Rent-a-tech company improvements?

[Brett LaVigne]

You need to hit your site coordinator up for that stuff.  Most choose to give the goodies to the management and house techs only.  The cool ones hook the techs up too. ;^)

Thats the funny part...Some of the time I room with an old friend of mine who is the coordinator at some of the sites I work!  I feel so used...

[LaFeet]

The company in question needs to cut it's overhead to the minimum.  Increase the benefits and pay to the workers. 
Let us have a fair portion of our billing, after all, we are doing the work.   The extraneous work force that seemingly can not keep up with  the work force needs to be streamlined, saving overhead .... save a small amount of the billing for company expansion.
If more plants start the tech placement like Diablo... look out Big Blue.

[SloGlo]

Let us have a fair portion of our billing, after all, we are doing the work. 

seams two me da paycheck duz dis.

[justatech]

You need to hit your site coordinator up for that stuff.  Most choose to give the goodies to the management and house techs only.  The cool ones hook the techs up too. ;^)

The only ones that hooked me up was Ken Gaynor (Palisades) and Barry Keele (Calloway) - they took care of all of us.........................

[LaFeet]

seams two me da paycheck duz dis.

How much of the billing for yur position do you get SloGlo???  Ima kuryus

[Eric_Bartlett]

Let us have a fair portion of our billing, after all, we are doing the work.   

LaFeet, excuse me for interupting your converstation but I was wondering since YOU do all of the work - what to you is a fair portion - 75%, 80%, 90%?

[alphadude]

la feet u is dreemin, i understand your socialist view but the business of business is business- if you want profit share buy stock, start your own company, go 1099 or whatever..  what business owner in his right mind would give a someone (who at best has his own self interest above the companies) any share of the profit or markup...  you took the job, you agreed to the wage, live with it.... or go do something else..

besides billing rates are considered company information and property and I bet that discussion of the billing rate and your pay rate with anybody is a violaton of your terms of employment..and you could be subject to termination without recompense. 

why dont u call ford or somebody and complain.. a typical $30,000 car only cost about $8500 to make.. go figure

[rjc4243]

   Just remember that the billing also includes the 7.5 % the coy needs to pay in addition to the SS that you pay.  How about the interest on the money they need to pay your salary that they do not receive until some time later than you get yours.  Then there are taxes on the money they make, and additional overhead for the people that do your pay, billing of hours, and several other positions, that need to be paid from the billing.

[Rennhack]

  Just remember that the billing also includes the 7.5 % the coy needs to pay in addition to the SS that you pay.  How about the interest on the money they need to pay your salary that they do not receive until some time later than you get yours.  Then there are taxes on the money they make, and additional overhead for the people that do your pay, billing of hours, and several other positions, that need to be paid from the billing.

LaFeet dosen't want to hear about reality, why waste your time to try to convince him?

The REALITY if the situation is that the cost of doing buisness is 22% to 40% of the workers wage (assuming average bennies).  Anything after that is profit.

[LaFeet]

Gentlemen... I do want to hear what it actually cost to permit me to work at a nuclear plant.  Please feel free tom post the number of postions that is required to allow me to work, the percentages of what pay I support others and the amount of profit that I loose to the company.

I know that I am being payed less than what is billed for me... I just think that there could be an increase in efficiency on the company's part.... one tht would raise the tech's wages and encourage better performance.

Sorry I hit a sore nerve... and yes, I do think I deserve more.  Yes, I agree to work for the wages I sign on for, gladly so.  And yes, I enjoy the work I do.

I do not do all the work, I said we.  I do work hard and give 110 % no matter where I sign on. 

Mr. Bartlett... I still enjoy working for your company, but I honestly think that there should be an increase in the techs wages and that Bartlett could streamline their operation.

[LaFeet]

LaFeet dosen't want to hear about reality, why waste your time to try to convince him?

The REALITY if the situation is that the cost of doing buisness is 22% to 40% of the workers wage (assuming average bennies).  Anything after that is profit.

Prove it to me... and I dont receive any bennies....  I have an open mind and love to learn.  Show me how you operate.

As for reality... Im out here working my a$$ off without any complaints, bitches or moans.  And as long as I enjoy doing this work, I hope to be gainfully employed.

[Roll Tide]

I do not do all the work, I said we.  I do work hard and give 110 % no matter where I sign on. 

Mr. Bartlett... I still enjoy working for your company, but I honestly think that there should be an increase in the techs wages and that Bartlett could streamline their operation.

I hear what you are saying. But read the talk about companies threads: everyone is saying what a great outfit they are for paying via Direct Deposit or how far behind the curve a company is for not having a large enough office / HQ staff to handle such details. Most demand the benefits of a larger company more loudly than they demand the higher pay. That is why I would prefer to work for Bartlett over Joe's Techs (and wonder if my check would clear 2 days after payday).


And even though you give 110%, the utility doesn't! Bartlett can't pay you 110% of what they receive, even though the utility would surely say you are worth it. I doubt Bartlett will give you a higher percentage, when the percieved demand is increasing faster than demand. But if they get a better contract and give you the same percentage, it will feel the same (and there will still be someone at the office to handle your Direct Deposit).

[Rennhack]

Based on 167 hrs worked in 1 month.  My cost to employ you would be:

FICA    277.18
Workman's Compensation    242.00
Medical Insurance    228.96
Holiday    204.00
General Liability     125.00
Medicare    64.82
PPE    39.59
Federal Unemployment    4.67
State Unemployment    2.05

      
Total Cost    1,188.27 / 167 = 7.12/hr
      
29% markup on $24.50+7.12=31.62

With no account for overhead.  I would lose money if I charged $32/hr for you, and paid you $24.50.


Now... If I could get a utility to allow me to pay you $34.50... My costs go down.  Most of the big ticket expenses remain about the same.

[Eric_Bartlett]

Gentlemen... I do want to hear what it actually cost to permit me to work at a nuclear plant.  Please feel free tom post the number of postions that is required to allow me to work, the percentages of what pay I support others and the amount of profit that I loose to the company.

I know that I am being payed less than what is billed for me... I just think that there could be an increase in efficiency on the company's part.... one tht would raise the tech's wages and encourage better performance.

Sorry I hit a sore nerve... and yes, I do think I deserve more.  Yes, I agree to work for the wages I sign on for, gladly so.  And yes, I enjoy the work I do.

I do not do all the work, I said we.  I do work hard and give 110 % no matter where I sign on. 

Mr. Bartlett... I still enjoy working for your company, but I honestly think that there should be an increase in the techs wages and that Bartlett could streamline their operation.

LaFeet - Please don't get me wrong, I was attempting to educate you and others on what it takes - I probably went about it a little to adversarial...anyways take or leave what I have to tell you, it is your choice. 

Most companies Bartlett's size operate with twice the overhead Bartlett has - we have streamlined about as far as one can and still function - for example the biggest complaint I hear out there nowadays is its damned hard to get thru to a recruiter - that's because we are operating with less recruiters than we had in the 90's but staffing almost twice the amount of work - and that's not just tightening up on recruiting but all of the departments here in corporate.  That's one of the main reasons why we were so attractive to our new owners, we did more with less.

Most mark-ups in this industry are as Mike pointed out are anywhere from 22% to 40% based on different variables - for example a solo gig may call for a higher mark-up to justify its worth where as on a multiple person contract the mark-ups are pitifully low so we are not making a whole helluva lot of money off the individual but as a group we turn a profit.  Kinda like asking one person for 10 dollars as compared to asking 10 people for 1 dollar - you get the same amount of money, it just takes allot more people to get you there.  HP and Decon contracts in this industry (commercial) are notoriously low mark-ups.

Anyways getting back to the original question I had asked "what to you is a fair portion 75%, 80%, 90%" I was looking for an answer because right now on the standard outage you are keeping anywhere from 75% to 80% or more of the billing rate.  So for simplicities sake lets say we have a billing rate of 10/hr and you keep 75%, or $7.50.  The other 2.50 now has to cover all of the items Mike listed - FICA. Workman's, Medical, Holidays (the utilities rarely pay holidays on the standard HP outage contract, but they will dictate to us which one we must pay), General Liability. Medicare, PPE. Fed Unemployment, and State Unemployment plus we have to pay the people that hired you, badged you(at most sites), paid your diem(oh and in case you were not aware Perdiem, travel and other misc. expense related items are a direct pass thru meaning we bill what we pay out not more so the only thing we can turn a profit on is the hourly rates), paid your hourly, handled your insurance, billed the utility so we can pay your diem and hourly, typed your resume, etc.. plus we have other expenses such as heat in the winter, computers, phone bills, electric bills, leases , mortgages and or property taxes.  Then we have the non billable people out there that we need to pay such as most admin assistants on site during outages, regional managers that are an integral part of paying homage to clients, some site coordinator slots, etc...  So to look at it in perspective I have 1 person working at Plant X, my markup is going to be high to pay all for that where as I have 75 RP's working an outage my mark-ups are real low because we aren't looking for the gross profit on one tech to pay all of the above and more, we are looking for the combined gross profit on all of the techs to pay all of the above. 

Believe you me when it comes to making more money as an individual I am all for it, as I've said in the past the more I can pay the more you make plus the more I can bill thus the more we make.  Its allot easier to staff a job paying 28/hr and 110/day as compared to 22/hr and 85/day.  I understand where you are coming from on this but until our clients give us a "the sky is the limit" billing rate we are stuck trying to squeeze pennies out of each billable slot in hopes that those pennies add up to dollars.  The day they don't is the day we go under.

Eric

PS I am glad you enjoy working for us and I'm gald that you have asked the questions or made the statements you did.  Keep up the questioning and if i dont know the answer I'll make up a great BS story just kidd'n if i dont have the answere i'm sure someone like Mike, or Biercourt, or one of the many other posters will jump in to explain how things work.

[UncaBuffalo]

Then we have the non billable people out there that we need to pay such as...regional managers that are an integral part of paying homage to clients... 

[rjc4243]

  Very good answer Eric.  There is a lot to run a company that is not seen by everyone.

[alphadude]

beware of people that give 110% , they have low standards..

(hint for resume writers never never use that phrase-we were taught to screen out all the 110% resume people and put them on the other pile..its a flag)

[Camella Black]

I believe you should be able to earn vacation days. Some of us have been employed (as contractors) with Bartlett for 15 - 20 years seems to me that we could earn a paid day off once in a while.

I would also like to see a wage increase put into affect - even $1.00 an hour would be a start.

[RDTroja]

beware of people that give 110% , they have low standards..

(hint for resume writers never never use that phrase-we were taught to screen out all the 110% resume people and put them on the other pile..its a flag)

I have always had a major problem with the 'giving 110%' bit, too. In addition to being impossible, it is trite and more than a little arrogant.

[Brett LaVigne]

Where pay is concerned, I get the argument for overhead, comp insurance etc. I don't disagree with Eric's answer for where the money goes and I commend you for having the backbone to routinely get on these forums and enlighten us. I believe it to be honest info.

That being said, I think there is an argument to be made for the drastic swing in pay from site to site. Currently I am making within' $3 - $5 of my house tech partners (excluding any benefits) and I am pretty satisfied with that, it seems fair. My next site will be in one of the more expensive areas of the country and I will be making $15/hour less than my house tech partners (again, excluding any benefits). In conversation with a laborer that is working with me at my current site and also going to my next site I found out that I will be making $12/hour less than him (also excluding benefits) and I will also be giving up $1/hour from the last time I was there along with a $1/hour bonus that will not be available this time. I should be spanked for accepting this "deal". It is unfortunate that I need the work right now.

It seems like Big Blue has a significant amount of the commercial work out there and could lean on these plants a bit when contract time is up. How can we really think that we are considered a Professional group when we are treated like this? I know people with no education working in a factory hanging fenders day in and day out that dwarf our income. We travel hundreds of miles from home, provide a "professional" service and carry tremendous responsibility (arguably the most) and make less than a laborer (in some cases).
Why should we have to travel into a new town and look for a shoebox, flea bag motel to stay in because we have to try and save per-diem to make up for pay?

I have been back in this business for a little over a year and many of you will see that I have changed my mind set a bit in the past few months. I still love my job and believe that there are many doing more for less, but I have been educated by observation and conversation over the last year and now realize that we are not being treated fairly when compared to other groups. I don't hold the contract companies soley responsible for this, it is a combination. It is our fault for accepting this, it is the contract companies fault for weak account management, and all of our faults for not considering our selves professionals and demanding that we be treated as such.

Other than that...I still think we should get some company trinkets

[Camella Black]

Regarding company trinkets, I know most of us love them and think we deserve them (heck I don't work for Bartlett but I'd LOVE a jacket); anyway here's my idea why not give them out on a points system.

The more points you earn the next trinket level you go to... I'd even love to see pins and hat pins maybe then we could start a swap... speaking of pins why not honor those that have worked for you faithfully for a set amount of years like 5, 10,....

Idea number two make trinkets a part of the welcoming package, everybody gets some little something...

[SloGlo]

How much of the billing for yur position do you get SloGlo???  Ima kuryus

my lastest hpt position, i grossed 60% of billing rate.

[LaFeet]

LaFeet - Please don’t get me wrong, I was attempting to educate you and others on what it takes - I probably went about it a little to adversarial...anyways take or leave what I have to tell you, it is your choice. 

Believe you me when it comes to making more money as an individual I am all for it, as I’ve said in the past the more I can pay the more you make plus the more I can bill thus the more we make.  Its allot easier to staff a job paying 28/hr and 110/day as compared to 22/hr and 85/day.  I understand where you are coming from on this but until our clients give us a "the sky is the limit" billing rate we are stuck trying to squeeze pennies out of each billable slot in hopes that those pennies add up to dollars.  The day they don’t is the day we go under.

Eric

Eric, thanks for the response.
As for a percentage of what I would feel is fair.... I would have to see the actual numbers.

I am willing to take home less when the margin between billing and profit is less say when there is only 5 dollars per hour to support the remainder of the company.  But when there is a greater margin, lets see more go into the techs paycheck as well. Again, I would like to see the actual numbers. But I know that that will never happen.

I know that there is a great amount of support that requires money to maintain, and I am  thankfull for that being there.  I, unlike many, do not need direct deposit, medical or dental insurance, or a number of other amenitites.  And while it may have seemed that I was complaining at first, I am not.


As for all the 110 % comments.... arrogant - yes, but those that have worked with me know my work ethics.  Keep me busy or send me home. I hope that I never dissappoint those people that I work for....it would be a massive failing on my part.

Good luck to all and hope to see you down the road

[SloGlo]

$5 after wages to support da resta da company?  whoinell due you no who wood werk four dat?  pleez, run yer numbers hear two show how dats worthwile fer any group uv peepal. 

[rocknrollrick]

Ok let me jump in on this one for a minute. Let's face the facts everyone wants a pay increase. What is the number one thing that goes up for us on the road and everyone else the cost! inflation!! You guys are missing the point, PERDIEM!!! It's the only direct pass through, costs Bartlett nothing other than check processing fees and it's a write off for the utilities. We still get well under the Federal Government rate at most sites. Utilities! want to staff your outage fast and with the creme off the crop pay $150.00 a day and see what happen's.  Let's face we should be payed like any other skilled trade at a site but until that day, give me cold hard cash, green backs It would be nice to stay at a 5 star hotel without chewing up your whole per diem check. After all utilities pay USA tech's Federal Rate of Per Dieum