overtime rate

[murdock]

firstly this is how i have been doing it since year dot.

if my rate if R100...you call me on my cel and say you want work done...no problem i do the job...i invoice you R100 plus vat if vat registered.

here the question...if you work on a weekend saturday and sunday...what rate do you charge?

my rate during the week R100 (just using this figue as an example)
so if you want me to work on the weekend...i charge R150 per hour for saturday and R200 per hour for sunday.

but this is the issue i have been confronted with by one of my customers...

my company hourly rate or day rate is made up of the following

labour cost R50 per hour as a trademan
R20 for pension
R10 medical aid
other fees and over heads which come to my hourly rate.

but now the customer is saying that i dont pay double for my vehicle on sunday nor do i pay double for my pension or my medical aid etc so why do i charge him double my rate...
i should only be charging him double the per hour rate so on sunday it should be
R50 x 2 = R100 for sunday because all the other costs are included in the week day rate...mmmm got me thinking...but what about the hectic tax on overtime rates.

do i want to work for R100 per hour on a sunday rather than enjoying a day on the beach with my family...you know what i told the customer...make it worth my while or enjoy your weekend...see you next week.

what do you as a company charge your customers the trademan per hour rate or double your normal company rate.

[geraldenek]

well i can't really say i charge them more - but my weekend is my weekend don't really work on weekends except if i have a deadline which i did not meet because i was doing other stuff when i had to do their work....

and if for instance if i need to get a plumber over the weekend they are going to charge me more/double the normal rate..... and if i a not prepared to pay this i need to wait till the monday....

At least your clients are aware that you are billing them more.....

[AndyD]

I bill time plus a half weekday evenings before 9pm and Saturday morning. Any other out of hours calls are double time and I charge them home to home. I also have fairly strict rules about giving up my evenings and weekends, I don't do call-outs if they're not regular customers and even then they need to convince me that it can't wait till Monday if they phone me on a Sunday.

I don't do call-outs as a money-making exercise, I'd rather not do them at all but I will do them as aservice to loyal customers albeit somewhat under duress....I value my family time very highly and from experience customers will abuse call-outs if it suits them.

You can't go that granular into the costs of call-outs, there's many hidden costs such as travel times and distances are longer if you're travelling from home and back to home after the call rather than just travelling between jobs as you would during normal working hours.

[murdock]

call out rates during after hours is a diffrent ball game.

what i am trying to work out is if i have a contract which i am working on and we run behind with the project due to unforeseen circumstances...and i run into overtime rates...or i want to finish a project which is 300 km away from home and to stay another day will mean having to stay another night etc etc...

do you charge the over time at the hourly rate or you company rate ...ie if your artisan +labourer is R80 + overheads or do you charge your all inclusive at 1.5 or double lets say your comapnay charges R100 including all the overheads...which dont become double because you are working overtime...but other factors like tax...food etc kick in

[Dave A]

I don't do call-outs as a money-making exercise, I'd rather not do them at all but I will do them as aservice to loyal customers albeit somewhat under duress....I value my family time very highly and from experience customers will abuse call-outs if it suits them.

I'm pretty much the same - except in my case I value my employee's family time

I also wouldn't use the term "somewhat under duress." For us, looking after loyal customers is a pleasure, even if it is after hours on occassion. What we do do, however, is differentiate between an emergency situation (the problem needs attention now and warrants the extra overtime cost), and something that can wait for regular working hours, when it would cost the client less to resolve.

We try to arrive at consensus on the better way to go with the client upfront. Our attitude is if they're prepared to pay the extra anyway even if they don't really need to get it done now - we'll be there for them. Pretty rare that they'll spend the extra if they don't have to, though.

what i am trying to work out is if i have a contract which i am working on and we run behind with the project due to unforeseen circumstances...and i run into overtime rates...or i want to finish a project which is 300 km away from home and to stay another day will mean having to stay another night etc etc...

do you charge the over time at the hourly rate or you company rate ...

We bite the bullet if it's an issue of an hour or two - you'll lose that billable time going back anyway (if we're talking about billable as being on-site time).

In many ways, putting travelling time on the clock is the way to go. It certainly seems to be common practice in the country districts. Not nearly as much in cities though.

[twinscythe12332]

call out rates during after hours is a diffrent ball game.

what i am trying to work out is if i have a contract which i am working on and we run behind with the project due to unforeseen circumstances...and i run into overtime rates...or i want to finish a project which is 300 km away from home and to stay another day will mean having to stay another night etc etc...

do you charge the over time at the hourly rate or you company rate ...ie if your artisan +labourer is R80 + overheads or do you charge your all inclusive at 1.5 or double lets say your comapnay charges R100 including all the overheads...which dont become double because you are working overtime...but other factors like tax...food etc kick in

Weekends are generally seen as personal time. If your "trading hours" are between 07:00 and 17:00, a callout not during those times is a special case. They're not paying the extra for your services... They're paying the extra for your time.
so in your case, They're right in saying your pension and medical aid doesn't double... but your time should.
Another factor is any unexpected overheads that happen... EG, you have to use your private car to do the job instead of your company car.
Overtime becomes tricky if the customer sees it as your fault that you have to work overtime =P
My 2 cents.

[wynn]

on sunday it should be
R50 x 2 = R100 for sunday because all the other costs are included in the week day rate.

Trouble is if you want me after hours? the hourly rate is full rate plus half or double. Otherwise I will see you tomorrow or on Monday!