I want to know how mechanics are paid in an independent auto shop.  Are
they salaried?  Do they make a percentage of the work completed?  I also
want to find compensation information for independent auto shops.  If
the mechanic is paid a percentage, what is the "book" called that tells
shops and mechanics how much to charge for a particular job on a
particular car?

Good Day.

There are a couple payment methods used in auto shops.

In a shop with true mechanics, not just handy men, he would get paid a
set salary per each hour of work completed and billed to the customer.
 For example, Joe gets paid $25/hr for every hour his boss bills the
customer. So if Joe is doing a job that is quoted to the customer at
1-hour labour, and he spends 45 minutes on it, he just got paid $25
for 45 minutes of work.  Of course, the formula works the other way
too, if Joe spends 2 hours on the job, his hourly salary will only be
$12.50 per hour. These types of workers are generally contractors.
They own their tools, and are simply using the company's premises to
fix them. In my area (Winnipeg, MB - Canada) the shop owners I know
get an average of 12+ hours per mechanic.

If a shop has mostly "handymen" (employee) under the supervision of a
true mechanic who does the "tough parts of a job", the workers would
likely get paid a set hourly wage. Of course the workers than are not
very motivated. Slacking off costs the boss and not them. This type of
payment structure is generally found where the company hires employees
vs. contractors.  The company owns the tools and the employees use
them.

As far as I know, there is no book that tells how much to charge for
each job.  There is however a book which will tell you how much a job
will take on a particular car. These books are called Labour Guides.
All things are considered in the better Labour Guides, including
problems arising from rusted bolts on older vehicles, or having to
replace certain parts which will break in the taking apart stages due
to rust for example (street tested). Once you know how much time a job
will take, you can apply your own cost per hour.  This system allows
the book to be used in any place, regardless of the cost of living in
that area. Whether you are in Alaska or Washington, it will take same
amount of time to fix the car, but the hourly rate will be different.

Because of the constant additions of new vehicles, many publishers are
now using software instead of printed media for the Labour Guide.

You can try this software free for 30 days. It includes a Labour
Guide:
http://www.labortimes.com/prod01.htm

For a printed and multimedia Labour guide, visit:
http://www.elaborguide.com/laborguide.htm


Searching the web for "Labour Guide"+"auto" or "Labor Guide"+"auto"
will help you find more manuals (note that the two spellings are
valid: Labour is UK/CA while Labor is US). Hope this helps.

Regards,
Slawek Borkowski

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Request for Answer Clarification by lukengrace-ga on 14 Sep 2002 11:13 PDT

Do you know the terms used for "contractor" or "flat rate" mechanics? 
Are they referred to something particular when say posting a job
listing for one?

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Clarification of Answer by slawek-ga on 14 Sep 2002 11:30 PDT

Hi lukengrace-ga,

I am not sure I understand your inquiry, but if I do the following
should help clarify:

Generally speaking a contractor is paid on a per job basis. Amount of
pay has a direct relation with amount of work completed. Often results
in better quality of service received, but at a higher price.

A flat rate mechanic would be an employee paid by the hour, also
referred to "on salary". Cost for such a worker is usually lower, but
with no other incentives, quality of work might be lower.

I hope this helps. If not, if you could rephrase your comment I will
see what other supplemental information I can deliver.

Regards,
slawek-ga

I think this was a good answer for the type of fuzzy questions I was asking.