What to pay a qualified restoration employee

This is a Ohio production shop specializing in collision so rates do vary.

Body shop tech gets $15-$18 per flat rate hour. An experienced tech will usually turn 200% efficiency which equals 80+ hrs in a 40 hour work week.
Maybe I`m not getting it but almost $1500@ week is a pretty good living without having to work overtime and weekends off.

Most of the whiners see the shop collecting $45.00 hr and fail to see the expenses involved. Try being an owner sometime and see how hard it is to keep it afloat along with staying up with requirements of government mandates, licenses and regulations.
Also materials increase at least 10% a year and you can`t p*** that along either.

 

I worked at a restoration shop in Indiana about 20 years ago for $10.00 an hour. Fair wages back then in a tough business. Here in central WI there are plenty of jobs for $8.00 an hour. These are entry level jobs in various industries. Don't know how you could live on that, but people try. I would think $25.00 an hr. for a good, skilled worker would be a fair wage in restoration. With benefits, of course.
Tom

 

ahhh yes. Bonus plans. To entice people to do their job.

We have two plans.

-Turn over 72 hours and you get another $1 @ hr retroactive
($18 turns into $19 for the entire pay period)

-CSI bonus. We have a Customer Satisfaction Index service that calls all customers and asks for feedback about the repairs performed. If they rate the techs well, they are rewarded with a yearly bonus two weeks before Christmas and most average $1500-$2000.


My bonus plan is if I do my job I get to keep it....

 

This sounds very familiar!

Is this a collision shop?

 

Don't expect anything more than average work if you're only paying average wages.

 

I will make it simple for you. Ask the potential hire what he or she needs. When they tell you 12 -13 per hour don't hire them. If the candidate thinks that is all they are worth then thats all they are worth and remember they probably gave you a high number.

If the candidate asks for $20 or more offer them $16, if they jump on it like a rabid dog, don't hire them.

If when you offer the $16 they say sorry man I am worth more than that, give them the wage they asked for and hire them.

However, get yourself an offer letter and on that offer letter put a clause in that says, "Employment offered is temporary for the first 90 days during which time the employee or employer can terminate this offer at anytime."

Now if you like the guy then on day 80 pull him in for a review and offer him full time permanent employment.

Doing it this way allows you cut the deadwood out before they ruin your business and keep the good ones.

As an alternative you can hire the guy in for a lower wage and offer the raise to X pay at 90 days ***uming he works out. Then back pay the person for the difference for the last 90 days. Many people will take a job at a lower wage this way and you don't have to pay the high wage for a piece of ****. Also, if the guy accepts that offer it tells you he has some confidence in his abilities.

I pay anywhere from $12 for a inexperienced had to $26 for a good hand and everything in between.

 

I disagree. Whether doing restorations or collision work you hopefully hire someone that is motivated by pride as well as the desire to make a living.
I`ve seen the whirlwind tech that turns a lot of work but has to be watched for quality and shortcutting that actually costs the shop in comebacks and hurts the shop reputation.
I have several techs that have been with me many years and turn out restoration quality work because they care about doing it right regardless what they are paid. That`s the ones you keep.

It usually takes 4-5 weeks to see if a tech has those qualities otherwise he`s gone. Personal pride in your work can`t be bought or taught easily.

As far as collision vs. restoration shop, we have the equipment and knowledge to do either and do a lot of hot rod repair work for several collector car insurance companies.

This is my truck we recently painted.

 

Thats what we have done on two of the last three employees. The third was hired as a summer intern and has exceeded our expectations. One has been with us for almost three years and the other lasted two months.

 

Book rate has nothing to do with restoration or custom work. There is no way for a tech to do 200% in a restoration/custom shop.

Insurance work is a totally different ball of wax.

 

If you're hiring for a position for your shop, your biggest concern should be finding the RIGHT individual. For a small family business, they should be a damn near perfect fit. Pay should be a secondary concern. I don't own a shop, but I've done a LOT of interviewing and hiring in my industry (Telecomm).
I've interviewed dozens of folks that have terrific qualifications but did not move them through because of their at***ude, baggage, etc. Others with less experience have gotten hired because they were solid and had great references, work ethic (p***ion for quality), and at***ude.
If you have a good gut feeling about them once you're through the interview, offer to give a tour of the shop. It's ok to hand them a helmet and have them throw down a TIG, etc. for you on the spot too. Interview lots of people. The job market dictates you should have plenty of aplicants. Advertise outside your immediate market if you have to. I just hired guys from Phoenix and Philly.

Wages will be dependent upon their experience and what the going rate is in your area. Are they expert all around fabricators, TIG welding skills, etc? Are they able to work through just about anything w/o direction or do they constantly need to be guided? Follow through on their references and hopefully see some of their work.

As others have said, go with the probation routine with 30, 60, 90 day reviews agreed upon up front. If they're **** hot at 30 days, meet with them and make them a terrific offer that will hopefully keep them with you for many years.

 

Not from the customers point of view....

 

Like someone else said, it all depends on his skill level, and your location. I was making 20.00 as a full time employee at a resto shop, I later went out as an independant contractor working for 3 different shops in town. At that time I was charging 25.00. I am a bit different as I do metal fab, welding, paint and mechanical, whereas typically you have one guy that specializes in each area. The AVERAGE I saw at most of the shops I have been in was 16.00 - 20.00 and the long term more experienced guys were getting 25.00. This is high end resto work and some collision work. NOT serious customs or metal fabbing. Mostly aftermarket panel replacement, body work and paint.

 

Then the customer needs to be educated. There is NO WAY to give book time on resto or custom work. And there is NOW WAY to give a solid estimate when dealing with rust repair. I give a ballpark and make certain my customers understand it may go higher or may be lower, depending on what is found once I start cutting metal out. Restoration and custom work is a completely different animal then collision. I hae turned away work form people that I could tel just didn't understand. THEY are the ones that will be a headache. I have also had people not bring me work based on my ***essment/price and come back a year or two later to get me to RE-do a job they took elsewhere. It usually costs more the second time around

 

I asked the same question a while ago and posted a poll.. I think the discussion and poll results have some pretty good data.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=611335

 

To answer the question:

- Entry level person $12-$14/hr depending on their general at***ude and life experience
- Experienced person $20/hr for 40 hours, $5/hr for each billed hour, commission on all work brought in, 2 weeks paid vacation, paid holidays. For someone who makes their billable targets and works 40 hour weeks (no overtime) that adds up-to ~$53k/yr with 3 weeks off.

 

Whats this country coming too? The guy sweeping the floor and taking out the trash should be getting $16 per hour. Sad

 

I would have to disagree with this concept. YES, they must take pride in their work, but lets be real. People come to work to make money, not to just feel warm and fuzzy at the end of the day. No matter how much enjoyment an employee gets from his work he stills has to feed his family, pay a mortage, and have a little cash in his pocket. A very good friend has a collision repair/restore shop and pays his bodyman dirt. The guy turns out good work and his paint is top notch. He does come with some baggage and that is the only reason he stays for such a low pay. He is grumpy and *****es the whole time he is working but who can blame him, he hardly makes enough live. I have often thought that a little more money would change his at***ude and increase his productivity. The bonus ideas are good too. If a guy gets $16/ hr rather he is sweeping or board sanding where is the incentive to turn out more paint jobs?

 

Ya gets what ya pays for. I've worked (in other jobs) w/ people you thought you'd have to plant stakes to see if they were moving, but if you tried to do their job you'd find how much they did. Same w/ the guy who fly's. He looks good because he's fast but look closer and you find they do a half ***ed job.
I don't know about the pay rates in your area but,if you find somebody that will make you money you better pay them for their knowledge/work ethic,or you'll be looking for another employee soon.

 

Thanks that is very helpful.

 

That is the first problem you have to solve. I know, I have a similar problem right now. Havent got it solved yet either. But if you have multiple people involved in the decision making process that dont share the same vision, goals, outlook, however you want to put it then you have a bigger issue than what to pay people. If you figure out how to solve that one drop me a PM I would really like to know.

 

Yea, sounds to me like a LOT of management, maybe more than the work force can support.

Just out of curiosity how many "shop hands" do you have now? I've thought about hiring some help before, but it ended up that I would have to hire more than one to justify the extra paperwork and supervision.
Larry T

 

So what I`m getting here is $70,000 @year is light and not enough motivation working 40hrs @ week?

No wonder Detroit is empty and full of trash. We priced ourselves right out of work. Serves us right.

Of course I`ve only worked in and ran restoration shops/bodyshops for 35 years.
What do I know?

 

70K a year? holy jeebus, I'd LOVE to make 70K a year. Broom pushers should be making minimum wage, maybe plus a little depending on cost of living in the area. Minimum wage is rated for unskilled labor. period.

Get some skill, add some dough. But 70K a year is freaking rediculous for a blue collar uneducated worker. There are exceptions, big names, semi famous very high skilled workers, but for the most part 70K......wow.

I put my life out there as a firefighter for close to half that. My buddy is a sherriffs deputy. He puts his life out there for well under 30K a year.

Aerocolor has it right, we have priced ourselves right out of the market. Small business just cannot and will not support those kind of wages.


Scot

 

I would say this sounds VERY fair to a man that takes pride in his work. If you can't pay fairly, the man will moonlight just to make ends meet. There should be an understanding that he respect your buisness and not do side work for your clients at home, or at least discussed so he understands. Keeping Billable work coming into the shop is the responsibility of the management staff, and I'm not saying that's an easy task either.

 

Well, 35 years ago I was working for $10,000.00 a year and was making quite a bit more than most of my friends. But this isn't 1976 any more, I just looked and poverty level for a family of 4 is $22,000.00 a year in 2011.

Yea, I think $70,000 a year is excessive, (it's still considered middle cl*** income), but $20.00 plus an hour for skilled labor shouldn't be excessive. But the bottom line is based on the bottom line. If the company isn't making money off the employee, he's getting paid too much.
Larry T

 

Back again, just couldnt leave this alone....LOL

People who feel they are worth ** amount of dollars a year and wont work for less irritate the **** out of me.

You are worth whatever the market you have chosen will support and what someone will pay. Sooner you face that and get a job paying fair market, sooner you can get off the unemployment I pay into every paycheck.

Also, you think all the big three wanted to shut down all those plants and move **** to canada and mexico?? Its expensive to move ****. But the me me me mine mine mine auto worker who makes 30 or 40 bucks an hour doing unskilled ***embly work is the reason my new camaro was built in canada and not detroit. It was get more reasonable wages and retirement costs or go belly up.

Either way, the autoworkers lost. Pay me all this fat *** money or else! The big 3 elected for or else then they auto workers complained cause the cars arent made stateside anymore. Hence, the death of detroit as we know it, one of the worlds greatest manufacturing cities, dead and 10,000's out of work.


This is on the edge of political so I'll drop it now and let this thread get back on track but as you can see, this hit a sore spot with me.

 

Right now there are three of us in the shop and two in the office. Now the office also runs a mail order parts business for Metropolitan's which is one persons main responsibility.

 

Ok. One more about pay expectations and I`m out.

A long time friend fancied himself as a Bob Vila type home remodeler and worked for a few months doing odd jobs for a small remodeling company.
He quit because he felt his talent was going to waste and he wasn`t being fairly compensated for his "expertise".
He didn`t work for several weeks and I asked him if he would be interested in coming over and working on my new pole barn offering $15.00 per hour cash money. I was firmly told that wasn`t enough to warrant him leaving his house and it would require a minimum of $25.00 to motivate him.
I p***ed and my wife & I finished the job. That was three years ago and he evidently hasn`t found the right job yet other than sitting in his barn and drinking beer with his buddies. I`m sure it`s up to $50@hr now....
We have grown accustomed to making demands for high wages and that is why so many are out of work. There are jobs out there but they start way under $25.00@hr and there are plenty of immigrants willing to take them from us.

I interviewed a young man today with 5 years experience in a bodyshop and the interview was filled with discussions of vacation, sick days and personal days all asked by him.
I`m pretty sure he didn`t get the job.

 

What kind of questions would you expect to be asked by an interviewee?
You are both being interviewed. One as an employer, and one as the potential employee...

 

On the initial interview I`m determining if HE qualifies as a potential employee in regards to certifications, abilities,experience and appearance.

His questions should come after I have completed my portion.

He`s NOT hiring me. I paid for the ad.