On call pay

[HVACTN]

Hi,
Does anyone receive pay for being oncall? I know one person here in TN that is getting what is equal to 2 hrs regular pay added to his check for the week that he is on call. Is that the norm?
Thanks.

[ryan1088]

We get straight 8 hours as "standby" pay at regular time for the whole week, then 4 hours ot for being called in automatically.

[HVACTN]

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. That's pretty good standby pay & OT. Is it a union position? I had another tell me via email that they got 4 hrs and 2 automatic but his is union.

[Wolfer]

i dont get paid unless I go out on a call.

[ryan1088]

We are union but I'm not a part of the fitters. We are with ibew.

[zw17]

We gave up on call pay for double time after 10hrs (straight 8, two 1.5x, then double time) or anything after 6pm to 7am and all day Sunday.

It usually works out in my favor.

[hvacpope]

I get $100 a week to be oncall plus 4 hours minimum per call.

[Southern Mech]

4 hrs OT + 1.5 for the call itself

[T-MAN]

Our guys get $100.00 extra for the week their on call and time &1/2 when they get called out Mon.- Sat. and double time for Sunday.

[blitz]

I get $100.00 extra for the week to man the phone and time &1/2 when I get called out.

[my63volks]

local 250 112 for week with min 4hrs ot if called out

[maxster]

here up in NYC companies (OEMs) give out $300 just to be thinking about it as your mowing our lawn on a saturday morning with port to port on billable time...:.02: i you go out.the building engineers don't care what you charged as long as they log in the unit is running or needs a major repair:gah: some also do 10 hours your weekday rate to be on

[Rob_in_WV]

I get $25 per call out and overtime from the moment I get in the truck until the time I get back out of it at my house.

[qwerty hvac]

We get 4hrs ot on every call minimum no mater if I am there for 10 minutes or 10 hours. So if I was there 10hrs it would be 14hrs ot.

[flanders]

Last job I had u get no pay to be on call all weekend. You also don't get paid anything unless you "sell" something while on the service call. It was commission only. It was absolutely awful. I refused to do it! Needless to say, I didn't last too long there.

[hobie52]

We get $75 for the week plus double time if called out from the time I leave the house
until I get home. With a minimum of one hour even if only out 20 min.

[Damien]

Wow, sounds like I'm at the wrong place.

No call, no pay.

All these other companies must be makin gobs of money to throw it around like that

[technut]

4 hours min. for customers i love thunderstorms 4 or 5 calls 4x5=20hours of work act work 4 hours
and port to port.

[stonewallred]

Every place I have worked for, even my favorite ex-employer, was no calls, no payee.
Leaving my house was 1.5 normal rate, no matter how short or how long, travel time included both ways.

[Stamas]

It would help if the job classification was defined to help the readers understand where and what work category is discussed.

[stonewallred]

It would help if the job classification was defined to help the readers understand where and what work category is discussed.

HVAC/R service tech, with a skill set that includes everything from electrical (from changing receptacles to changing transmission line transformers) to plumbing, to PLCs, to phone lines, to computers, to pneumatics, to repairing hydraulic lines and systems, to changing out pins in locks, to controls, to maintaining and repairing stuff like 14' shears capable of cutting 5/16" plate to 14' breaks to everything in between. (did I mention I was a Maintenance Mechanic 4 ?) Throw in drag line certification, and a MA in Social Work, specializing in Substance Abuse Treatment for Adolescents with Correctional settings, just to hit the high points.

[qwerty hvac]

You need to get into commercial service and maintenance. When the client calls they want it fixed and usually price is no object. I have a call now. Guess I will get four more hrs.:whistle:



Wow, sounds like I'm at the wrong place.

No call, no pay.

All these other companies must be making gobs of money to throw it around like that

[dunkman]

Resi/light commercial tech. We get paid lunch every day year round. I work 4 days/week, so it comes out to 2 hrs/week to be on call. We're on call every 6th week. We just get paid 1.5 OT to go out. Winter is brutal, I even had a few 18-19 hr days, I sleep in after those.

[ryan1088]

We do heavy commercial heat, ac, hot water, and refrigeration where I work. FWIW.

[hvacpope]

I wish I was not oncall, they can keep the money,pretty much all my co-workers feel the same way, its mandatory for us.

[meoberry]

I do industrial, commercial, refrigeration and a little residential. We get 4 hours regular pay for being on call for weekends if we don't have any calls. 1.5 on any after hour calls. But we also get 1.5 on any thing over 8 hours a day. Not as good as some of the other posts. But they pay the best in this town.:whistle:

[Lightning_Boy]

Gahh...

On call for me = no call no pay. At all.

Get a call for AC non op at 7pm on Saturday night, I get the basic service pay $18 for the 1st hour.

No repair, no sale. = no pay.

We do 90% residential 10% light commercial. (just RTU's no chillers, refrigeration etc.)

I love this trade but I'm going bankrupt with the company I'm at. Unfortunately no one is interested in a guy with 10mnths experience.

[meoberry]

Gahh...

On call for me = no call no pay. At all.

Get a call for AC non op at 7pm on Saturday night, I get the basic service pay $18 for the 1st hour.

No repair, no sale. = no pay.

We do 90% residential 10% light commercial. (just RTU's no chillers, refrigeration etc.)

I love this trade but I'm going bankrupt with the company I'm at. Unfortunately no one is interested in a guy with 10mnths experience.

You just have to stick it out until you get your experience level up. I might suggest studying up on chillers and refrigeration. Getting away from residential is how I got decent pay and benefits. But you will need a min. of 5 years experiance to get on with a mechanical company. Don't start with one as a installler and try to work your way up. Very seldom see anyone move up to a tech. thataway.:.02:

[Litchmo]

2.5 hrs a day pulse 1.5 pay from the time they leave to time they get back home. If they have worked 40 hrs. other wise it's straight time.

[chrldwlf]

Four hours OT pay for the week I am on call, 2 hours for the rest of the on call team I am in charge of. Time and a half portal to portal except Sunday when it is double time portal to portal.

[cuchulain]

residential/light commercial/marine/refrigeration here...for on call we get paid time and a half for our OT work except Sunday and holidays then it's double time. and the actual OT doesn't kick in until we've cleared 40 reg hrs.

[gwegiel]

$100 for the week + time and a half for callouts from the moment the call comes in to the time i get back home.

[cwill]

We get $95 a week extra!

[sabre11134]

9 hours per week plus o/t for any service calls

[pacnw]

Wow, sounds like I'm at the wrong place.

No call, no pay.

All these other companies must be makin gobs of money to throw it around like that

Similar situation here, too.

$15.00 to man the computer/phone Sat, Sun or Holidays, only on for 1 day a weekend, and then OT if you go out. If you go out it is port to port, but you do lose the $15.

nothing but straight OT M-F if you go out.

[indy2000]

1 hr per weekday, 1.5 hrs per weekend/holiday.

anything called while at home is double time driveway to driveway.

Non negotiable, its in our contract. UA.

[jabeu]

we get $50 for the week $100 if week of a holiday. anyting beyond 2 calls for the week we get xtra $25 per call plus overtime port to port.

[mizzouhvac]

We get time and a half for anything over eight hours and its all time and a half over fourty hours. Most of our guys get a $75 dollar "bonus" for being on call if they live "in town". I live in a small town twenty miles west of our office so I do not get the bonus. Its always a bit of a sore spot for me but thats ok.

[Frostmonkey74]

I get 8 hrs at base rate to be on call. 1.5 time for first 3 hours past 8 hr day, 2x after that. 2x for call outs after 5pm until 8 am m-f 2x sat sun, regardless if I've hit 8 hrs for day or 40 for week.

Supermarket refrigeration= lots of ot!!

Base rate $40/hr

[esornivram]

Hi,
Does anyone receive pay for being oncall? I know one person here in TN that is getting what is equal to 2 hrs regular pay added to his check for the week that he is on call. Is that the norm?
Thanks.

hello no its not

Igot ten percent of hourly wage for doing it while working at hospital for a few years.
when i went back to contractors they didnt want to pay squat, but tie up your life for them, told them free time was worth more than a quarter an hour to set by the phone waiting.
if they wanted to learn the true cost of on call talk to hospitals about it.

there is 128 hours of non work in a seven day work week, they offered you 2 hrs pay, divided by 128 hours, you do the math, on call is worth ten percent, no less, or dont do it.

the biggies , ie trane pays thus.
no money unless you get called, however the first call gets $200 plus four hour minimun. at overtime, rates, any other in a week is just four hour minimun of pay, and if your at a familly function, then you dont go till function is over.

[esornivram]

Post edited. Time for SA comments ran out 3 weeks ago.

[servicefitter]

work for a 40 man service company were on call a week at a time, friday to friday mouning 1 hour a day '2 for sat. 2 for sun. iF you work its port to port. union company 562 saint louis

[maxster]

40 techs how often do you get it

[stickinit2thman]

Residential, Light commercial service company, HeatPumps, Gas and Oil furnaces, and hydronic boilers.Pay myself straight pay for billable time. Ran callsfor another company and he paid me 40%parts and labor.

[Xercanov]

I get nothing! OT over 40 ONLY. And then conviently let me off a day or home early during the week!! tHATS HOW THEY GET ME!

[jrmech]

I got 4 hours extra non union, the union we get 30 min on weekdays and 1 hour weekends..so 4.5 for the week..holidays are extra.

[wahoo]

Our on call guy gets .25 of hour mandatory ot for returning each call, and then mandatory ot if runs a call with a one hour minimum. Double time on Sundays and HOlidays. We quit running "nite" calls just the last 10-12 months, but still have someone on call on weekends. Keeping someone on call thru the workweek was too much hassle for the work we recieved. Most would wait until opening time rather than pay our after hours rates, so they'd call the on-call person (at 2am), just to make sure they were "first in line". Basically a PIA operation IMO, so just kept the weekend on call, rotates between techs. Usually they'll make 3 to 6 hours of OT a weekend and maybe only run 1 or 2 calls. The rest are simply returning phone calls.:.02:

P.S. The regular 40 hr. workweek does not apply to the on-call person. Any weekend call is O.T. regardless of 40 hours. If a person takes a day off thru week, they look forward to a few weekend calls to make up for lost wages.

[2sac]

1hr weekday, 2hr Sat, 2hr Sun, 4hr holiday to be on call. Time and a half from 4:30pm-7:00am port to port. Double time Sat midnight-Sun midnight and holidays port to port.

[stickinit2thman]

Residential, Light commercial service company, HeatPumps, Gas and Oil furnaces, and hydronic boilers.Pay myself straight pay for billable time. Ran callsfor another company and he paid me 40%parts and labor.All other jobs just pay'd 1 1/2 for hours worked.No on call pay unless you work. :.02:

[morepower7701]

I get $75 to be on call, paid cell phone (unlimited minutes) company van, and get paid from the time I leave my driveway, untill I get back. The company at one time paid $125 to be on call.

[cfmech04]

We get 150 for the week with just 1.5x for everything after hours or weekend. We do primarily heavy commercial with some light commercial. IMO it should be more, its not the worst around our area but its definitely not the best. We also have outside of refrigeration guys the most late night calls and it could be 3+ hours from my house. 150 bucks to potentially beat yourself up (think 76 hours was my highest week this summer) for 7 days is crap.

[toptwo]

We get 1 hour a day for everyday were on call. Thats at regular pay, then if we get called out we get 1.5 time for after hours and double time on Sunday. thats the unions rule.

[OBogue]

Ok, well we only have 5 guys at our shop, and I am on call EVERY Tuesday, and we rotate weekends, from Friday at noon until Monday at 8AM. If you're the Thursday guy, or the Monday guy you get to have your day and the weekend every time.

Our company pays us 8hrs of vacation time per month, unless you're on the on call schedule and then you accumulate 12 hours of vacation time per month. Other than that, there is no pay if there aren't any calls. And the ONLY way you get paid OT is if you worked 40 hours during the week.

THEN we always have a backup on call guy, because some of our techs are in training and aren't as capable as the more seasoned guys. (DUH who doesn't have to deal with this?) So NOW instead of being on call 1 out of 5 weekends, you are on call at least 2 weekends in a row, and depending on how the holiday schedule plays out, you could easily be on call 4 or 5 week days and 3 weekends in a single month.

THEN to sweeten the deal even MORE, if you're on call for Thanksgiving, and have worked 24 hours (M-W 8 hrs each) and you take 8 hours of calls on Thanksgiving, your time is deducted from your holiday pay, because "We're not going to pay you twice for the same time". So in essence you just worked all day on Thanksgiving and got paid regular time for it, and made the EXACT same pay as the guys who were at home getting their holiday pay.

TELL ME, IS IT JUST ME OR IS SOMETHING SCREWED UP WITH THIS?

[hvacpope]

Ok, well we only have 5 guys at our shop, and I am on call EVERY Tuesday, and we rotate weekends, from Friday at noon until Monday at 8AM. If you're the Thursday guy, or the Monday guy you get to have your day and the weekend every time.

Our company pays us 8hrs of vacation time per month, unless you're on the on call schedule and then you accumulate 12 hours of vacation time per month. Other than that, there is no pay if there aren't any calls. And the ONLY way you get paid OT is if you worked 40 hours during the week.

THEN we always have a backup on call guy, because some of our techs are in training and aren't as capable as the more seasoned guys. (DUH who doesn't have to deal with this?) So NOW instead of being on call 1 out of 5 weekends, you are on call at least 2 weekends in a row, and depending on how the holiday schedule plays out, you could easily be on call 4 or 5 week days and 3 weekends in a single month.

THEN to sweeten the deal even MORE, if you're on call for Thanksgiving, and have worked 24 hours (M-W 8 hrs each) and you take 8 hours of calls on Thanksgiving, your time is deducted from your holiday pay, because "We're not going to pay you twice for the same time". So in essence you just worked all day on Thanksgiving and got paid regular time for it, and made the EXACT same pay as the guys who were at home getting their holiday pay.

TELL ME, IS IT JUST ME OR IS SOMETHING SCREWED UP WITH THIS?
Is up to the owners to offer an incentive to be on call, technically is illegal to mandate an employee to work more than 8 hours day or 40week, workers have the right to refuse the overtime but chances are the employer would retaliate and have you terminated.
I think you are getting screw, put your resume together and keep looking for the right one.

[OBogue]

Ya I get that it's up to the owners.

What I want to know is, is what I'm doing the NORM?

And what about my comments about holiday pay?

[dunkman]

Ok, well we only have 5 guys at our shop, and I am on call EVERY Tuesday, and we rotate weekends, from Friday at noon until Monday at 8AM. If you're the Thursday guy, or the Monday guy you get to have your day and the weekend every time.

Our company pays us 8hrs of vacation time per month, unless you're on the on call schedule and then you accumulate 12 hours of vacation time per month. Other than that, there is no pay if there aren't any calls. And the ONLY way you get paid OT is if you worked 40 hours during the week.

THEN we always have a backup on call guy, because some of our techs are in training and aren't as capable as the more seasoned guys. (DUH who doesn't have to deal with this?) So NOW instead of being on call 1 out of 5 weekends, you are on call at least 2 weekends in a row, and depending on how the holiday schedule plays out, you could easily be on call 4 or 5 week days and 3 weekends in a single month.

THEN to sweeten the deal even MORE, if you're on call for Thanksgiving, and have worked 24 hours (M-W 8 hrs each) and you take 8 hours of calls on Thanksgiving, your time is deducted from your holiday pay, because "We're not going to pay you twice for the same time". So in essence you just worked all day on Thanksgiving and got paid regular time for it, and made the EXACT same pay as the guys who were at home getting their holiday pay.

TELL ME, IS IT JUST ME OR IS SOMETHING SCREWED UP WITH THIS?

The part that stood out to me was the holiday. How can they possibly pay everybody their normal holiday 8 hrs. Then make the guy on call work for NOTHING! That's effed up big time! I wouldn't even answer the phone for free... The owner would get the message real fast if I worked there.

Surely the company is billing out at a holiday rate when you go out right? We get straight holiday pay, then 1.5 time for actual hours worked on a holiday. Still doesn't seem like enough. We bill 1.5 on holidays too.

[OBogue]

Ya, it eats a@@. I've been there for 5+ years, and these issues amongst others are rubbing me the wrong way.

:gah:

The 4 hours of vacation pay that I get each month for being on call isn't even close to worth it. But this guy pays better than any of the other shops in town. I know it's just tough crap. It iS what it IS.

[meoberry]

Ok, well we only have 5 guys at our shop, and I am on call EVERY Tuesday, and we rotate weekends, from Friday at noon until Monday at 8AM. If you're the Thursday guy, or the Monday guy you get to have your day and the weekend every time.

Our company pays us 8hrs of vacation time per month, unless you're on the on call schedule and then you accumulate 12 hours of vacation time per month. Other than that, there is no pay if there aren't any calls. And the ONLY way you get paid OT is if you worked 40 hours during the week.

THEN we always have a backup on call guy, because some of our techs are in training and aren't as capable as the more seasoned guys. (DUH who doesn't have to deal with this?) So NOW instead of being on call 1 out of 5 weekends, you are on call at least 2 weekends in a row, and depending on how the holiday schedule plays out, you could easily be on call 4 or 5 week days and 3 weekends in a single month.

THEN to sweeten the deal even MORE, if you're on call for Thanksgiving, and have worked 24 hours (M-W 8 hrs each) and you take 8 hours of calls on Thanksgiving, your time is deducted from your holiday pay, because "We're not going to pay you twice for the same time". So in essence you just worked all day on Thanksgiving and got paid regular time for it, and made the EXACT same pay as the guys who were at home getting their holiday pay.

TELL ME, IS IT JUST ME OR IS SOMETHING SCREWED UP WITH THIS?

I worked for a company that tried that on me. I told them if I got no extra pay for working the holiday. The owner could pull call his self on holidays, because I would not. If they did not like it.....I would unload my truck today.

[miami mike]

Ya I get that it's up to the owners.

What I want to know is, is what I'm doing the NORM?

And what about my comments about holiday pay?


No, that's not the NORM.

Unless you let it be...

I once worked for a guy who docked my pay every time the GPS told him I had "idled" for 10 minutes.

Ordering parts, writing an invoice carefully to protect his companies liability, helping the other guys with tech support...etc

Had to get gas and wash the truck on your own time too.

If you stopped at a gas station during the day and filled up they docked you a 1/4 hour immediately.

How demoralizing.

I worked there 6 weeks.

[2sac]

Ok, well we only have 5 guys at our shop, and I am on call EVERY Tuesday, and we rotate weekends, from Friday at noon until Monday at 8AM. If you're the Thursday guy, or the Monday guy you get to have your day and the weekend every time.

Our company pays us 8hrs of vacation time per month, unless you're on the on call schedule and then you accumulate 12 hours of vacation time per month. Other than that, there is no pay if there aren't any calls. And the ONLY way you get paid OT is if you worked 40 hours during the week.

THEN we always have a backup on call guy, because some of our techs are in training and aren't as capable as the more seasoned guys. (DUH who doesn't have to deal with this?) So NOW instead of being on call 1 out of 5 weekends, you are on call at least 2 weekends in a row, and depending on how the holiday schedule plays out, you could easily be on call 4 or 5 week days and 3 weekends in a single month.

THEN to sweeten the deal even MORE, if you're on call for Thanksgiving, and have worked 24 hours (M-W 8 hrs each) and you take 8 hours of calls on Thanksgiving, your time is deducted from your holiday pay, because "We're not going to pay you twice for the same time". So in essence you just worked all day on Thanksgiving and got paid regular time for it, and made the EXACT same pay as the guys who were at home getting their holiday pay.

TELL ME, IS IT JUST ME OR IS SOMETHING SCREWED UP WITH THIS?

You're getting hosed my friend. I know things are tough out there, but you may want to find an employer who cares a little more about his employees. I can't imagine everyone else in your neck of the woods runs their business the same way.
It's possible you may have a valid complaint with the EEOC about wage discrimination but that may be more of a headache than it's worth.

[cptkirk]

I agree...yer getting screwed. I get $100/week for being on call...whether i get called or not. O.T. rate is 1.5 times regular rate. O.T. applies after 5pm or on weekends. Doesnt matter if you get less than 40 hrs in a week...which has been the norm this year.(worst year in 20 yrs for me.) If on call during a stat you get paid the stat plus O.T. Vacation pay is 2 weeks/yr for now (been there one year or so).This is not a union employer either. You would crap if I told you what the union pkg is up here ($52/hr all in).

[meoberry]

No, that's not the NORM.

Unless you let it be...

I once worked for a guy who docked my pay every time the GPS told him I had "idled" for 10 minutes.

Ordering parts, writing an invoice carefully to protect his companies liability, helping the other guys with tech support...etc

Had to get gas and wash the truck on your own time too.

If you stopped at a gas station during the day and filled up they docked you a 1/4 hour immediately.

How demoralizing.

I worked there 6 weeks.

There are too many companies looking for good help to put up with such foolishness. Just put up with it until you can find a better opp. Summer is just right around the corner. The companies that value their employees and treat them right. Will always do higher quality work and have plenty of work. Than some of these shady fly by night companies.

It seems that some employers. just don't get it. A satisfied employee,means satisfied customers. A happy employee, means a happy customer in turn more money for the company.:.02:

[OBogue]

Thread hijack, or maybe I should start a new thread?

How about productive (billable) time vs. unproductive (unbillable time)? How is this handled where you work?

[dcx516]

we only do on call on weekends except holidays 50.00 per day 75.00 on a holiday

[meoberry]

Thread hijack, or maybe I should start a new thread?

How about productive (billable) time vs. unproductive (unbillable time)? How is this handled where you work?

I have had this discussion before. With an employer, that only wanted to pay me for billable time. Which excluded call backs, vehicle maintenance and any warranty calls that the manufacturer would not cover. My response was: Why work for you? I could open my own bussines. OH. he also wanted to pay the same amount per hour as I was already making.

If you are not covering your operating expenses, which includes the unbillable time then you either have to raise your rates or reduce your over head.

When you reduce your overhead it is a bad idea to try to take from your employees with out showing them where you have taken from yourself. You create disgruntled employees and will show on the quality and productivity of the employees work. I have seen this happen first hand. Techs running 6 to 8 calls a day with a 5 to 6% call back rate. Go to 4 to 5 calls a day with 10 or 11% call back rate. Which did not reduce the overhead, just made it worse.

The best way I have seen to create more revenue is so simple, but for most employers is unthinkable. Is to get your employees into the bussiness, show them the books (graph charts work best) show the employees the income versus the out going and if your running in the red the employees will come up with ideas that you never thought of to get it back into the black. Not to mention they will become more aware of being productive. The ones that don't. Well that comes with the job. Its time to let them go. :.02:

[mike597]

We get $200/wk on call, goes from Monday 7am to Monday 7am. 4 hr minimum plus travel is paid.

[hvacpope]

Thread hijack, or maybe I should start a new thread?

How about productive (billable) time vs. unproductive (unbillable time)? How is this handled where you work?

where I work unproductive time is mostly mandatory training or meetings, everything else is billable, we have task numbers for each,techs get pay the same for both, callbacks are considered billable time, callbacks are part of the job,whether they bill the customer for it or not...I dunno.10 to 20% callback rates are considered acceptable, above 25% you may not last long.

[Orangeheat1]

50 $ a week and Time and half until we get back home..

[OBogue]

Oh, that brings up another point. No pay for meetings or training if they're held after business hours. Because "I pay you to produce, not to learn."

We're about to lose at least one guy over petty BS like that.

[OBogue]

And as far as callbacks go, he's telling me that a journeyman (we're not a union state) should not have more than 2 to 5 call backs a YEAR. And since I'm 5 1/2 years in, and have more than 5 callbacks a year, I'm considered to be a pretty weak journeyman. By his standard.

While I won't stroke myself about skill level, I will say that I have [I]no problem[I] putting my skill level up against another tech of the same experience level. I don't claim to be the best but I am certainly good at my job.

A lot of the time I think that small business owners squeeze the employees because they simply do not know what to DO to grow the business from the other direction.

[gp3]

We have a once a week rotation and you get $75 for a weekend day and $30 for a weeknight. We get time and half pay from the moment the phone rings till we pull back in our driveway and double time after 11pm. The last company was $200 for the whole week and a flat rate of $30 a call both have there advantages.

[gp3]

obogue that call back rate is just silly so if on a average year we have probably 300 call per tech rough numbers they are saying you are allow 15 call backs? Some calls I believe need a log of calls to solve like troublesome or pushed button and runs calls. Unless they want you to go there and just toss parts on that might be the problem. We are not allowed to have the stupid call backs examples leaving valves shut off, jumpers on a TT or not catching something obvious but that number has to be way off. I would say I really get call backs but I have had those weeks were everycall is super technical or some part is on the fritz causing a call every couple of days but these systems are getting so much more complex.

[gp3]

Sorry for so many post Im bored before work. Here is a example of impossible call back. I got lucky on this problem as it broke in front of me but this went on for years. We have a oil boiler here with 6 zones and zoneheads. The problem was underheating. The first tech did the obvious and ran the heat in every zone and all was functioning perfect so he tagged it. The second guys suspected a faulty end switch on a zone head and replaced it, The third guy suspected a circulator and swapped out a new one. At this point It was coming in once a month. We I go there for underheating and all the zones are open the boiler is running and then nothing it goes dead circulator still running, The aquastat was dropping out the burner when ever it felt like it. Not all calls are like this one and its easy to read this and be like Oh I would have thought that but there is so many varibles when your out there and this is why experience pays, the more you see the better you guess's get.

[fv_tom]

Oh, that brings up another point. No pay for meetings or training if they're held after business hours. Because "I pay you to produce, not to learn."

We're about to lose at least one guy over petty BS like that.

Depending on the training, I don't have an issue with doing that on my own time. I do have a problem with not getting paid for meetings though.

[meoberry]

where I work unproductive time is mostly mandatory training or meetings, everything else is billable, we have task numbers for each,techs get pay the same for both, callbacks are considered billable time, callbacks are part of the job,whether they bill the customer for it or not...I dunno.10 to 20% callback rates are considered acceptable, above 25% you may not last long.

Whoa! Every one I worked for anything more than a 15% call back rate is bad. The last time my call back rate was figuired it was at 3%. But that was residential only company. About 5 years ago.:.02:

[meoberry]

Oh, that brings up another point. No pay for meetings or training if they're held after business hours. Because "I pay you to produce, not to learn."

We're about to lose at least one guy over petty BS like that.

Yeah, but he reaps from the benefits of what you learn. Me personally. If I am not being paid don't ask me to show for a meeting.:.02:

[Danimal535]

200 per hr if they go out and get cod or until paid reg customers for emergency service call rate of $325 per hr $100 per hr for contracts

[arae0122]

Thread hijack, or maybe I should start a new thread?

How about productive (billable) time vs. unproductive (unbillable time)? How is this handled where you work?

We pay our guys from the time they arrive @ the shop until the truck is parked @ the end of the day. California labor overtime rules apply: OT after 8/day and 40/week. DT after 12/day and 60/week. We try really hard to make sure that everyone has Sunday off.

Safety meetings, parts runs, and recalls are all paid with the same rules. After-hours training is encouraged but voluntary, we don't pay hourly rates to attend but do pay enrollment fees and try to help out w/transportation.

My husband & I own the business, so I take the after hours calls and take the flack for making him go on weekend calls. lol.
We are in the process of implementing a rotation schedule w/ the techs for after hours calls but haven't finalized procedures/pay rates...which is why I'm reading this post!

[rotundra]

California labor laws, gotta love'em. We got 2 hour minimum for each afterhour call and paid driveway to driveway.

The overtime depends on whether or not you worked a 40 hour week of course but cal. law states that overtime does NOT need to be paid if you are the poor sap on call a holiday weekend.

So for example on July 4th week, we would only have 32 hours in the payperiod "worked' then, 8 hours holiday pay which means you only got straight time for the calls after hours (unless you worked more then 8 hours after hours) then after that point, back to time and 1/2.

I wonder if there are other states have the same crappy labor laws?

[Revolver]

So for example on July 4th week, we would only have 32 hours in the payperiod "worked' then, 8 hours holiday pay which means you only got straight time for the calls after hours (unless you worked more then 8 hours after hours) then after that point, back to time and 1/2.usually
Different side of the continent, same boat.

During the regular workweek, if a callback comes in, the dispatcher tries to send the last person who worked that job. If I find a defective part under warranty, I timeclock the job. If I find that I had made an honest mistake which caused the callback, I will personally eat the callback time.

We get about $100 a week to be on call, the boss answers customer calls night/weekends, and I get time and a half but often don't timeclock the travel time.

[maynard]

Wow, I haven't seen on call pay since a company purchased us

[OBogue]

Well if there's no compensation other than your hourly wage I WOULD be looking elsewhere. But around here good technicians are hard to come by. Some sort of compensation is necessary or the better techs just flip you the bird and go somewhere else.

I mean I've been checking around locally, and most of the other shops pay something extra, for wasting your weekend. The one shop that doesn't, well, they're almost all install guys doing new home construction and just don't have a need for service techs that much. The one guy they have for that is apparently enough.

I'd be D-O-N-E if there was no additional compensation, and no exactly excited about the minimal compensation that I'm getting now. Its for other reasons that I'm sticking around.

[prounionelp]

9 hours of specific On Call Pay, it's an additional itemization on-the-check. 5 for the weekdays & 4 for the weekend. It's been the same @ every Local that I've been w/.