"There's no incentive."Ĭaldwell said that his flat rate commission basis rewards the technicians who are productive. "If it is by the hour, as the work gets slow, the technicians get slower if the work is heavy, they still won't do more," said Caldwell. in Laguna Hills, Calif., compensates his technicians on a flat rate commission basis. Kevin Caldwell, AAM, director of ASA's Collision Division and owner of Autobody by Caldwell Inc. If there is a delay, they can use that time to work on another job because each technician has multiple work stalls." "Our people have plenty of room in which to work and they don't have to wait on parts. At least one worker told me he had noticed his check getting bigger and bigger, and it was simply because we did everything we could to help our people be more productive." For ex- ample, Whitehead pointed out that in many small shops, workers have to jockey cars around. That scared some of my people, but it paid off when we started making the operation more efficient. "The first six months I was here, I didn't write an estimate I just watched the work flow. Whitehead said his shop tries to do everything it can to help the technicians be more efficient. If there is hidden damage and the job requires additional time, the technician gets additional pay based on the revised flat rate. Whitehead said he uses a computer-based estimate to figure a job and a technician gets paid at his hourly rate based on the computerized flat rate for that particular job. "We try to be very fair with our people and we probably pay them more than the industry average, but we expect them to do good work so the customer won't bring the car back."ĭon Whitehead, the owner of Quality Body Works in Midland, Texas, also prefers the flat rate for compensating his technicians. He also said that if a technician has a "comeback," a repair job that must be done over or fixed, the technician does not get anything for that. Zwalina said some tasks - like changing oil, cleaning fuel injectors, servicing transmission systems, and brake work - are what they call "menu-type items" for which there is a set fee and technicians get paid at a set rate for those chores. We work 45 hours a week but the average technician can turn 50 to 55 hours of work, for which he is paid." But say the labor guide allots three hours for a job and the technician completes it in two and a half hours he still gets paid for three hours. "We pretty much follow a structured labor guide to determine how much a repair job will cost a customer and our technicians get paid a percentage of that. in Longwood, Fla., and an affiliate director on the national board of ASA, favors paying his technicians a flat rate. (Dave) Zwalina, AAM, the owner of Automotive One Inc. This way, they know what they're going to make, and it's better for our customers and bookkeeping too."ĭavid B. "We used to pay a commission on labor, but sometimes they'd have a good week, sometimes a bad week. "There are a lot of pros and cons to that method of paying, but in our shop, it just works better," Copeland said. in Valdosta, Ga., for 31 years, likes paying his technicians by straight salary. Some favor the salary form of compensation, others like paying by the hour, some by flat rate, and others by commission.Įarl Copeland, AAM, who has been operating Earl Copeland Garage Inc. Shop owners don't always agree on the best way to compensate a technician.
What's the best way to compensate a technician? What works, what doesn't?
That's where compensation plays a big role however, also key are nonfinancial rewards (benefits) and intangible incentives. Attracting them and keeping them are vital if your business is to survive. As virtually every Automotive Service Association (ASA) member will agree, there's a shortage of good technicians.
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