We have a technician who does great work but we've noticed a suspicious amount of fuel usage on jobs he's working on.  I think the tech is filling up empty chemical jugs with gas and taking home for his personal use.  This technician seems like a likable friendly guy but he also seems like he would take advantage if given the opportunity.  As the owner, how can I control the work that's being done while I'm not present?  For example.. let's say I have a job lined up that's a good 200 miles away..   What's to keep the technician from trading for other jobs while in the area and working on a cash basis to line his pockets while I as the owner am out the expenses such as chemicals, fuel, and equipment overhead?  Anyone else run into this problem and if so, how did you deal with it?

Thanks,

Steve

Hi, Stevareno, your problem doesn't lye with your technician as much as it does with you.All employees will try to take advantage of their employer and vise versa, that's normal human behaviour.

What isn't normal is running a carpet cleaning business with customers 200 miles from home base without at least a secondary home base in that part of town to service customers in that area.

Don't bother looking where all your gas is going, 200 miles plus working time and an additional 200 return drive...................there goes $ 125.00 in gas to do a carpet job.

I hope you're paying your Tech travelling time........or..........WHO'S ROBBING WHO.

                           Nightrider

Nightrider, I appreciate your reply.    Our technician is paid by a percentage of the job.  I only used 200 miles as an example.  There are companies who service corporate accounts all over the country without a home base in every town they work in.   We established percentages with this guy before he began working for us and we were more than fair.. As a matter of fact.. the company he previously worked for paid him percentages on hotel rooms and paid him hourly on public areas.. I personally didn't think this was fair to the technician so we decided to structure the pay based entirely on percentages.  The technician seemed very happy about our decision.  I believe in being honest and upfront and I expect the same of people I deal with.  Frankly, if I were going to pay travel time, I wouldn't have agreed to pay him percentage on the work.  I would have just payed him hourly straight through the job.  I think the main problem with this guy is that he was basically broke when he recently came to us looking for work.  That's still no excuse to lie and use deception for personal financial gain.  It's no different than outright theft.  Is there any trustworthy people left in the world?

Steve 

This particular situation is certainly not a new one by any means and a real solid bottomline answer may never be discovered.

However, I would suggest:

1.  Have your tech write in the time he gets to a job; and when he leaves. (UPS does this with their drivers)

2.  Using mobile phone, call in when he gets to a job; and when he leaves.

I realize things can be fudged here, but it will help keep him/her on their toes. And, really, this policy would be very good for liability reasons (for alot of good reasons too).

Good Fortune;

Ed Valentine

http://www.cross-american.com - www.cross-american.com

Steve, we don't know each other.......... do we.......the answer naturally is NO.

Steve, you did not know your tech either at first.

Trust begins slowly in short baby steps, and as an employer you must always give the benefit of the doubt to your employees.

Within time, theives & liars usually catch themselves and expose their character & colours to who they really are inside as opposed to their outside appearance.

The fact that you knew that there was a possibility of financial difficulties with your tech before hand, attention should have been devoted to that point and perhaps an advancement of pay could have been in order ( sort of like a draw against commission ) providing your company had that privilage.

We are all human,and as humans we take drastic measures when faced with drastic times.

Confront him/her with your concerns and see if things don't turn around in your favour.    Good Luck

                                Nightrider

you should AT LEAST pay a few extra percent for travel time

otherwise I'd be filling jerry cans too

have you checked out the van lately???

might be a mechanical issue,a fuel sensor or something silly will make the van burn more fuel.

tech's are a PITA,my tech has no wheels(it's in the shop) so I've been letting him take the van home otherwise I wind up driving to the other end of town in the morning and back to  pick him up.

but he's a good tech so I put up with it.........................so far

it's tough nowadays to get on your feet when you've been unemployed for any amount of time

You have to answer these simple questions...

does he do good work???

do your customers like him???

does he come to work on time????

does he get every last job done????

is he kind to your equipment???

is his paper work in order???

if all these are yes or at least most of them..... you might need to pay this guy more... or turn a blind eye to the extra gas...

good people are hard to find

All very good points.. We are faily new at using technicians.  We've always been in an owner/operator situation and now we are trying to branch out a little.. I'm probably putting everything under a magnifying glass because I don't want to lose money and I would like to be able to trust the people who are working with us.   Nobody inluding the technician has a problem with the amount of money he's making.  I'm sure he just thought no one would notice.  My business partner is somewhat discouraged by the new technicians actions and he's ready to just go back to doing all the work ourselves and forget about expanding.  I don't necessarily see things that way.  I'm sure everyone who has hired an employee in the past faces these type issues all the time and I'm confident it can be resolved.   The bottom line should be the main focus.  The technician does do exceptional work and he has a professional attitude for the most part.  I just think his personal finance problems are bleeding over into his profession which happens to be my business.  I really am trying to keep an open mind and make it a win/win situation.    Just out of curiousity, what percentage do most of you pay your technicians?

Steve

wow thats a lot 40%.... most techs make 13-24%... thats why they steal..lol

Listen ...no matter how closely you watch them they are still going to steal...

combat the stealing with bonus incentives..... be a nice boss.... it's hard to steal from someone that will bend over backwards for you...

but if your a money grubbing penny watcher...look out you'll get robbed blind

When I was operating my maintenance company the guys were paid 13.15/hour regular maintenance work. ( NO CARPET CLEANING ) and the end of the yearly contract there was a bonus to the employees if the contract was renewed for another year.

Carpet cleaning I paid 60% of the contract if they had their own truckmount. They had to pay their own gas, and purchase the chemicals from me at my cost.

If I supplied the truck I paid 50 % of the contract. They paid their own Gas, minor repairs, upkeep on truckmount ( chemicals from me at cost )

Everybody made money & was happy, there is no need for greed in any business...........pay a man what he's worth and he'll give you an honest days work everyday.

                                Nightrider