CA mechanics wages

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pishta

pishta

I know I'm right....
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34% of labor rate? is this correct for a mechanics wage? I got a friend who is a new mechanic and is making 34% of 89.00/hr but only on jobs that make money, ie if he does 8 free lubes a day, he nets like -49 bucks..does this sound right? Hes not even making minimum wage on some days. He is a commissioned employee in CA. but I thought even comm. employees make minimum wage here, like 7.75 hr? He doesnt get an hourly rate on his paycheck, only labor, ie "labor @ 46, Labor @170, Labor @ 0 " etc. Something screwy? New Honda Front brake job with hub R&R, AllData, Chiltons says 8 hours but he's getting paid for 4?
 
in 08 when i was still in HS i started a job at a shop and he told me that in CA it is state law that if you have your own tools you make 25 dollars an hr minimum... granted this is flat rate but still...

each job has a set time allotted either set by Mitchell or some-data and one other company... but these times are set...

if i remeber oil changes are .5 hrs and inspections are .1...

depending on the job they are different (obviously)

hope this helps
 
I don't know jack about mechanic wages. But I do run a business and would be surprised if there was any law saying a mechanic has to make $25 an hour unless it was a public works project and prevaling wages played a role in the job.

I would also be surprised if it was legal to pay a mechanic less than minimum wages even if it was some sort of commission type job.

I'm sure most shops are regulated by some state agency that can probably answer these question by an online search.

http://www.bar.ca.gov/index.aspx
 
The only commission job I had was paid commission or minimum wage, which ever was more. So on a bad week you would get paid $8 an hour or what ever it was at the time.

Most shops pay flat rate which means you get paid for the hours the book calls for.
So if the job calls for 4hrs you get paid 4hr even if it takes you 6. but if you do the job in 2hrs you still get paid the 4hrs.
 
zhandfull said:
I don't know jack about mechanic wages. But I do run a business and would be surprised if there was any law saying a mechanic has to make $25 an hour unless it was a public works project and prevaling wages played a role in the job.

I would also be surprised if it was legal to pay a mechanic less than minimum wages even if it was some sort of commission type job.

I'm sure most shops are regulated by some state agency that can probably answer these question by an online search.

http://www.bar.ca.gov/index.aspx
Click to expand...

seemed odd to me and the boss was a complete A-hole so he wouldn't pay a high school kid anymore than he had to im sure...

AdamR said:
The only commission job I had was paid commission or minimum wage, which ever was more. So on a bad week you would get paid $8 an hour or what ever it was at the time.

Most shops pay flat rate which means you get paid for the hours the book calls for.
So if the job calls for 4hrs you get paid 4hr even if it takes you 6. but if you do the job in 2hrs you still get paid the 4hrs.
Click to expand...

bingo
 
I worked commision in Michigan 20 years ago and was paid 13.50 flat rate. No work means no pay not even minimum wage and the week of Christmas one year I took home 22 dollars after taxes being the new guy with no work. I would not recommend flat rate to anyone in my state.
 
A dealership I worked at split the mechanics up in to 2 teams. Each team put pooled there flat rate hours they got paid by the hour for those hours, Your hourly wage depends on how long you have been there.

So if someone on your team got stuck on a crap job everyone on that team loses money.
 
old ladies would come in for a coupon free lube, and that was that, the shop didnt make any money (but maybe picked up a few customers) so my guy didnt make any money. Sounds fishy, but he has been out of work so long, I'm sure he's happy to even have a job, legal or not. Plus he gets me free rollers for my projects..rich area and people get 4 new tires when one gets a flat!
 
i was a bodyman at a maaco in the bay area i made 35% body labor. i made at least 400.00 a week take home playing around,my best check for the week of hard work was 1240.00 after taxes.but my boss never made me do free work(unless it was my fault redo for pinholes or somthing) your freind should not have to do free work either.that said we didn't have a min wage for comm. employees.only the detail guys lol
 
I ran shops for 20 years. Some mechanics get that. Some also get a percentage of parts. The common way to pay these days is flat rate. My better guys got $30 / hr flat rate. If the job paid 1.0 by the book, they got $30. If they finish ahead of time, they move on to the next job and make money. My better mechanics would book 100 hours a week or more. The incentive to be fast is there, but you don't get paid on comebacks, so you had to repair the car for free, and while you were doing that you weren't taking in new work. That was incentive to do the job right the first time. Here in Minnesota we get $105 per hour labor rate. A top rate tech should make well into six figures. Oil changes pay .3 by the way. If you have a $30 an hour guy doing oil changes you are losing money and wasting a valuable resource. No offense, but if they are feeding your friend oil changes I would think he is still in the learning stage or is not very good. Remember that almost every tech started out doing oil changes. It sucks, but if you do them well and fast and inspect the cars well you usually get the chance to repair some of them. Then you start to show that you are more valuable and get more and more work. Gotta start somewhere, and unfortunately it is usually at the bottom!
 
Mopar to ya said:
I ran shops for 20 years. Some mechanics get that. Some also get a percentage of parts. The common way to pay these days is flat rate. My better guys got $30 / hr flat rate. If the job paid 1.0 by the book, they got $30. If they finish ahead of time, they move on to the next job and make money. My better mechanics would book 100 hours a week or more. The incentive to be fast is there, but you don't get paid on comebacks, so you had to repair the car for free, and while you were doing that you weren't taking in new work. That was incentive to do the job right the first time. Here in Minnesota we get $105 per hour labor rate. A top rate tech should make well into six figures. Oil changes pay .3 by the way. If you have a $30 an hour guy doing oil changes you are losing money and wasting a valuable resource. No offense, but if they are feeding your friend oil changes I would think he is still in the learning stage or is not very good. Remember that almost every tech started out doing oil changes. It sucks, but if you do them well and fast and inspect the cars well you usually get the chance to repair some of them. Then you start to show that you are more valuable and get more and more work. Gotta start somewhere, and unfortunately it is usually at the bottom!
Click to expand...

That sounds how it should be! Have incentive not only to be fast, but to do it right. I think that's a fading concept in todays working world. Now, too many think they are entitled to more than they should be just for showing up, even if they suck at what they do.
 
I agree with Mopar to ya. I own a small auto repair shop and I pay my tech on a sliding scale but at flat rate. Example: $22 hr for oil changes only -= .3 for the job x how many oil changes.
$24 for most of the rest of the labor
$25 for diagnosis and if we capture the job- they get $25 for the Whole job per flate rate hour instaed of $24.
My shop rate is $75 hr.

If the job calls for 4 hrs and he's done in 2.5 - kudos to him and more $ in his pocket. It's a win - win for the shop and him. We get to have more cars flow through and he gets a fat check.
Same thing goes- do it right and move on. You some screw it up- you do it for free. granted- if a part fails, the supplier pays for the shop time and the tech gets paid again.
I'm a NAPA auto care center and they pay me labor for their faulty parts problems.
 
4fortyDemon said:
I agree with Mopar to ya. I own a small auto repair shop and I pay my tech on a sliding scale but at flat rate. Example: $22 hr for oil changes only -= .3 for the job x how many oil changes.
$24 for most of the rest of the labor
$25 for diagnosis and if we capture the job- they get $25 for the Whole job per flate rate hour instaed of $24.
My shop rate is $75 hr.

If the job calls for 4 hrs and he's done in 2.5 - kudos to him and more $ in his pocket. It's a win - win for the shop and him. We get to have more cars flow through and he gets a fat check.
Same thing goes- do it right and move on. You some screw it up- you do it for free. granted- if a part fails, the supplier pays for the shop time and the tech gets paid again.
I'm a NAPA auto care center and they pay me labor for their faulty parts problems.
Click to expand...

On part failure we paid the tech warranty flat rate. Part failure sucks for everyone. Customer, shop and tech. Mostly the poor sales guys who have to deal with an unhappy customer.
 
I build hot rods and restorations for a living. I am paid salary which is good and bad. I couldn't do this job flat rate with the quality/variance of restoration and custom parts. Even the bolt in conversions, well, don't. Down side is, I don't get overtime, and I don't get to make more for being better or faster. I do get a lot of experience fixing the other guys screw ups........

I miss being a Chrysler front end and brake tech. I made bank working flat rate.
 
Mopar to ya said:
On part failure we paid the tech warranty flat rate. Part failure sucks for everyone. Customer, shop and tech. Mostly the poor sales guys who have to deal with an unhappy customer.
Click to expand...

Well said- it does suck for everyone. And correct again we do pay warranty flat rate on bad parts.
 
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