Feedback required THE WEEKEND PLUMBER

derrick

susieb1967 wrote:

This gave me a wry smile....... would most people who work at the weekend/ shift work not expect a little extra in their pay packet?

Plumb1 is not doing extra hours,(as I said in my post), he is doing less to suit his life style,(read my post again).
People who work shifts or do extra at weekends are doing MORE than their contracted hours and deserve the extra money,(to do less,even at weekend,own choice, and then want to charge a premium is taking the p***s) or they could always turn it down

BobProperty wrote:

I always enjoy posts like this, as I somehow get the feeling that the people who post them have never worked for themselves.
Could you define "overtime", please?
Could you also post what you think is a reasonable rate, an expensive rate (without it being a rip-off), and a "rip-off" rate?

I can't see what working for yourself matters in this instance, as far as I know most one man bands do not charge for normal after hours work as they are gratefull for the work and accept it as part of their job, at least that has been my experience, Employees in supermarkets work Sat/Sun, and probably get paid a premium for it, but it will be in their contract, and yes I know you will make a contract with Plumb1 if you choose him, but I would not choose someone who is doing less hours yet charging a premium, that is unfair.
If anyone wants to market themselves as only working 3 days per week,( irrespective of what those days are),they should not be charging a premium.

Overtime depends on your contract,(employed people), but is "normally" 40 hours,(EU directive is 38,I think),Plumb1 is not doing overtime, he is doing less hours and wants to charge a premium? that is not how it works.
Rates are not very easy to define as they will depend where you are in the Country, who is doing the job and how good at it they are

BobProperty

derrick wrote:

.....I can't see what working for yourself matters in this instance, as far as I know most one man bands do not charge for normal after hours work as they are gratefull for the work and accept it as part of their job, at least that has been my experience,

You must know so desperate SE people then, most people I know would either charge extra for out of hours work or turn it down.

derrick wrote:

.....but I would not choose someone who is doing less hours yet charging a premium, that is unfair.....

You didn't answer my question. What is a premium rate? Until you can tell me what a premium rate is, how can you tell whether plumb1 (or anyone else's rate) is at a premium?

derrick wrote:

If anyone wants to market themselves as only working 3 days per week,( irrespective of what those days are),they should not be charging a premium.

Why not if they can get the work? (whatever "a premium" is, of course)

derrick wrote:

Overtime depends on your contract,(employed people), but is "normally" 40 hours,(EU directive is 38,I think),Plumb1 is not doing overtime, he is doing less hours and wants to charge a premium? that is not how it works.

It's not how what works?

derrick wrote:

Rates are not very easy to define as they will depend where you are in the Country, who is doing the job and how good at it they are

So how can you tell what a premium rate is? You're very busy saying you shouldn't pay a premium to someone in these circumstances, but you can't define it.
(Oh and rate isn't connected to how good you are, but that's another discussion)

WestonDave

I think there would be a demand for weekend work, and possibly a premium for it. People are effectively saving by not having to use an expensive leave day for a couple of hours plumbing work. That said the market is probably only there for small jobs.

I've just booked a plumber for 3 small jobs - probable time to complete - half a day. As it happens he can do it on one of my wifes non working days so no issue. However had this happened before she went part time I'd be faced with one of us taking a days leave for this rather than something I'd enjoy. I'd therefore probably easily pay a bit more rather than have to have one less day out as a family.

Rates will be a tough one - it'll be a bit of a case of suck it and see what the market will take.

The other option which occurred to me was maybe to team up with another local small plumber (or even a number of them) and take their out of hours work as referrals.

Good luck anyway!

alanobrien

[QUOTE....... would most people who work at the weekend/ shift work not expect a little extra in their pay packet?
Good Luck[/QUOTE]

Indeed they would and do. 20% or more shift premium is not that uncommon in industry. Expecting self employed people to charge any less for unsociable working hours is unrealistic imho even allowing for market forces.

mpython

another suggestion or two:---

"SAS plumbing"? (Saturday & Sunday!)

"SR Plumbing" (Semi retired. Meaning you've loads of experience but don't do silly hours any more)

"Time to suit"

"Time saving"

susieb1967

derrick wrote:

Plumb1 is not doing extra hours,(as I said in my post), he is doing less to suit his life style,(read my post again).
People who work shifts or do extra at weekends are doing MORE than their contracted hours and deserve the extra money,(to do less,even at weekend,own choice, and then want to charge a premium is taking the p***s) or they could always turn it down
At the risk of getting into a long and tedious debate Derrick, I think you need to read MY post! I never mentioned extra hours, merely that Plumb1 is to work the weekend and yes he should charge extra for doing so as there is not many jobs out there where you don't get paid extra for doing UNSOCIABLE hours.
Plumb1 is not working extra hours, on this I agree, but he is working hours that no one else likes doing.
I think people ringing plumb1 will realise that they will have to pay a little extra for the weekend service and will certainly not feel ripped off!.

plumb1_2

Thanks for all the post's good and bad;)

I would be only charging 20% extra as a premium for the Sat/Sun
And i intend to work 10 hrs a day if possible over the 3 day period, and any emergency calls that my come.
Plus on the other days, visit customers to give Free Quotes

Good advice from WestonDave about teaming up with other plumbers to do their out of hours work.

never_enough

A premium would be money well spent, rather than waste a days holiday (especially when they sometimes don't even turn up). :mad:

Am having a terrible time trying to get a quote from a plumber at the mo, so I'd be grateful for one on any day of the week at any time of the day, but ordinarily a weekend service would be great. Sorry that sounds a bit carry-on, but I can't think how else to phrase it! :rolleyes:

derrick

BobProperty wrote:

You must know so desperate SE people then, most people I know would either charge extra for out of hours work or turn it down.

And you must know a lot of rip off merchants, although this post is not related to out of hours, it is doing less hours for more money,(the premium).


You didn't answer my question. What is a premium rate? Until you can tell me what a premium rate is, how can you tell whether plumb1 (or anyone else's rate) is at a premium?

You cannot state the premium rate until you know the normal rate, but is usually 1½ the normal for Saturday ad 2 times for Sunday, but lets not forget these are for additional hours, the OP is NOT doing additional hours, and will have a "normal rate"

Why not if they can get the work? (whatever "a premium" is, of course)

OK if they can get the work, but in my opinion it is a rip off, less hours ,more money.

It's not how what works?

Read again, you work X hours, then get paid a premium for extra hours, not do less hours and get the premium, that is "not how it works".


So how can you tell what a premium rate is? You're very busy saying you shouldn't pay a premium to someone in these circumstances, but you can't define it.

Have explained that above

(Oh and rate isn't connected to how good you are, but that's another discussion)

Of course it is, I would pay more for some one to do a good job first time round than a cheaper price for some one who does not do it right and has to keep coming back, and there are a lot of them out there, just watch Watchdog.

.........................

derrick

OK lets go with the OP and lets pay extra every time we go to the supermarket, use a bus, get our post delivered and any other shopping/service done at weekend! What about garden centres, DIY places, should they charge a premium for weekend? would you pay it? I doubt it, and a lot of those workers are weekend employees.
That would not work because people would not pay it, the extra is factored into the rate we pay for these services.
Yes there are times when overtime, (premium), is paid, but that is after your normal hours, the OP wants to reduce his hours and expect his customers to pay for it, he wants to work weekend only but charge a premium for what other people would charge the premium after they had done 40? hours.
If you work 3 days Mon-Fri you get 3 days pay/rate at your normal, now if you choose to only work 3 days but choose Sat/Sun as 2 of those days, it is my opinion that you should still charge your normal rate, as a premium should be for something you are paying to have an extra to the service, OP is just shifting his working hours and not providing a premium to his services, just adjusting his work/life style and expecting others to fund his self imposed reduction in hours worked.

If some one does a part time job, (and that is what the OP is suggesting), then they do not get premium rates, even when that part time job is done at weekend,(waiters, petrol station attendants etc), why should he?

My post is my opinion,( as everyone on here is entitled to make), and I do not see the point in continuing this argument as I will not convince the people who do not agree with me nor will they convince me that the OP is doing the right thing by ripping off potential customers, I am afraid we will have to agree to disagree.