17 hours and counting

One thing I'm learning by talking to in-the-trenches auto techs is
that they are some of the most under-celebrated people out there.
Many of them are really sharp guys with amazing problem solving
abilities, merely one example of which we're talking about here...
and in many settings, they're in the bays 10 or 12 hours a day
pulling $20/hr doing brake jobs and oil changes. This is one
reason I want to help them get to the point where they can confidently
hang that "we fix HYBRIDS!" banner out front at their shop and have
Prius and Civic and Escape and Highlander owners flocking to their
doors. But the other hard lesson I'm learning is that everyone's
so heads-down in their day-to-day, despite all the talk about a
crying need for more good diag technicians, that nobody's buying.
We just tried to pull together a class for the end of this month,
and only 3 people could come up with a firm commitment so we had
to cancel.
.
With all the dealer horror stories going on, including this one,
you'd think that the industry would be over-eager to learn what they
need to and spread the load out a little. Especially in the
northeast, which is overrun with Priuses by now. I would love to
think that all of US here could help, by urging our trusted local
techs toward the right TRAINING on this stuff. There's really not
that much to it, at least as far as knowing how to work on the cars
safely, and if they want to dig in and learn principles behind
motor control, inverters, battery management, etc there are DAYS,
nay, MONTHS, of good learning to be had. With EVs on the horizon,
this stuff is even more important. *I* want to see the industry
succeed on this, but I'm not sure how to bootstrap that process.
.
_H*

 

Well I wish you guys the best in this. If proposed right good things may come.

 

I wish you the best of luck in your proposals, galaxee and DH - it sounds like at least somebody there is on your side. Forgive me for offering unsolicited advice, but I wonder if the dealership owner hasn't already told you what you're worth to him. He's not going to appreciate your good idea nearly as much as the competition, who also gets to steal what's left of the "big man's" service department. Slap me if you think I'm out of line, but I think you're worth more to the competition. Decide where you think you'd like to work the most, and take your proposal there first. Tell them where and how hard you work now, what you're good at, what you can do in your sleep, and how much more money they could make with you and your idea. Then go back to the big guy and see if he'll match the offer. If he does, you've got your choice. If he doesn't, you've got your answer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Mar 23 2007, 07:10 PM) [snapback]411217[/snapback]</div>

I completely agree there Hobbit - there should be more of an industry drive for this sort of training. However, you're working against a severe conflict of interest. Where do these dealers make the most of their money? By nickel and dime-ing you on repair service, or by selling the expensive cars? Currently hybrids are very much in demand, so the dealers are focusing on getting them on and off the lots as quickly as they can. They don't see a need to pay for tech training, have their techs out of the office for days on end for the training, or potentially having to pay them more due to their new expertise.

These dealerships aren't hurting for lack of work - in general, i'll bet their techs have more than enough work to do. Why take on an extra load when you're already at capacity?

Eventually i think we'll reach a tipping point - hybrids will be getting older and older, and thus needing more and more work done on them. With their popularity, conventional cars will decrease while hybrids increase in numbers. eventually the dealerships will start to have an empty bay or two in their shop, and they'll see the intelligence and business desire to have their techs trained on hybrids.

So, Hobbit, i would say your job isn't to convince the techs for the need of this training - it's to convince the dealers. It's a much, much harder job, but we're all pulling for you to succeed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Mar 23 2007, 08:03 PM) [snapback]411342[/snapback]</div>

Best of luck on this. I think that's the right approach to take at first, but it might not be the last step he has to take.

I know how the flat rate system works, and a tech who works hard at repairs can make some serious money with it (my brother has been with VOA for the past 30 years). The problem is that the dealers will try to leverage that system for free supervisory labor.

I think he needs to back up the proposal with a scaling back of the hours he works "for free", so the service writer knows he is serious. The service manager may be "on his side" when he is with him, but also "on managements side" when he is not with him. You might have to have some outside commitments over the next two weeks that he simply cannot miss to help him cause a bit of pain for the manager. Your DH may also have a passion for customer service that makes it very hard for him to walk away and realize a customer will ultimately suffer, but that might be needed to prove his point.

The state Labor Board frowns on misapplications of the "exempt" or "piece work" work rules, and will force the dealership to pay him back overtime under the state's hourly rules if they find in his favor. I suspect your DH would recoil at the thought of suing or going to the labor board, but you should be informed and know your options.

My understanding is that if his job description includes non-piece work duties, i.e., shop supervision, non-flat rate inspections, training of other techs, etc., then they have to pay him for that time. But if his job description does not include those, it might be hard to say that he is compelled to do the "off clock" duties. He may be "filling the gap", but without proof that the dealership expects him to do so, it might be hard to get them to agree to pay him overtime.

Here are some websites I use (in a different industry) for the California laws:

California department of industrial relations: http://www.dir.ca.gov/ The "interpetations" manual is about 2mb and is at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/dlsemanual/dlse%5Fenfcmanual.pdf (see section 49.2.1.2 for specifics on how they should calculate overtime pay if he is due it).

You might ask and see if anyone has any info on it for California at http://www.laborlawtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2 ... I've scanned that forum in the past for opinions on labor laws.

I don't know these folks, but they have an informative website with some info on California law:
http://www.harriskaufman.com/californialaborcommissioner.htm