfish reasond it would be nice to pay for hours that have been posted however its unreasonable to not pay say a big job that had 20+ hours tacked to it that the tech already has say 10 hours in and is held up til the next week due to parts. We have cashflow issues so do techs. Im still trying to figure it all out lol

  • Like 1
Shopcat Community Regular

Shopcat

Posted
Posted

Mspecperformance is right, The tech is due what he has in the job, if it can not be completed for reasons that are out of his control.

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      While the physical demands of the repair workplace are daunting, perhaps even more critical is the culture. Too many of my generation shop owners preached the mindset of "my way or the highway." We were the business owners, after all. We started our companies, took all the risks, and provided jobs. Why shouldn't we be the ones to set the ground rules our way?   
      Many of us found over the years that the "my way or the highway" mentality was a sure way to isolate employees and make them more likely to look over the fence for greener grass. In other words, it led many technicians to seek employment elsewhere, where they felt they could be appreciated and recognized for their hard work. The issue, however, was that there wasn't much green grass around. Disappointment after disappointment, bouncing from repair to repair shop, eventually led to despair. So, I ask you: were workplace conditions a contributing factor in today's technician shortage?
      Another factor that we are all well aware of is the complexity of the modern automobile. When I started, the work was mostly physical, and you were required to master essentially three vehicle models: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Let's fast-forward to today. The evolution of automotive technology, along with the extensive training and tools required, has outpaced the typical technician's pay compensation, with no clear career path. Again, leading to frustration and insecurity about the future.
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      As technicians age, we need to have a place for them. Expecting a 58-year-old to perform like a 35-year-old is unrealistic. We need to be more focused on career pathing. Provide training, skill development, and coaching to develop leaders and mentors within our older workforce. While their bodies may have slowed, the knowledge they have gained is priceless. 
      Our future is dependent on young people entering our industry. We need to give more young people opportunities. Every shop owner across the country should consider hiring an apprentice, then build an apprentice training plan and career path for them. If every shop did this, we could solve the technician shortage within five years. Get involved with the trade schools and high schools in your area. Look into the NAPA Apprenticeship Program. Don't sit on your hands with this one. Do it today.
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