search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!
Columns

Piecework: A Nightmare Or A Dream Come True?
Paul Ridilla

By Paul Ridilla
November 1, 2006
The negatives are really positives when it comes to offering piecework as an option.



When I recommend using piecework to help with the skilled labor shortage, I'm always amazed at the number of reasons contractors claim it won't work:
    1. Employees are in a hurry to get a lot done but sacrifice quality doing it.

    2. Many employees prefer an hourly wage to guarantee they will get a full paycheck to take home.

    3. Pieceworkers complain when the job is not ready because of poor scheduling or nonperformance by the other involved trades.

    4. Pieceworkers also complain when they don't have enough material or the proper tools to do the job efficiently.

    5. It's too difficult to develop a piecework rate for every task our employees perform that is fair to them and profitable for us.

    6. We waste too much time counting parts and pieces to establish how much to pay each pieceworker.

    7. The government's wage and hour laws require paying time and a half for all hours above 40 in one week. This gets too complicated for our payroll clerk.

    8. We are a signatory union contractor and our work rules prohibit piecework.

I would never recommend something that was not fair to your employees or prohibited for you. All my advice produces the three P's in a Pod - pride, productivity and profit - and attracts those employees who are looking for the best job in town.

The most amazing part of all these negatives is that all of them are actually very positive reasons for using piecework. Let's look at them again:

1. Poor quality. Too many jobsite foremen, unfortunately, do not carefully inspect each craftsman's work at the end of each day. That's why we get poor workmanship and embarrassing punch lists.

Any work that does not stand up to your standard of quality does not get approved as piecework! In addition, any pieceworker must remove and replace any shoddy work at his or her own expense. An hourly worker can remove and replace any nonquality workmanship at your expense.

2. Hourly wage. Some hourly employees want the guarantee of a hourly take-home paycheck. Just think about that. Wouldn't you rather have an employee who knows that the more he or she gets done, the more he or she takes home? You can visit any jobsite and immediately know which employees are pieceworkers and which ones are satisfied with a guaranteed hourly wage. This is true of all trades.

3-4. Pieceworker complaints. Pieceworkers complain when the job is not ready. How can they possibly make a good wage if they cannot work? Shouldn't your project manager or traveling superintendent make certain that the job is ready before he or she schedules your employees to go there, whether they are hourly workers or pieceworkers? Did you ever wonder why your hourly employees never complain when it happens to them?

Pieceworkers also complain when the job is not stocked with adequate materials and the proper tools and equipment. How much could you install if the “stuff” you need is not there? How much do your hourly employees install when they don't have what they need? Don't you ever wonder why they don't complain? Stop and think how much money that costs your company. You definitely should compensate pieceworkers when your inefficiency inter-feres with their take-home pay.

I highly recommend observing how the masonry contractors get all the necessary materials to their masons. They use “tenders” to build safe scaffolding, stock it with ample material within reach of each mason, then move the scaffold and restock it for the next location. Just imagine how much brick a bricklayer could lay if he did not have the help of the tenders. Are your employees not the same?

These are not apprentices doing grunt work. They are skilled laborers or helpers whom we call tenders. (Also, you need to treat your apprentices as interns working with a professional to learn and practice their trade. That truly would be on-the-job training.)

5. Too difficult to establish pieceworker rates. While I don't entirely disagree, you must know how much your labor costs to bid a project; that is called estimating. You can use published estimating manuals, flat rate pricing books, or monitor your own actual labor cost and use cost-coding documentation for specific tasks. You can adjust these piecework prices when they are unfair to your employees or your company's profit picture.

6. Wasted time counting parts and pieces. The response to poor quality in item No. 1 recommended that your foreman or jobsite supervisor should inspect each worker's quality at the end of each day's shift. The same amount of time allows them to count and keep score.

7. Government regulations. U.S. wage and hour laws require time and half for overtime. Keep in mind that piecework is not new or experimental. Millions of contractors in all trades have been using it successfully for years on jobsites, as well as flat rate pricing on service work. The automobile industry also provides piecework opportunities for its mechanics.

Your certified public accountant can give you several feasible options to remain fair to your employees and comply with state and federal regulations.

8. Union contractor. If you are a union contractor whose work rules prohibit piecework, there is a small chance that your good employees can convince your local's elected officials to negotiate a piecework clause into their work rules. Union wages have not kept up with inflation rates, especially for construction materials and home prices.

It's easy to see why I recommend piecework to “make your dreams come true.” Your employees can take home bragging wages that will attract other potential hardworking, skilled craftsmen. You should give every employee the option to do piecework; the ones who resist will join the ranks when they realize how much money your pieceworkers are taking home. This opportunity is especially effective for new help and apprentices.

Always keep in mind that, the more your pieceworkers produce, the more your company profits!

Next month we will expand on the benefits of offering flex-time options to satisfy employees' personal lives and commitments and also attract those good employees you dream about.



Links

  • Contact Plumbing & Mechanical

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Ridilla

Questions? Need help? Call Paul at 407/699-8515, on his cell at 407/467-4916 or e-mail him (reference Plumbing & Mechanical magazine).

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Worker using the Milwaukee Tool SWITCH PACK drain cleaner

    Pipeline profits: Drain cleaning, pipe inspection create opportunities

    Drain cleaning and inspection services offer lucrative...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
  • Uponor employee, Arturo Moreno

    The reinvestment in American manufacturing and training

    Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke and...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster
  • March 2024 Women in Plumbing hero image of woman engineer overlayed by circle of hexagon shapes with numbers from 1 to 10

    Celebrating 10 Influential Women in the Plumbing Industry

    Celebrating Women's History Month and Women in...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
Subscribe For Free!
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine
  • Manage My Preferences

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Plumbing & Mechanical audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Plumbing & Mechanical or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • J.J. Keller CMV vehicles on road
    Sponsored byJ. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

    The dash cam game-changer for small business safety

Popular Stories

The interior of a government building.

President Trump signs executive order promoting skilled trades and apprenticeships

Underfloor heating installation with drain sewer hole in bathroom close up on water floor heating.

Using hydronics to leverage time-of-use electrical rates

Watts Nexa mobile image

Behind the Wall: Where smart plumbing gets smarter

PMCE Home-X April 29 Free Webinar: From Legacy to Leadership: Preparing Your Home Services Business for the Next Generation

Events

November 13, 2024

Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice.

EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Will business be up or down in 2025?

Do you anticipate business in 2025 to be up or down in comparison to 2024?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

The Water Came To A Stop

The Water Came To A Stop

See More Products

Download the FREE Water Conservation, Quality & Safety eBook: Plumbing Trends Increasing Safe Water Availability

×

Keep your content unclogged with our newsletters!

Stay in the know on the latest plumbing & piping industry trends.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
    • Supply House Times
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing