I thought I would give my experience on the flat rate pay system used in some automotive shops here in Canada to any techs looking to work on this side of the pond. Essentially on flat rate you only get paid for the units of work that you can sell e.g., if a service on a car is sold as a 1 hour job then that is the amount you get paid for, even if it exceeds this time to carry out the service.

When I was originally interviewed for the job of automotive technician there were many mentions of “big buck” wages that could be earned on this system in that particular workshop. However, when I actually came over from the UK to start the job I found the reality very different. Many of us, and by us I mean long term Canadian mechanics as well as the new guys over from the UK, have found it difficult even to earn a full days pay. In winter this can be as low as 4-5 hours. All additional operations such as road-testing and the preparation of quotes are unpaid.

Because my shop is over staffed and under-booked with work, none of the technicians earn the amount of hours that they are actually at work. This situation probably won’t improve because whilst we are at work not earning, we are not costing the company anything to employ us. There is an element of job security in this system, but that doesn’t pay my bills.

There have been campaigns in the auto-press to get rid of flat rate as it is seen to be bad for both car owners and the technicians. However because this system works in favour of the employer, not the employee, there is resistance to such a change.

If you have been offered work in a flat rate auto shop make sure you have funds in place for the lean times and take all that talk of high earnings with a pinch of salt – until you are earning it.

This is entirely from my own viewpoint and others I am sure will have different experiences.

Which province are you in?

Why is it bad for the consumer? When I take my car to be fixed I want to know what it will cost, not what it might cost.

If you can beat the time allotted to do the job, and the place is not overstaffed, then you could make decent money, but like any other job where a quota or rate exists, its only really fair if the rate is realistic and allows enough time to get the job done.

The alternative seems to be to employ fewer mechanics and fit more jobs in the day...do you want 80% of the workforce earning 100%, or 100% earning 80%... tough call.

As a consumer though I am not taking my vehicle to be fixed any place where the work could conceivably be spun out (at an hourly rate) to fill the day of an underemployed mechanic at my expense, I want a fixed cost.

Would you be happy to work under this system as an engineer?

Many contract engineers do, they get paid a fixed amount to get a particular job done by a particular date, then move on to the next one. When work is plentiful they do very well, better than me, but when its not so busy sometimes salary is a good thing, even if there is little scope to make more by working more.

The general point though it valid, that if someone offers you the moon and sun while hiring you, then its in your best interest to be sceptical and look beyond that.

But the crucial difference is that it isn't per job. You get paid the same amount regardless of the jobs done in a given salary year.

It is an interesting one. Where I worked we toyed with this idea. It was brought on by flexible and home working actually. Basically, given a set task to do (say a two week project) you would be given two weeks to go away and do it. If it took you less than that, the rest of the time was yours. If it took you longer you would have to make the time up on your own time.

A lot got excited about it, but in our business (software development) feature creep is common, and a two week project often can turn into a four week one where the customer squeezes extra requirements in - difficulties in documenting and justifying how this affected the length of project meant that the idea was shelved.

I don't know how this compares but the mechanic where we get our cars fixed earns 25K a year.

Yes agreed on contractors. I would say the standard employee doesn't often come across a wage system like this one though.

I take it this is CAD? Ouch. I suppose a main dealer mechanic with plenty of years under the belt would be on a lot more...

Closer to $70+ I hear*.


*
"I hear" being internet code for "I have no idea how true that is"

A non flat rate mechanic would earn approx $50K around here.

It's an average wage for an ordinary mortal around here.

what area do you live in? i am coming over in june permanently and my husband is an auto tech so we need to find him work. we were not keen on the flat rate either. He was offered this when we were there in September

Helen

That is SHOCKING! I am assuming he works full time and is time served - he needs to find a new job!!!

Your not far off the mark there!

We are in Alberta, OH is flat rate, yes at the moment he is struggling to make 8 hours a day, but he is making it - if it goes really quiet and his name is at the bottom of the list he comes home - that hasn't happend for a good while though, however just a couple of weeks ago he was topping 17 hours a day.

I should think in another few weeks he'll be back to normal and then just after Christmas he'll go quiet for a couple of weeks, there are also always a couple of slow weeks late summer.

Based on a 40 hour week that's $12/hour. For that I doubt very much if he's a time-served auto-mechanic. He may do oil/filter changes, change/repair tyres and such minor jobs but I wouldn't want him tampering with my engine/transmission/electronics/AC etc. Dealership repair shops are usually not fully manned by qualified mechanics but all work is supposed to be vetted by one.