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When you accept the job, you are entering into an agreement with the employer. That agreement needs to be honored. Make sure you are ready to start working. You need to have transportation to and from work and the required tools and clothes for the job. You will also need a social security (or, in Canada, a social insurance) number. If you don’t already have one, you need one quickly. In the United States, you can apply for a social security number if you are a legal citizen or if you have a nonimmigrant visa status and have permission to work in the United States. To apply for a social security number, you must appear in person at a Social Security office to complete the application form. You must take your birth certificate or valid passport with the necessary cards and authorizations to be employed. Once the forms are completed and submitted, it may take more than 2 weeks for you to receive a card with your number on it. Typically before you begin to work, or at least before you get paid, you will fill out state and federal income tax forms. These forms give the company authorization to deduct income taxes from your wages. When you are an employee for a company, the company must deduct those taxes. One form you will fill out is the employees withholding allowance certificate form, called the W-4. This form tells the employer how much, according to a scale, should be deducted from your pay for taxes. Basically the form asks how many exemptions you would like to claim. What you should claim depends on many things, and it’s best that you seek advice from someone before you fill this in. In fact, do this well before you arrive to fill out the form. Compensation Automotive technicians can be paid in a number of ways. When deciding on whether or not to accept a job, make sure you understand how you will be paid. Keep in mind that the employer agrees to pay you in exchange for your work, the quality of which is unknown before you start to work. When you accept employment, you accept the terms of compensation offered to you. Don’t show up on the first day of work demanding more. After you have started working, progressed on the job, and made the company money, you can ask for more. Hourly Wages -- Most often, new or apprentice technicians are paid a fixed wage for every hour they work. The amount of pay per hour depends on the business, your skill levels, and the work you will be doing. While collecting an hourly wage, you have a chance to learn the trade and the business. Time is usually spent working with a master technician or doing low-skilled jobs. As you learn more and become more productive, you can earn more. Many shops pay a good hourly rate to their productive technicians. Some have bonus plans that allow technicians to make more when they are highly productive. Nearly all ser vice facilities for fleets pay their technicians an hourly wage. Commission -- When technicians are paid on a com mission basis, they receive a minimum hourly wage plus a percentage of what the shop receives from the customers for performing various services. This pay system can work well for technicians who are employed in a shop whose business fluctuates through the year. This system, along with the "flat rate" system, is often referred to as incentive pay systems. Flat Rate -- Flat rate is a pay system in which a technician is paid for the amount of work he or she does. The flat-rate system favors technicians who work in a shop that has a large volume of work. Although this pay plan offers excellent wages, it’s not recommended for new and inexperienced technicians. Every conceivable service to every different model of vehicle has a flat-rate time. These times are assigned by the automobile manufacturers. The times are based on the average time it takes a team of technicians to perform the service on new vehicle models. Flat-rate times --- are listed in a labor guide, which can be a manual or be available on a computer. When you are paid on a flat-rate basis, your pay is based on that time, regardless of how long it took to complete the job. Flat-rate times are also used to determine the amount of money the dealership will receive from the manufacturer for making warranty repairs. To explain how this system works, suppose a technician is paid $19.00 per hour flat rate. If a job has a flat rate time of 3 hours, the technician will be paid $60.00 for the job, regardless of how long it took to complete it. Experienced technicians beat the flat rate time nearly all of the time. Their weekly pay is based on the time "turned in," not on the time spent. If the technician turns in 60 hours of work in a 40 hour workweek, he or she actually earns $23.50 each hour worked. However, if the technician turns in only 33 hours in the 40-hour week, the hourly pay is $13.20. The flat-rate times from the manufacturers are used primarily for warranty repairs. Once a vehicle gets a little older, it takes a little longer to service it. This is because dirt, rust, and other conditions make the services more difficult. Because of this, the flat rate times for older vehicles are longer. Because non-dealership service facilities normally work on "out-of-warranty" vehicles, therefore older vehicles, the flat-rate times are about 20% higher than those used in a dealership. These flat-rate times are given in flat-rate manuals published by Haynes, Chilton, Motor, and Mitchell. At times, a flat-rate technician will be paid for the amount of time spent on the job. This is commonly referred to as "straight" or "clock" time. Straight time is paid when a service procedure is not listed in the flat-rate manual and when the customer's concern requires more than normal diagnostic time. Benefits -- Along with the pay, the employer may offer benefits, sometimes called "fringe benefits." The cost of the benefits may be paid for by the business, or you may need to pay a share or all of the costs. There is no common benefit package for automotive technicians. Common benefits include:
When accepting employment, make sure you understand the benefits and seek help in choosing which you should participate in. Total Earnings -- Depending on the business, you may be paid weekly or twice a month. The total amount of what you earn is called your gross pay. This is not your "take home" or net pay. Your net pay is the result of subtracting all taxes and benefit costs from your gross pay. These deductions may include:
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