Technician negligence/mistakes

[Fixedopsmgr]

Just wondering what policies you may have in effect for technician damages. I do understand that mistakes can happen, but we seem to have more than our share. Yesterday had a tech that put a screw through a roof when reinstalling a headliner. I call it negligence and he calls it an accident. I am getting tired of paying for it all and would like to have them participate in the cost. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

[robc]

First I'd just make sure of the local regulations for charging employees for mistakes. Almost every case I've seen where a tech brings it before labor board the dealership loses because you normally can't just make the rule for the techs. I mean what is worse, a tech putting a screw through the roof or a parts manager accidentally ordering a $2,000 non-returnable part that will be in inventory for the next five years. Everyone makes mistakes and if you have a policy of people paying for it then it needs to be uniform SAs, porters, techs, everyone.

Second, how hard is it to find techs in your area? My guts always tells me that this is more of a thing to fire someone over, not recover the costs. Use standard written notice policies for your shop and then just them go after three or four problems. (My policy was if the damage cost the shop more than $100 then it was a write-up - not including the tech's donated time if he could right the wrong.) I could also use the write-ups to deny raises or merit promotions.

Last, I always tried to consider the infraction on its own. Like your example, every tech in the world knows you have to be extremely careful around headliners and the roof, so what caused this mistake. Did he mix up the screw lengths and put the wrong one in? Then that's careless, dismissible behavior. If there really was something that was unusually tricky about the installation then maybe Id be more understanding.

In the end, I try to remember that this is a dangerous profession and environment. If someone is careless then how long before they are cutting off an exhaust pipe with a torch and hack right into the gas tank. I only had to fire a tech once for being overly careless and looking back I believe cross-thread Jack as he was known in town, could have messed up a junk yard. Even though hed been turning wrenches for 18 years he was suited for the job.


------------------
** Rob, Editor Dealersedge/WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

P.s. Whoops ... in the interest of full disclosure let me say I've personally shut more bay doors on cars, broken off several antennas and popped three tires on the edge of a hoist - including one on my own vehicle, so I know mistakes happen.

[This message has been edited by robc (edited 07-14-2004).]

[Doug]

We fight the same issues and, as a matter of fact, my shop foreman and I are working up some guidelines to address the issue. Well, actually, our problem isn't so much an issue of "mistakes". No, we are battling a rash of plain old sloppy workmanship problems from a number of our guys and are trying to devise a system to (god forbid) actually hold them accountable for their actions.

But, getting back to accidental damage, I think one of the key considerations would be "how often are careless mistakes made by the *same* person?".

Anyhow, Rob is right...be very cautious in this area, as sometimes "policies" can bite you on the backsides.

Good luck and please let us know if you can find a magic wand to wave over this problem.

Cheers
Doug

[fburrows]

You have to deal with a bad employee one on one.

This is a tough nut to crack but here is a suggestion. Lets suppose you are currently spending $1500 a month for careless incidents or extra sloppy stuff in the shop. How about giving the responsible techs a $300 bonus if the monthly policy drops under $500. You could distribute it as a bonus, spend it on a lunch, raffle off a TV or let it accumulate into a fund that they decide how to spend. It will focus attention on the problem and get people thinking about it. If it does not go below $500 it does not cost anything.

Peer pressure maybe more powerful than threats from management.


------------------
Frank Burrows ABS
fburrows@absdata.com

[Doug]

Well, I shoulda known better than to tempt fate by opening my big blazooo.

Got a call this morning.....

One of our lube guys left a radiator cap off a car and 70 miles later the customer was stuck by the side of the road. Smoked the heads off a 2003 Subaru.



DD

[PucHed]

Without knowing the legal consequences in your area, I don't believe that this can be compared to ordering wrong parts, unless the wrong part does actual damage to a vehicle. Having said that, find out what the policy is in your company for a porter damaging a lot vehicle by negligence.

I believe you can have a written policy stating that all negligent (accident, mistake....whatever you want to call it) will be recorded. If any individual employee has more than a set amount of incidents in whatever timeframe (2 per month, 3 per quarter, 5 per year, whatever) they will have to participate in the repair. I would average all the damage and charge that person whatever the average comes up to. That way they don't get three $20 repairs, then have to pay a $500 mistake, and vice versa, they don't stick you with three $500 repairs, then havfe a $20 repair his responsibility.

[AJHORNE]

I HAVE A BAD PROBLEM IN MY STORE WITH THIS. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY MONTH I HAVE A DIFFERENT TECH MAKE A COSTLY MISTAKE. I HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT YET. WE HAVE 4 MANAGERS AND A FOM ON IT AND CAN'T SEEM TO GET A GRIP. WHEN DOES THE TECHS ACCOUNTABLITY TAKE OVER FROM THE DEALERSHIP?

------------------
ANDY H

[mcford]

It may vary from state to state, but I know that in NY you cannot dock wages for anything, repeat, anything that does not benefit the employee. Having the employee sign an agreement to the contrary means absolutely nothing. You can fire them for creating damage or loss, but you cannot deduct the damage from their pay for any reason whatsoever, no matter how blatant, careless or even malicious the act might be, the labor law does not allow you to withhold wages. You can sue them for damages, but you cannot take it out of their pay. This holds true for jobs where money is handled as well. If a cash register comes up short, the law does not allow the shortage to be taken from pay. I repeat that the law does allow you to fire the person and that is why employees do not complain when wages are docked, but a complaint to the Labor Board will side with the employee every time, its the law. This law is broken every day by employers and they get away with it because people want to keep their jobs.

------------------
McFord

[Mike Vogel]

Even if the law would allow for a tech to be charged back I think that misses the point. If you have a technician that is making mistakes on a regular basis that person should be written up & warned that unless immediate improvement occurs they could be terminated.
This shows you have given the tech a chance to improve themselves while documenting the problem. After that with no improvement the tech needs to be shown their way out the door !
Once management has shown the rest of the techs that they mean business, any other problem techs will either improve or also be shown their way out.