Time on Jobs

[chris watkins]

Any bonus scheme needs to be carefully designed to make sure that it doesn't have unintended consequences, likely encouraging corner-cutting or burying problems.

One problem I've seen is that, in the early days per-job bonuses will be seen as nice extras and the vibe will be positive. After a while, they become the norm and when a job doesn't merit a bonus it's seen as punishment.

In your position, I'd be inclined to consider something based on customer satisfaction, e.g. the fraction of customers who were happy or very happy with the work done. You can include 'The work was completed on schedule' as one of the elements of CS you measure.

Discuss any ideas with your accountant to make sure they are tax-efficient and legal.

Absolutely agree Chuck, it was just a suggestion. Personally I have never been a fan of bonus (or for that matter price work) having been the apprentice who had to clear up the poor work it created & watched younger apprentices just being used a labours.
IMHO it's always about good management against a good days work for a good days pay.

 

[Gasmk1]

Shaun I am just going on what I have been given in the past by pretty much every company I've worked for. I didnt think I was fast and when I went for my last job o said to the boss I'm not the quickest but turned out I was the quickest by a long way.

I've always done copper very rarely used plastic as I dont think fitting plastic in an existing home is much quicker fitted properly.

Island you are paying british gas prices what do british gas expect from there employees. As kop has said you cant work them flat out all the time but if they are getting paid well I would expect them to work hard 90% of the time.

Personally I would pay bonuses for jobs completed on time and with no call backs. If you put people on price they chuck things in to get to the next job.

Gasmk1 3 hours to fill a system? Wheres that Buckingham palace? the last time I had a system take over an hour to fill was about 5 years ago in the end I repiped the cold feed and vent then it filled within 20 minutes.

3 hours is if its open vent and it air locks most systems are full within the hour i have had systems that have taken this long and longer if problems. longest drain down was 1 1/2 days admitted it was the diocese of salford offices and chapel, yes you vent filled it or backfilled because you know what you are doing and dont want to string things out, not everybody is like that

 

[oz-plumber]

Bonuses??
Are you offering employees more money for the privilege of working for you.
Are you trying to entice them to work for you?

Soon this will be the 'norm' and more will be expected before long.

If jobs are taking longer than you would expect, just start asking questions as to why.
There could be good reasons - which may be chargeable to the customer.
There may be fair reasons - which you may have not allowed for in pricing.
There may be bad reasons - employees taking the pi$$.

If a small job has taken a lot longer than you expected, bring the person in and ask why?
Learn from there

Start allowing 25% more labour to the jobs you are quoting on.

If things go good for 6 months or more, offer them a bonus mid year and a bonus at Christmas time. Or just at Christmas time

Price works - I know a plumber who implemented this, guess what he's paying for now - rectifications and repairs.
One of his employees, who worked for him for 6 years, has caused most grief and now has been removed from his company.

Not saying all employees are bad, but all employees need to be accountable for a business to be of any success.

 

[Millsy 82]

3 hours is if its open vent and it air locks most systems are full within the hour i have had systems that have taken this long and longer if problems. longest drain down was 1 1/2 days admitted it was the diocese of salford offices and chapel, yes you vent filled it or backfilled because you know what you are doing and dont want to string things out, not everybody is like that

I'm sure every one has had systems that have had systems that have been a nightmare to fill. But if I priced 3 hours to fill every open vented system I would spend a lot of time sat around.

I've never vent filled and the only time I've ever back filled a system was about 15 years ago on a friday afternoon to get them through the weekend so we could go back the following week and unblock the cold feed.

But let's be honest if he is paying 30-35k he is paying good money if the people that he is employing especially the one with 35 years under his belt doesnt know the tricks of the trade to fill systems then they shouldn't be on that kind of money. Ive spoken to lads that have just finished an apprenticeship and are moaning about being on rubbish wages and that think they deserve 30k a year just because they have their gas but in reality they still have lots to learn and they are on the correct money for that time in their career.

 

[king of pipes]

Sink or swim time mate my advice push on to 10 employees get a good contracts manager to keep on top of the employees while you do the everyday running of the company it's impossible for you to do it all , we had a mature guy to do the warranty work on the new build side and float between jobs as a extra pair of hands, drop gear off and what ever else you need him for there's so much time wasted getting materials. Cheers kop

 

[centralheatking]

Well posted KOP ...yes push on to 10 good fellas that know which way is up...I never needed a contract mgr...it was always me. Engaging a mature experienced fella for snagging and more is right there..I had a Brian...He rode shotgun every morning at 06.30 6 days a week in my Transit and was multi skilled. Some days he was with me all day others
I would leave him at a job...to bounce them around, clear up, or maybe do a bit of plastering or remedial decorating, he was happy on a roof doing tiles and slates. Brian earned as much as me by agreement every week so we split it. Some weeks in 90's nothing but others £10,000 plus
he died I miss him in fact we wound up in Bath just after
centralheatking

 

[Ric2013]

I know this is old stuff but perspectives are always good.

Yes, I have sat them down & the response I go was "We can finish at 5pm if we want surely?"

I used to work part-time at a branch of a national chain of catering and grocery wholesaler/cash and carry business. While, yes, we could go at our contractually scheduled leaving time, this was almost unheard of. We nearly always ended up doing a few minutes to half an hour overtime as we very rarely were ready to leave by close of business as the shop closing to customers did not generally coincide with being packed away and safe to leave overnight.

This was a matter of discussion among staff. Our union informed us that we could choose to leave at our contractual leaving time (which was fair, as, that extra time not being contractual, we were not guaranteed those hours so the deal was slightly one-sided if we could be forced to work overtime). In practice, though, we were paid (some of us were even paid overtime rates) overtime for those extra minutes and, unless we had prior engagements, we understood that what needed doing had to be done before we could reasonably leave.

While the management tried to pretend they could force us to stay, this never came to a head while I was there. Obviously the management was not going to set a precedent by pulling someone through a disciplinary meeting and trying to give them a verbal or written warning for the offence of 'leaving on time' as they would have lost. What tended to happen was that when we came on shift, if we had to leave dead on time, we'd tell whoever was in charge that day and they couldn't really say anything. The only person who really got told off as such was someone who left an important task unfinished without having informed anyone in charge that the task was incomplete.

If you are paying 15p above the statutory minimum wage like my former employer, then regularly expecting employees to work (paid) overtime may be unreasonable, especially in wholesale where the work is more predictable than in plumbing (the overtime could have been factored in when they took us on and we could have officially worked slightly longer weeks). But in a craft trade such as plumbing, I'd expect a craftman to want to plan jobs to be able to leave them in a fit state at the close of the day. Paid for the extra hours, okay, but, to a point, they could be expected to be obliged to do them, and this could quite reasonably be made contractual.