Flat Rate - Variable?

I am new to the industry and recently got a job at a national chain as a technician. The pay is flat rate, except the amount you are paid changes depending on your "productivity". So if you are not like 85% productive, meaning if you don't flag 85% of the hours you are clocked in, you don't actually make your stated flat rate. Is this common, or do most shops pay flat rate regardless of how "productive" you are? My problem is that there simply isn't enough work coming through the door to be "productive" enough. Thanks.

unfortunately thats the way it is!!! it really sucks...most shops will just pay you flat rate no matter how many hours you turn...dealers are the worst they only have enough work for twenty techs and yet they employ 30. Florida needs to get unions for this very reason..40 hours garenteed when u have one and the dealers cant screw you

hey

no matter what it takes at least 5 yrs to be good enough to make pour pay steady.quick,upsells,etc.you gotta be willing to take the crap for awhile

well that is not always true cause with a union dealers syill screw you . but it is in caurt ha been a tech wife for 25 years and Iam taking hubbys check to all the tech school and tell them not a good career buddy a tech makes all the profit for dealer and he craps on him. but yet a tech has to do schooling for the rest of his life you know who makes money service writer and managers it is there job to get you work and they cant do that and dont need as much schooling as you you are young rethink what you want to do but if you like starving keep doing what you are .

bopittoo@aol.com said: well that is not always true cause with a union dealers syill screw you . but it is in caurt ha been a tech wife for 25 years and Iam taking hubbys check to all the tech school and tell them not a good career buddy a tech makes all the profit for dealer and he craps on him. but yet a tech has to do schooling for the rest of his life you know who makes money service writer and managers it is there job to get you work and they cant do that and dont need as much schooling as you you are young rethink what you want to do but if you like starving keep doing what you are .

Boy i bet them career misleaders at them shcools hate to see your car roll in. Hats off to you to get the word out to them before they drop like 15 grand to end up in this crappy trade. I turned wrenches for 15 years hadda get out, taking some plumbing classes wish I done it long ago.

agreed to above stated comment

Wrenches in Salt Lake City, Utah said: I am new to the industry and recently got a job at a national chain as a technician. The pay is flat rate, except the amount you are paid changes depending on your "productivity". So if you are not like 85% productive, meaning if you don't flag 85% of the hours you are clocked in, you don't actually make your stated flat rate. Is this common, or do most shops pay flat rate regardless of how "productive" you are? My problem is that there simply isn't enough work coming through the door to be "productive" enough. Thanks.

I have been in the Automotive repair industry on and off for more than 35 years,for a majority of that time I was paid straight hourly pay, it's a little less than Flat rate but considering your productivity is the same and at the end of the week you can actually take home a decent paycheck, it's well worth being paid this way. I have made EXCELLENT MONEY for every employer I have worked for in the past and have been paid well for my work as well, up until now companies like AAA CAROLINAS tell you they pay well at $19.00/hr but when it comes down to the facts they want to rip you off and screw you out of time by requesting you do FREE DIAGNOSTICS and FREE OIL CHANGES for customer that they don't want to pay you for, then divide up the quick money work between the lower TECH'S so that they get just enough to barely survive on and to keep them locked into the job, with the management thinking they have no where else to go for work.
My best advice STAY WELL AWAY FROM AAA CAROLINAS and any other place that pays a flat rate.

K.L. in Sun City Center, Florida said: Boy i bet them career misleaders at them shcools hate to see your car roll in. Hats off to you to get the word out to them before they drop like 15 grand to end up in this crappy trade. I turned wrenches for 15 years hadda get out, taking some plumbing classes wish I done it long ago.

Plumbing classes! Nonsense
I'll tell you everything you need to know be a plumber,
1. HOT ON THE LEFT
2. COLD ON THE RIGHT
3. SH*T FLOWS DOWNHILL
4. DON'T BITE YOUR FINGER NAILS
There you go,
Your now your a Plumber

Conflagration2100 in North Charleston, South Carolina said: Plumbing classes! Nonsense
I'll tell you everything you need to know be a plumber,
1. HOT ON THE LEFT
2. COLD ON THE RIGHT
3. SH*T FLOWS DOWNHILL
4. DON'T BITE YOUR FINGER NAILS
There you go,
Your now your a Plumber

Wow your pretty smart, I bet you grew up in South Carolina too!!
Just keep thinking what you think fool, turning them wrenches will make you a rich man someday.

K.L. in Ruskin, Florida said: Wow your pretty smart, I bet you grew up in South Carolina too!!
Just keep thinking what you think fool, turning them wrenches will make you a rich man someday.

That's amazing! I missed that class and took some stupid 4 year course to get my plumbing ticket. If you were only around to tell me that before I started my apprenticeship I would be 4 years behind where I am today. Get a life

once again.... people in need of auto repair service

pay $100.00 per hour.

I work at a Ford Dealership making 12 /h flat rate, I'm new to the field and I'm having a really difficult time making enough to pay my bills, there just is not enough work to go around and my boss keeps hiring people, as well as our $100 an hour labor rate making every customer under the sun go elsewhere for service. This field is going down hill it seems more every day :( I just got the job in February and I'm looking for somewhere else already.. its getting to be very stressful.

K.L. in Sun City Center, Florida said: Boy i bet them career misleaders at them shcools hate to see your car roll in. Hats off to you to get the word out to them before they drop like 15 grand to end up in this crappy trade. I turned wrenches for 15 years hadda get out, taking some plumbing classes wish I done it long ago.

i spent 50 grand and make min wage

Wrenches in Salt Lake City, Utah said: I am new to the industry and recently got a job at a national chain as a technician. The pay is flat rate, except the amount you are paid changes depending on your "productivity". So if you are not like 85% productive, meaning if you don't flag 85% of the hours you are clocked in, you don't actually make your stated flat rate. Is this common, or do most shops pay flat rate regardless of how "productive" you are? My problem is that there simply isn't enough work coming through the door to be "productive" enough. Thanks.

I've never seen this practice of lowering your rate based on production ever! and have worked at GM dealerships for years. You are really getting screwed!. I've got 6 ASE and am at journeyman level. I wont accept anything less than 20, If they offer 15 ,I tell them they must be looking for a entry level guy. The only way to make money in this buisness is----------------
Always look for the better rate. Always demand it. Otherwise you your screwing yourself and every other tech out there!

I worked flat rate for a small shop and made 50-60K a year for four years but humped my booty, went to a dealer and stood around with my thumb up my rear. Back at an independent now paid hourly, make good money and can take pride in my work not something you can do on flat rate. Everyone needs to refuse to work flat rate and get a job that pays hourly the industry will get the point if EVERYONE would do this and techs and customers would be better off but we as Americans won't stand up for our selves and will continue to get stepped on by the rich. FACT

K.L. in Ruskin, Florida said: Wow your pretty smart, I bet you grew up in South Carolina too!!
Just keep thinking what you think fool, turning them wrenches will make you a rich man someday.

Considering I actually work at a job as a mechanic that pays me $25.40/hr. straight time, with 40 hours a week guaranteed by contract, Paid Federal Holidays (Plus time and a half overtime pay extra, on top of my Holiday pay if I work on a holiday), Excellent Health Benefits Package, with three weeks paid vacation a year, Government protected (Tier 1 and Tier 2)Pension Plan that covers both myself and my spouse at a retirement age of 60, and the vast majority of my days at work I spend performing visual inspections and hardly ever turn a wrench. Your absolutely right I am a fool, I should be making double that and working half the time I spend at work now.

893 in Lumberton, North Carolina said: Considering I actually work at a job as a mechanic that pays me $25.40/hr. straight time, with 40 hours a week guaranteed by contract, Paid Federal Holidays (Plus time and a half overtime pay extra, on top of my Holiday pay if I work on a holiday), Excellent Health Benefits Package, with three weeks paid vacation a year, Government protected (Tier 1 and Tier 2)Pension Plan that covers both myself and my spouse at a retirement age of 60, and the vast majority of my days at work I spend performing visual inspections and hardly ever turn a wrench. Your absolutely right I am a fool, I should be making double that and working half the time I spend at work now.

Hmmm!!! from S.Carolina to N. Carolina seems like a 3 hour drive from your last posting. New Job your talking about? See how long your good job stays that way. 3-5 years in one shop usually makes you the senior tech these days

Rob in Newburgh, Indiana said: I worked flat rate for a small shop and made 50-60K a year for four years but humped my booty, went to a dealer and stood around with my thumb up my rear. Back at an independent now paid hourly, make good money and can take pride in my work not something you can do on flat rate. Everyone needs to refuse to work flat rate and get a job that pays hourly the industry will get the point if EVERYONE would do this and techs and customers would be better off but we as Americans won't stand up for our selves and will continue to get stepped on by the rich. FACT

I am an auto repair shop owner. I pay all my guys salary. This keeps the quality of the work very high. I am a veteran tech and worked flat rate and commission my whole life. I don't want my guys to experince the cut throat I had to work with. How the hell can you diagnose a vehicle properly on flat rate? All my guys work together instead of against each other. The industry better change to this kind of pay or comebacks and shoddy work are gonna keep happening.

I have been flat rate for 20 years at a dealership, and I cant tell you how many times I see the shop hire new guys at a ridiculously low rate and feed them all the easy high hour jobs. Then they always have one too many techs, but it doesn't cost them when theres no work because there is no garuantee. with a 100hr shop rate you would think a master tech could get at least 23 percent. The new guys never stay because they starve to death in the winter. I am completely fed up with the whole situation, I plan on going to work on heavy trucks because they usually are hourly, and even though i am 40 i would rather bust my but on big equipment than try to figure out why theres an intermittent k-can problem on a 100k dollar car for .2 an hour only to get back flagged when the car line rejects the warranty claim because some service writer put in the wrong defect code.

I have read several older articles from publications dating back into the late sixties and into the early seventies, that talk of the flat rate system and the onset of problems for both the consumer and mechanic in regard to dishonesty The flat rate system was originally designed to compensate technicians(mechanics)at a rate of around forty percent of the posted shop rate. Each tech was responsible for their own benefit or savings, alleviating the owners from the responsibility of managing this end of the business. Now we all know how well some can be at managing resources.If weekly times(hours generated) are low services are misrepresented in order of severity and or priority in order to make a decent paycheck. Yet shop owners tend to exploit the labor force by hiring more personnel than is truly needed, similar to a commissioned sales force. By doing so the customer is serviced in a speedy yet less than reputable way. In all the system is not doing the industry any good. This is only helping to feed the Action Reporters at the local news stations and the Better Business Bureau.

Wrenches in Salt Lake City, Utah said: I am new to the industry and recently got a job at a national chain as a technician. The pay is flat rate, except the amount you are paid changes depending on your "productivity". So if you are not like 85% productive, meaning if you don't flag 85% of the hours you are clocked in, you don't actually make your stated flat rate. Is this common, or do most shops pay flat rate regardless of how "productive" you are? My problem is that there simply isn't enough work coming through the door to be "productive" enough. Thanks.

WELL IF YOU ARE A GOOD TECHNICIAN YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO WORK 40 HOURS AND BOOK OUT 60-80 HOURS PER WEEK. YOU NEED TO WORK SMART AND HARD. LOOK FOR OTHER WORK NEEDED ON EACH AND EVERY VEHICLE

Wrenches in Salt Lake City, Utah said: I am new to the industry and recently got a job at a national chain as a technician. The pay is flat rate, except the amount you are paid changes depending on your "productivity". So if you are not like 85% productive, meaning if you don't flag 85% of the hours you are clocked in, you don't actually make your stated flat rate. Is this common, or do most shops pay flat rate regardless of how "productive" you are? My problem is that there simply isn't enough work coming through the door to be "productive" enough. Thanks.

My Husband has been an auto tech for 40 years and he cannot even make enough to live on. Its terrible-not only does every dealer pay flat rate but how they get paid depends on whether to job is warranty, insurance etc. He is currently working in Texas- and we moved here because this dealership advised him that "they always have more than enough hours for all their techs-busy all the time" Ha! He has not had more than 70 hours in two weeks in the 8 months we have been here. And Christmas just sucks! Dealerships are always slow during the holidays so we have not had a real Christmas for years The dealerships are just greedy and I think all their techs should just walk away, but the trouble is that the techs allow themselves to be walked on, well, afterall the world needs doormats too. Successful people will all tell you that if something doesn't work for you, you don't keep doing it, you move on to something else and that is exactly what he is actively doing. My suggestion to you is to find another line of work The dealerships have been this way for about the last 5-6 years. It used to be a person could make a good living working for a dealership-but not anymore

Working smart, versus working hard will always have an adverse effect on the ability to produce hours. However; not all repair orders are dispatched in a completely fair system, favoritism has its impact. I had the mentality of trying maximize work per unit even under warranty and had management tell me to back off from finding to many (legitimate)issues per unit. It seems the factory Reps see this a red flag for potential fraud and eating up to many beans for the bean counter.
The major problem with this system is the abuse is more prevalent than the intended outcome. To many times there is the push to cut corners on quality in order to make a certain level of production which leads to a plethora of less than honest practices, from both the techs and the management. I have witnessed first hand, dispatchers withholding job tickets from techs in order to stop them from reaching the next plateau in order to save the dealership money. An example would be a tech crossing the line to the next pay scale by one hour and receiving a substantial increase versus keeping him one hour under. This method is similar to salesman's commission on gross sales where sales managers will block or nix a sale in order to hold back a commission, the only difference is flat rate focuses on labor.
As a method of motivating techs to "Get the lead out" and inspire them to internally develop more efficient work habits, there is some hope of perceivable good.
As long as we due nothing in order to prevent the ills which have plagued this system for decades from continuing on for decades to come, we will never truly understand the definition of "Insanity".

I sold my shop 20 years ago, but back then my techs were the happiest guys around. I paid them a fair hourly rate they could live on, and I offered an alternative pay based on flat rate. Basically, if they were 100% efficient or better, they would make more money on flat rate. Every week, I'd calculate out what each tech would make on their hourly wage and how much they would make on flat rate. Then I'd let them choose which one they wanted that week. Turns out, they always chose the bigger amount.

Big Blue,
It appears as though you were using this as a means to motivate the techs to work both smarter and more diligent at the same time, which as long as the the objective to maintain honest business practices never wavered this is a awesome way to pay techs.
Were I have issues with some methods or systems of compensation is when those tougher more difficult jobs arise and corners are cut to maximize production.An example would be the Neon head gasket slip and slides. We all know there are times when you can preform the same task on the same model 9 times and the 10th one just bites you. This is why techs need to know they will still be compensated fairly for maintaining professional standards.
I was a heater core guy at a local Ford Lincoln Mercury dealer(which used a combination of hourly and flat rate) we all know how difficult it is to beat the clock on those beauties. The dealer wanted quality over production which allowed me to properly repair the vehicle without a handful of extras and a multitude of rattles. So at least when those dog jobs came through we weren't taking a bath and could still pay the bills.

i've been a tech for 25+yrs [dealers and private garges]flat rate is the pitts. i'm have'n a hard time finding a hour payed job. been ase'd and gm certifed .we all need to get some kind of base pay [hourly] if the repair technician will live.

Well Charlie, until we are all willing to organize and /or unionize to a common goal and hold ourselves accountable to professional standards similar to other industries we will continue to fight this never-ending battle.
So why aren't things changing?? Why aren't industry leaders recognizing this repeating pattern of labor shortages??? Why is the industry spinning its wheels without gaining any momentum??? I am sure we can find a multitude of factors influencing the direction or lack of in which we as a whole are heading. However; until ALL of the players are willing to make a true commitment we will continue until the end of time singing the same tune over and over.
When you look at other occupations and compare the investment in education and equipment required to remain current the automotive industry has to rank as one of the more costly, yet we seem to auction our service(s)to the lowest bidder. How many times have you ever used the services of the other professions and paid attention to the invoice. Take a bicycle,time clock or your lawn mower in for service, call a plumber (I am not denying any man his due)but lets compare and rationalize for a while. I have never seen a flat rate manual in these situations so why should we live and CRY by one, pay us to work our magic.
Where in my opinion the battle of flat rate needs to be fought is at the manufacturer level, but what it would realistically take to accomplish task of that magnitude is beyond the scope of my realm.

Conflagration2100 in North Charleston, South Carolina said: Plumbing classes! Nonsense
I'll tell you everything you need to know be a plumber,
1. HOT ON THE LEFT
2. COLD ON THE RIGHT
3. SH*T FLOWS DOWNHILL
4. DON'T BITE YOUR FINGER NAILS
There you go,
Your now your a Plumber

nodakaz don't forget "Payday is Friday"

Charles in Central Square, New York said: I have been flat rate for 20 years at a dealership, and I cant tell you how many times I see the shop hire new guys at a ridiculously low rate and feed them all the easy high hour jobs. Then they always have one too many techs, but it doesn't cost them when theres no work because there is no garuantee. with a 100hr shop rate you would think a master tech could get at least 23 percent. The new guys never stay because they starve to death in the winter. I am completely fed up with the whole situation, I plan on going to work on heavy trucks because they usually are hourly, and even though i am 40 i would rather bust my but on big equipment than try to figure out why theres an intermittent k-can problem on a 100k dollar car for .2 an hour only to get back flagged when the car line rejects the warranty claim because some service writer put in the wrong defect code.

I feel your pain

PAUL in Minneapolis, Minnesota said: WELL IF YOU ARE A GOOD TECHNICIAN YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO WORK 40 HOURS AND BOOK OUT 60-80 HOURS PER WEEK. YOU NEED TO WORK SMART AND HARD. LOOK FOR OTHER WORK NEEDED ON EACH AND EVERY VEHICLE

A good technician? I would rather say a good ass kisser. You kiss the right ass, you get your gravy. People, the skill is not important any long in this trade.

Wrenches in Salt Lake City, Utah said: I am new to the industry and recently got a job at a national chain as a technician. The pay is flat rate, except the amount you are paid changes depending on your "productivity". So if you are not like 85% productive, meaning if you don't flag 85% of the hours you are clocked in, you don't actually make your stated flat rate. Is this common, or do most shops pay flat rate regardless of how "productive" you are? My problem is that there simply isn't enough work coming through the door to be "productive" enough. Thanks.

Kid, before you actually jump in and spend 50 grands buying your tool, rethink. Stay far away and do something else.

I've had two phone calls in the last four months from different dealers wanting me to come to work for them. I told both of them "I won't work flat rate". They both tried coming up with all kinds of guarantee's and bonus plans and bla bla bla. When they paused I said again "thanks for your offer but I won't work flat rate."

Although we can work both smart and hard, making sure we remain honest is paramount.Anyone whom has worked in a flat rate system can attest to the pros and cons associated with heavy and light car counts. As I have posted earlier things can be wonderful in the busy season, but during the slower season is when the less than honest practices show their ugly head. If a tech is reasonably well at managing his or her finances then there is a tough decision to be made. If the cash flow averages to a sustainable level through-out the year this system may work for you. In circumstances where a consistent pay check may be more in order then flat rate is not going to make you happy. Another key factor to consider is availability of work in your area, some smaller towns the opportunity to roll your box to a new location are vary limited.
In one respect if a flat rate system is used purely as an incentive to motivate techs to continue their education and remain productive this is great. However; when shops are using this as a means of acquiring cheap labor, then we are being exploited and should stand together to right this wrong.
One of the major problems we face as techs is are lack of bonding together we it comes to common issues. The problems mentioned in these posts are not new nor will they end anytime soon. We as techs should learn to group together or unionize.
I do believe that by instituting national testing and licensing may help to give us some form of bargaining power. Is there any opinions on this one?????