Re: Piece work vs. hourly wage
In a small company, you might be able to make it work. In the medium sized company I'm in, it's tricky because it's hard to get the guy who roughed it back into the same house to trim it. That is really the only fair way for it to work, because of the variables mentioned above.
For it to work well:
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- <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The guy who roughed it trims it. Any mistakes he makes he's paying for, not you.</font>
- <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The smaller the crew the more attractive the pay. More than one guy on piecework is trickier for them to make cash.</font>
- <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The pace of the job must not overwhelm the crew. I have a buddy at work that was working over 80 hours a weeks to try to stay on schedule, with 2500 sq.ft. houses every week to rough and trim. Introducing people to "help" through a hard time muddies pay schedules like crazy. You'll end up paying more out to avoid hurt feelings.</font>
- <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The pace of the job must keep the crew occupied. I got burned dabbling in piecework, because we'd bang out a small house in a day or two, and the project was caught up for a week. That meant that I worked hourly for three days, and earned no overtime, no matter how late I worked on Friday. That cancelled the extra cash I made doing piecework.</font>
- <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You need to find the right dollar figure per hole, or per square foot. I worked by the hole. When you sign someone into this, be sure to discuss whether you've included the service/panel/odd responsibilities in the dollar per hole, or if these are going to be paid as "three more holes." (I felt as though I stripped panels and services for free, just due to lack of communication, no doubt.)</font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I had a bad experience, so I have a bad view of it. It is nice for EC's, because it locks in your labor costs. Warranty issues are easier to blame on the individual, and there is a clearer responsibility there. Wages become solely based on performance, so the individual is more prone to work more efficiently to make more money.
Personally, it seems pretty tricky to coordinate, IMO. A little imbalance and somebody is unhappy.
My 2?.
[ April 30, 2005, 12:42 AM: Message edited by: georgestolz ]