After Hours Service

[servpro]

We are implementing a 24/7 on call system this year. What is anyone doing for employee compensation? Do you go out on every call or try to defer to regular hours? We do not do refrigeration.

[Wheelbaron]

:.02:wrong forum should be in B&M

[farbeondriven]

one guy covers 1 week from 8am fri. morning to 8 am the next friday. We get call bonus for that week plus overtime for every call including the travel time to and from our home. The travel is directly passed to the customer thru there bill for that call.. Also guys get to use there van to get to and from work for the week the rest of the non call weeks we use our own vehicles. We deal in bulk and retail fuel service so if its a non customer we will take the call for a significantly inflated rated and tell them the diffrence is refundable if they sign on for fuel service...The same is done for gas, ashp and gshp customers. This works well for the non customers cause ya make your money if there one call wonders and if they sign on as a customer you can build a relashionship and they get your better rates..Works awesome for expanding customer base. Ask the customer if they want you to come out and explain your rates to them.

[servpro]

:.02:wrong forum should be in B&M

"General Discussion Any topic, HVAC or otherwise"

I don"t have my 30 posts yet

[spotts]

I run all of mine. Really. And I have 4 installers! I sell a boatload of equipment doing service tho...... sold 3 furnaces today.

[banshee24]

one guy covers 1 week from 8am fri. morning to 8 am the next friday. We get call bonus for that week plus overtime for every call including the travel time to and from our home. The travel is directly passed to the customer thru there bill for that call.. Also guys get to use there van to get to and from work for the week the rest of the non call weeks we use our own vehicles. We deal in bulk and retail fuel service so if its a non customer we will take the call for a significantly inflated rated and tell them the diffrence is refundable if they sign on for fuel service...The same is done for gas, ashp and gshp customers. This works well for the non customers cause ya make your money if there one call wonders and if they sign on as a customer you can build a relashionship and they get your better rates..Works awesome for expanding customer base. Ask the customer if they want you to come out and explain your rates to them.

farbeondriven

Do the guys leave there vehicle at the shop while they are on call and using the company van? If so are they allowed to use the van for personal use while on call?

[servpro]

Our techs all drive their vans home. They don't drive them for personal use without permission. All have GPS tracking.

[jpsmith1cm]

My opinion, take it for what it is worth.

Let common sense rule.

Mechanics know their equipment. Call goes to tech, tech calls customer and talks to them. Between the tech and the customer, a decision will be made.

There are, of course, a lot of variables that come into play, but that is how I would do it. Heck, that is pretty much how it works where I work.

[meBNme]

Every call that the customer is willing to pay the additional emergency service fee for, gets the emergency service.

That usually eliminates non emergency calls and their "urgent need" sudenly becomes... "OK, get to me monday."

The tech gets the total of the emergency upcharge. Plus whatever overtime rates apply if on hourly pay.
I'd reccomend a 75 to 100 emergency fee and an additional 50 for major holidays like Christmas & Thanksgiving.

[hvacker]

Have your techs draw for the major holidays. It's ez for one guy to be on call and get stuck for more than one. If they all draw things will be quieter. Also ask if one of them wants the work and doesn't mind extra ot.
If you don't restrict ot to emergencies a lot of techs might bail. Few techs want to be bothered with things that could wait. Customers might think they want service right away, wait till they get the bill.

[Roscoe]

hey where you at I'll send you all my after hours calls from the phone book.........you can have'm........;)

[farbeondriven]

Our techs all drive their vans home. They don't drive them for personal use without permission. All have GPS tracking.

what for tracking system are you using?...what are the monthly fees and can u track by computer?

[Cagey57]

The most accepted around here is :
On-Call tech gets 4 hours additional pay (straight time) for the week they are On-Call even if no calls come in. On-call cell phone is on only after normal hours and Phone message/answering service gives callers that info. On-call tech notifies callers of OT rates and discusses the situation with caller. If it's an emergency Tech goes on the call. If not, call ticket generated for the following day/week. Tech has Company van for the week, if they don't already take them home anyway. Tech is restricted to 50-75 mile radius of service area and allowed/requested to be driving the van within reason during the On-call week. All Afterhours calls are billed as OT and Tech is paid OT for all Afterhours calls.

I knew one Refer Tech that would only work 5-6 hours a day when he was On-call cause the company always got 6-8 emergency call a week. He said he was making more money doing emergency service calls than if he worked a straight 40 hours. He told me he was getting 25-30 hours of OT every week he was On-call. He always had a new truck so it must have worked for him!

We have customers at Data Centers and Medical facilities that call Tech's directly (we don't presently have On-call service) in emergencies. Tech's simply handle the call and bill accordingly. Customers have told us that it works just fine for them.

[DaveCR]

We're on call a week at a time. We continually rotate through the list (we have 18 service guys right now) so that everyone gets their share of holidays as the years go by. All of us take our vans home each night.

We get an additional nine hours straight time pay for the week we are on call. If we go out we receive premium pay. The clock starts when we leave the house and stops when we get back.

We make sure the customer knows the charges and let them decide if it's the worth expense. Generally speaking, we don't go on an overtime call for a new customer.

[yellowirenut]

we are on call from Friday to Friday 5pm..no extra cash for your trouble..only if u go out on a call do u get $..then its time and a half. We do have take home vans. there is only 3 of us so the rotation is often, but mostly do office buildings and strip malls so the calls are far in between.

ive asked about extra cash from the boss for on call people. He makes it seem like it should be a privilege to be on call...and starts in with "when i was an apprentice" then i must remind him i am not an apprentice.

[banshee24]

I can only take the company van home for the week I am on call, but that always creates an issue since I have to arrange for a ride to get the van and then a ride home when my week is over. I can't leave my vehicle at the shop all week since I need it for personal use. I'm on call every other week, but they give an extra $50 a week while on call.

[Mr Chesapeake]

Since I am one of three guys where I work who does gas and heat pump service, I'm on call every third week, and that time usually goes into being the back-up tech for the oil burner mechanic on call, which means I'm busy the entire weekend. We get $145.00 for being on call plus our overtime. The van I get to take home all the time.

[Lurch77]

1 week at a time, 8am Monday to 8am Monday. No incentive other than time and half for any calls. Rarely do we go out unless it is refrigeration though. Since most of our customers are commercial with multiple systems, they usually choose to wait until normal business hours to avoid the overtime charges.