# Target Hours



## silverstilts (Oct 15, 2008)

Been a while since there have been any decent threads on this site and possibly because most everything has been covered one way or another . I would like to get some feedback on what all of you out there think or feel on the matter of target hours for employees .... Is it something fair ? Can it be used not only for the benefit of the employer but also to perhaps motivate the employee into production ( that is of coarse if it is a fair & reasonable amount of hours to complete a job and aside from paying footage prices) I would like to hear from both sides of the coin , the employer and employees .... I would especially like to hear from you employees that are members of a union since this was probably where this idea started in the first place perhaps because of the lack of work production , could it be ?


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## rockdaddy (Jul 2, 2009)

7am to 5pm mon - fri. Love it or leave it.


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## Al Taper (Dec 16, 2007)

I know for me the sf price never works out right when I tally the hours. And If I go by hours my price is too high. And I run a one man crew and just get guys when I need them. And I will not hire cheap labor. Iam to much of a control freak on the way it look when I leave..


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## Durabond-Don (Jul 11, 2009)

The jobs I do are bidded on by "man hours" by the company estimators (I think).

They keep preaching man hours, hurry, hurry, hurry. They want the jobs done yesterday but still expect quality.


This job we start 6:30. 10 minute break at 9:30. Clean up for lunch at 11:55. Lunch from 12-12:30. Clean up at end of day at 2:55. Walk off job at 3 sharp. 

No weekends unless they pay time 1/2 for Saturday, double for Sunday.


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## Whitey97 (Jan 27, 2009)

union work sounds better and better everytime you talk about it Don


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## Custom Drywall Svc. (Oct 31, 2008)

I run my guys mostly by piecework.

as far as target hours for salaried employees, which i only have 3 currently, *GENERALLY 7am - 5pm m-f* seems to be it.....but it is flexible, at least the way i run it.

meaning, my foreman for example, i know the SOB goes home as early as maybe 3pm somedays -- doesnt really bother me. because if i need him to work saturday or even a sunday for me, he just does it, period. no questions asked...and nonetheless, he works his azz for me.

its part of the 'unwritten understanding' myself and our few salaried workers have.

other than that, i run outside labor as strictly piecework other than my patchman who is hourly. as of now hes getting roughly 20-25 hrs per week. and is expected to come into the office ready to be deployed onto a job by 8am...

this is generally how we've run our employees for years now.

i used to have hangers hourly....but in my experience, that never (or rarely) works.


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## silverstilts (Oct 15, 2008)

My understanding of target hours were hours allowed to complete a job... Many years ago when i was in the union i had a company start handing out target hours as to how long you had to complete a job... I really didn't have a problem with the hours because I always managed to complete my jobs in a fraction of the hours given , In fact one day I ask the job sup. of the company i worked for if i beat their hours by 10 to whatever hrs would i see the extra hours on my paycheck , you can't imagine the reply , lets just say that he would show up earlier in the day and knowing full well i would leave a little earlier because i still would beat their hours , it was kinda a joke between us , so i did get somewhat of a bonus in a round about way , he didn't really care as long as his company was making money on me , but we always kept that between us..... few years later he called me up one day he was working for another company and i the still the same , asked me if i wanted a side job , you know it was a damn bank a little to big for a side job at the time but he knew how capable i was and said well , just bust your ass a little more .... i still declined . The point of target hours as i see it is many in the trades don't work their full potential so they need someone to tell them Get It Done and this is how long you have... They don't need anyone milking out a job....


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## rckslash2010 (Mar 15, 2009)

That would always get me going when I worked for a union contractor, I would hang 50 to 60 sheets a day to everyone else's 20. I went there to work, not just to collect a paycheck, I guess that's on them and not me. I know who I am. There must have been an unwritten quanta with the 20 sheets. We always herd the phrase over budget. It seemed like everyjob was over budget, then bid a little higher, ha,ha. They must have been doing alright though, they alway have new trucks and Harley's. Must have been making money doing somthing else.


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## rebel20 (Jun 4, 2009)

The problem with the union employees I have seen in today's market is they are getting paid if they do 10 or there supposedly 30 sheets per day.
My opinion, it would be better to put the quota to 50 and whatever they don't get done on company time they should do on there own time this would motivate them a little. To say when I started hanging we were doing it per sqft and my brother would have 15 boards ahead of me. He made me finish everything on my time said if you can't keep up then you get to work while I go to the beach. Needless to say I learned fast. And you can bet when he inspected my work if it wasn't done right I was the one there on saturdays or staying until it was fixed with no pay. 

Rebel


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