lunch breaks

[Ian down london way]

Just asked my wife who works full time for a large company. To my surprise, she doesn't get paid for break times.

What if this woman had employed a company to carry out the work and the OP had been employed by them and had to have a break by law?

If you employ someone at an hourly rate, I think its reasonable you get that number of hours. If you employ someone for a job, then breaks are irrelevant. If I employed a gardener, say (who usually work at an hourly rate), from 9:00 -> 12:00, I'd pay three hours. I'd not expect to pay for his 12:00 -> 1:00 lunch break. If I wanted to buy four hours of his time, and pay for them, I'd expect a 4th hour of work (after the lunch break, irrespective how long the lunch is).

 

[marcros]

I think that the bigger picture here is that repeat work is now unlikely and the customer will moan about you trying to charge for your lunch break to friends where you may previously have got a recommendation. Well done on the extra £9 though, you certainly got the better of that deal!

I would only pay for worked hours on an hourly rate. I would expect that the rate would cover downtime for lunch. To be honest, and I can't remember whether you posted that it was a quick sandwich or somebody else, it is more the principle. I would expect to pay for a morning and afternoon coffee break and provide tea/coffee/biscuits as my side of being fair. I would also give you a coffee whilst you wrote out the bill!

I would tend to choose somebody who priced a job rather than an hourly rate, even if I lost out a bit each time. I would also rather be told that there is a minimum charge of half a day or £x so that I can find other bits/save the job until I have more. Fair is fair- I know that tradesmen are not a charity but I don't want to find out too late that fixing a sticking door has cost half a days work when if I had known in advance I could have found some other bits to fill the time I had paid for. I think that everybody wants to get value for money- most people will pay to have a job done properly but don't want to feel short changed- whether they have been or not.

 

[dazzer]

Many years ago I built a staircase for a chap. He seemed like a nice bloke very friendly, I explained that I could either charge him by the day or if he preferred give him a total for the job. He asked me if I could charge him by hour - At first I didn't know what to say but as he seemed like a nice guy so I explained that I didn't normally work like this; but he asked me again so I agreed and he left me to get on the job.

As the job was coming to the end I asked the client if he was happy with the work and he said he was pleased as punch and it was a nice job. I decided that I would work out his bill and then handed him a bill for the hours worked - now the good bit

He went into his study (it was a large very nice house) and emerged 10 minutes later saying my bill was incorrect - I asked him how he had arrived at that conclusion and he pulled out a large pad of paper which had loads of times and comments written on it. According to his sheet he had wrote down every time I went to the van, loaded my tools, unloaded my tools, suppliers, toilet, cups of tea (he supplied), Tidied up, sharpened a tool, picked my nose or arse etc etc The Wa***r had been timing me all the time I had been at the job, it was like I was working for a time study place

At this point I hadn't tided up and I still had tools in the house and was now getting seriously p*****d off. I explained that I didn't work to his sheet and that I normally charged by the job or by the day and it was only because he had pestered me to work by the minute! He had the figure down to the nearest pence! I was a bit gob smacked to say the least. I was given the money I then put all my tools in the van and left all the remaining crap where it was. He then asked me if I would be interested in laying some parquet floors for him in a couple of his rooms, I thought about saying no but had a re-think and said yes. He asked if I would do the worked payed by the hour and I said yes fine.

So you don't think I'm crazy or lost the plot, I turn up for the job a few months later and then spend a lovely couple of months doing the floors By then my hourly rate had gone up quite a bit as well as I explained to the chap I had to revise my rates due to other factors :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Karma always readdresses the balance of nature

 

[Lons]

I think that the bigger picture here is that repeat work is now unlikely and the customer will moan about you trying to charge for your lunch break to friends where you may previously have got a recommendation. Well done on the extra £9 though, you certainly got the better of that deal!

I would only pay for worked hours on an hourly rate. I would expect that the rate would cover downtime for lunch. To be honest, and I can't remember whether you posted that it was a quick sandwich or somebody else, it is more the principle. I would expect to pay for a morning and afternoon coffee break and provide tea/coffee/biscuits as my side of being fair. I would also give you a coffee whilst you wrote out the bill!

I would tend to choose somebody who priced a job rather than an hourly rate, even if I lost out a bit each time. I would also rather be told that there is a minimum charge of half a day or £x so that I can find other bits/save the job until I have more. Fair is fair- I know that tradesmen are not a charity but I don't want to find out too late that fixing a sticking door has cost half a days work when if I had known in advance I could have found some other bits to fill the time I had paid for. I think that everybody wants to get value for money- most people will pay to have a job done properly but don't want to feel short changed- whether they have been or not.

Absolutely spot on Marcros =D> The argument from both sides.

As a tradesman, I need to cover my costs and make a decent living otherwise I might as well join the benefits queue. A reasonable profit is part of that and not a dirty word to anyone who can see past the end of his nose.
One of my main objectives is to be as fair as possible whilst doing the best job I can and building a relationship with my customers in order to get repeat business and valuable referals. If the job or the person doesn't feel right, I turn it down as invariably it will go bad and can easily ruin a hard earned reputation.

As a consumer, I am the same as everyone else and would love a mini for the price of a RR but know that in the main I get what I pay for. Unfortunately there will always be people who want to screw you and the secret is to go with your gut but if caught, learn the lessons.

I turn up for the job a few months later and then spend a lovely couple of months doing the floors By then my hourly rate had gone up quite a bit as well as I explained to the chap I had to revise my rates due to other factors

Personally, I wouldn't have gone back to that guy Dazzer as all it does is give him cause to bad mouth you to all and sundry and a bad reputation whether justified or not can tend to stick.

Most of us have done work we regret. I've recently replaced 2 sets of double doors on a church. No problem with the actual job and I'm happy with the result but the interference by the "churchgoers" whilst working was extremely irritating and of course everyone is a critic. The church commitee is anxious that I do some other jobs but I've turned it down flat and explained my reasons - life is too short ( I might not get to heaven now of course :wink: )

Bob

 

[sawdust1]

Hi all thanks for all the replies, 2 pages wow, it seems when it comes to work and customer relationships we all have our different work ethics, (if thats the right word). Thats the way i work and have done for 25 years as a self employed tradesman, with more work at the moment than i can fit in so i can't be doing to bad. By the way the customer in question has given me lots more work, so its fine. I was just interested to know how other tradesmen treated lunch breaks.

 

[Benchwayze]

Every job I ever had, I was at the workplace for eight hours, and that's what I was paid for. any extra hours were overtime. The only unpaid time was getting there and getting home. Which is something I believe should be included in the eight hours. (That is if you are cheeky, like me!) :mrgreen: