Wages and bonuses based on surface area machined

Hey all, I've been working at this small manufacturing shop for almost 2 years and over that time, I've gone from money in the bank to timing my bills and stretching about everything to the breaking point. I asked for a raise a while ago and the boss said I was well worth it and had already been figured into my next paycheck. Then he comes to me today and says, "We talked it over and instead of going up to the number you'd mentioned, we'd give you a bonus of some sort of bonus each month for total area machined." That kind of left me wondering, what about if the machine breaks down and I can't get anything machined for a while, or like a few months ago when they sent some parts to be machined and I was left with my hands in my pockets. He mentioned they'd heard of other companies doing this and I was wondering if any of you have had this before and how it normally works out. Let me know what you think.

That sounds ridiculous.

Then they'll give you all the small detailed parts.

Sounds like he just plain don't have the money, so it's an easy way for him to say you didn't meet whatever goal to get a bonus.
If someone tried this kinda goofy shit on me, I'd start looking for another job.
It's not gonna get better.

never heard of a scheme like this- my response would be:

"oh, you need it decked down 1"? I'll do it in .010 d.o.c. increments, that's a hundred times the surface area......"

I'm not entirely sure how long I'd stick it out at a job that saw my bank account decreasing every month...

Run away, go find somewhere else to work..

Years ago I had a neighbor ( a kid in college ) who was an auto mechanic, anyway he was getting 2% of what he "sold"...

So think about this, after I broke it down to hours worked etc, he was getting fucked financially..

Same concept with area machined.....

My "Spidey Sense" says you are about to get ASS RAPED!!!

It all depends on the intentions of your boss. Especially since it's a small company, it's absolutely crucial that EVERYONE work fast and do a good job, otherwise the company struggles (assuming there's enough work that is). I've struggled with this before, as I have several employees who are great at what they do, but sometimes just need a little motivation to get them to move quickly enough to be productive. I tried that before, giving a base hourly pay, then giving a small bonus per part completed. I thought it would motivate them to get more done quicker. Pretty much had two results: Lots of wasted parts since they rushed through them and did them wrong, or no improvement in pace at all (still couldn't get them motivated).

I'm guessing your boss likes you, sounds like you do a great job for him, but he doesn't want to just give you a raise then have you start slacking. Or maybe you're one of those guys that needs some extra motivation every now and then, in which case he's hoping to decrease that and increase your efficiency. Bonuses like that just don't work though. While they MIGHT work for some, for most they just won't work at all, or they only work for a little while until the employee loses motivation again.

I don't really have any advice on how to address your boss about it though. He probably thinks you're thrilled with the idea. I guess what you should look at is to see if the bonus would be equal to, or greater than the additional amount you would be making with your raise, based on your AVERAGE surface area machined if you can estimate it. Your boss has probably already calculated your average surface area machined and set the bonus to be just a little lower, or right at what the raise would give you.

so if you're kicking back in a lawn chair whilst facing off wing skins, you're worth more than if you're thread milling Inconel castings?

I think your next "Bonus" is going to involve swamp land.

Just to clarify, you're still getting paid your normal hourly rate, it would just be an added bonus, instead of the raise, correct?

I've heard of piece rate and anything over rate there is some sort of monetary incentive to produce more than rate. But no this is the first time I have heard of anything like this.

Does this only apply to you or everyone in the shop?

Brent

He said "area" machined, not volume... So lots of light passes with a big facemill should earn a nice bonus!

With some skills with two years you should be making $15 an hour IMHO looking for perhaps $20 + at four years and top rate of perhaps $24 Down the road...Some shops just can't afford better because of the area, their work or how they run things.
Still you should be the best worker and deserve a good letter so you might apply for the better shop.
Be thankful for a job even if you are only making the good letter.

Just loading parts into a machine then don't expect much.. you need to learn some talents to be worth big bucks. Big bucks may be $35 to $45 but you need to be worth it.

Ask for a reasonable raise and trim your spending.

If this is a bonus, over top of your hourly rate, then it's a bonus...see how it plays out. If you aren't happy with the results, then renegotiate.

If you are standing around with your hands in your pockets, it's hard to justify a bonus for those hours. Be happy they didn't lay you off.

If it's just slow...again, be happy you aren't laid off.

But take the bonus, see how it plays out....or, negotiate the bonus for six months with the average hourly bonus rate being a raise after six months.

Ultimately though, this sounds like you asked for a raise, and are getting something...whether it's what you want, it's hard to say.

michiganbuck said:

Some shops just can't afford better because of the area, their work or how they run things.

Click to expand...

This.

Don't take your rate of pay as a valueation of your skills...just what you are compensated.

Says you're "well worth it" then comes back with some stupid hair-brained idea?

1- You're dumb, misunderstood, or lying...

2- .1% chance he's for real, has honest intentions, money in the bank, honestly intends to pay you, and most importantly - you actually get paid. Again, .1% chance...

3- 99.9% chance he's an ass of the stinkiest kind. Agrees with you to keep you appeased, then dazzles you with a trick (some hair-brained BS idea) while reaching around to, well, use your imagination... Z as in Zero% chance you'll ever see this "bonus."

I'd put my money on #3 - Run to find a better job. And when you give him your 2-week notice, may a giant asteroid fall out of the sky and crush you, if you agree to stay for his offer to match their offer...

RustyRedneck said:

Hey all, I've been working at this small manufacturing shop for almost 2 years and over that time, I've gone from money in the bank to timing my bills and stretching about everything to the breaking point.

Click to expand...

Without getting too personal, did you start out with money in the bank before taking this job and you've been whittling down your savings? Were future wage increases discussed when you took the job?

Or were the wages meeting your needs for the first year or so then your financial "needs" or debt service load has increased? There's not enough information to judge, but if you're already making a competitive wage but being irresponsible with money, why would your employer have any reason to pay you more?

Any time in the past that my income has been reduced, I've always found ways to reduce my spending. Likewise when I'm "rolling in it" (yeah, right) I tend to purchase more "toys" and go out and spend more money. At the same time, also saving more of it for a rainy day.

Live within your means and you'll find your wages mean a lot less.

So, just to clarify some more, I had money in the bank and it has been slowly dwindling away since I started working here. I've cut my expenses as much as I can. I haven't been throwing away my money. For the last few months I wouldn't have been able to get back and forth to work without selling some of my stuff. I'm a car and tractor collector. It's my passion and my life. I'm not married, I don't have kids. I'm not looking to change my life style. I don't have money to do restorations or build hot rods in my spare time and I don't expect to as I haven't been here long but spending an average of $100 a month to try to keep m stuff running, I think I'm doing pretty good. Now, I did get a raise, not much but it's a raise. I also asked them to increase my Withholding because I had to pay in a lot to the IRS this tax season. I'm guessing that's why they gave me a raise, because it would have drawn me down too low just to do that. I'm thinking for the bonus they were talking about finished surface area of the completed part. Bigger parts being worth more. That's fine until they put on the little parts that take a long time. I am the only person this applies to in this shop but then I'm the only machinist. If I decided to leave and go work for a company 20 miles closer to me which the owner of has already offered me a job, they'd be out in the cold. None of them know how to run my machine or write programs. I'd like to be able to at least live reasonably and not have to worry about it.

See if you can get a bonus for working whenever the moon is in one of its phases. Makes about as much sense.

RustyRedneck said:

Hey all, I've been working at this small manufacturing shop for almost 2 years and over that time, I've gone from money in the bank to timing my bills and stretching about everything to the breaking point. I asked for a raise a while ago and the boss said I was well worth it and had already been figured into my next paycheck. Then he comes to me today and says, "We talked it over and instead of going up to the number you'd mentioned, we'd give you a bonus of some sort of bonus each month for total area machined." That kind of left me wondering, what about if the machine breaks down and I can't get anything machined for a while, or like a few months ago when they sent some parts to be machined and I was left with my hands in my pockets. He mentioned they'd heard of other companies doing this and I was wondering if any of you have had this before and how it normally works out. Let me know what you think.

Click to expand...

.
.
look for another job. if you see a better one then go for it. many, many businesses do not care about employees, whats fair or any other stuff like that. they only look at one thing amount of employees leaving or quitting and if they want to stop their employees leaving they raise pay. bottom line thats it.
.
a top machinist running a precision finisher cnc mill to tight .0003" tolerances does not remove much but its actually the toughest work to do.
.
many places to be appreciated you have to leave and they see others are not only not better but are worse at the job.