What are good employed GSR engineers being paid these days?

[CG44]

I've spent most my 20 year career self employed but for the past few years have been employed as a service and breakdown engineer.

I shut my firm and joined a bigger firm to help kick their service department into shape and get it running slick and efficient - which it is now. Lots of promises have been made and broken in that time by the owner regards pay/bonus/OT/responsibility etc.

I think I'm being sold short for what I do. I take home £20k and have a van + fuel supplied by the firm have to work pretty hard for that - 10+ breakdowns and or services a day all day every day. I'm pretty good at what I do too so they tend to pile the work on thick.

I need to negotiate a better deal or get out of there back into self employment but don't really know what a good GSR engineer earns in employment.

Any thoughts?

 

[Murdoch]

May be you should indicate where in the UK you are............ location matters a LOT

 

[CG44]

Sorry, yes.

We cover North and Mid Wales. All private work for really good quality domestic and light commercial customers

 

[townfanjon]

Sorry I cant speak about any rates in Wales , but a guy like you doing 10 ish jobs a day , should be worth a minimum of 30 k .
Gas board would pay more than that .

Does your boss wear a hat and a cloak , ride a horse and shout “ stand and deliver “

 

[rpm]

Sorry I cant speak about any rates in Wales , but a guy like you doing 10 ish jobs a day , should be worth a minimum of 30 k .
Gas board would pay more than that .

Does your boss wear a hat and a cloak , ride a horse and shout “ stand and deliver “

Take home is £20k plus van & fuel card mate, in Wales.

 

[townfanjon]

Take home is £20k plus van & fuel card mate, in Wales.

And they say us yorkies are tight

 

[CG44]

Sorry I cant speak about any rates in Wales , but a guy like you doing 10 ish jobs a day , should be worth a minimum of 30 k .
Gas board would pay more than that .

Does your boss wear a hat and a cloak , ride a horse and shout “ stand and deliver “

No he drives a spankers M beemer and shouts "just nip here it'll only take 5 minutes do it on your way home. I'll pay you extra (usually £5 or something insignificant)"

£30k was what I thought was reasonable as a basic.

I know my billing is circa £3k a week in labour alone on servicing and even more when mixed with repairs.

Firm is ok to work for to be honest.

 

[Scott_1979]

Jesus that’s some crappy pay. Obviously I can’t speak on the wages for your your area but your getting 20k for this work is shameful imo.

 

[Murdoch]

Jesus that’s some crappy pay. Obviously I can’t speak on the wages for your your area but your getting 20k for this work is shameful imo.

He said £20K take home which is about £26K before tax

 

[Sharp Point]

Firm is ok to work for to be honest.

No it isn’t, it’s basically ripping you off and laughing behind your back. Of course they’re nice to your face and do everything NOT to upset you..... they’re coining it in from your hrs work and loyalty. I’ve similar experience and found that they’ll drop you in a minute, if need be.

Bin them and go elsewhere.

 

[rpm]

PAYE usually works out around 25% of what you are worth to the company so use your 3k week as a starting point.
Just done the maths - good luck getting that though. 😉

 

[CG44]

Jesus that’s some crappy pay. Obviously I can’t speak on the wages for your your area but your getting 20k for this work is shameful imo.

Yeah £26k gross £20k net

Bonuses and OT was promised but never materialised. If you work a weekend you get paid what seems like a random figure that fluctuates on what mood the boss is in.

No it isn’t, it’s basically ripping you off and laughing behind your back. Of course they’re nice to your face and do everything NOT to upset you... they’re coining it in from your hrs work and loyalty. I’ve similar experience and found that they’ll drop you in a minute, if need be.

Bin them and go elsewhere.

Oh I know the owner is a piece of work but the actual work and the lads who work at the firm are good. They've all worked there for 20+ years but wouldn't urinate on the owner of he was on fire.

I don't know how they've stuck around so long. Stockholm syndrome probably..

 

[Chuck]

Oh I know the owner is a piece of work but the actual work and the lads who work at the firm are good. They've all worked there for 20+ years but wouldn't urinate on the owner of he was on fire.

I don't know how they've stuck around so long. Stockholm syndrome probably..

If this is how you perceive your current situation, it is definitely time to be seeking pastures new. Don't bother trying to negotiate a raise, if they had any intention of paying you what you are worth they'd have done so by now.

 

[CG44]

PAYE usually works out around 25% of what you are worth to the company so use your 3k week as a starting point.
Just done the maths - good luck getting that though. 😉

I'd settle at £30k. Gives me some spare cash to reach escape velocity and go self employed again.

I know he'll flip his lid in private if I try and negotiate a raise with him

Last year we pressed for a proper pay review and got 8p an hour and the Christmas party cancelled and the festive bonus slashed from £100 to £30.

I'm really not as big a mug as this makes me sound....lol...

 

[Sharp Point]

The best local firm near us use job rates, which is around £16 an hour.

 

[Gasmk1]

i would be expecting £28,000 to £30,000 plus time and half for any out of hours work unless done on call out basis which would be a negotiated payment.

 

[king of pipes]

I have a relation who runs a boiler maintenance company 8 engineers its been established a good few years now, do all sorts of maintenance and servicing ,domestic and industrial installs 100 plus boilers fitted a year my brothering law works for them as a plumber they are on £33k a year + van and phone . Kop

 

[Mike_1605]

I'm shocked, I earn about 35k basic, 41k or more with standby retainers, commission and overtime (gross). I live in Dorset but work for a national company who pay the same across the country. It sounds like you work bloody hard for not a lot

 

[Mike_1605]

I'm shocked, I earn about 35k basic, 41k or more with standby retainers, commission and overtime (gross). I live in Dorset but work for a national company who pay the same across the country. It sounds like you work bloody hard for not a lot

 

[Pitty]

I’m in the south east and work for a local authority and earn £38k including call out with van, phone , power tools etc.

 

[Captain.rick]

He said £20K take home which is about £26K before tax

Even still £20k take home is pretty poor for your experience and the amount of jobs you get piled on.
Surely self employed you could earn that by working a few days a week?

 

[1Steven]

How many days holiday do you get?
Chap I know still gets the basic after twelve year for the same firm.

 

[rpm]

How many days holiday do you get?
Chap I know still gets the basic after twelve year for the same firm.

And? Thats not unusual.

 

[Murdoch]

Back to the OP ........... when you do your calculations remember employment includes sick and holiday pay, plus a pension ..........and more time for yourself

Being SE takes up a lot of your "spare" time

 

[malx42]

So 25k basic pay with on-costs of NI and pension. Van, fuel, insurance of various types. Then there are premises costs, office staff etc. Perhaps total costs of everything could be £50k a year. Anyone disagree?

Your labour is generating 3k a week, say 45 weeks a year come to £135k, I assume the 3k is before VAT.

And you came in as a consultant to sort things out!

Having worked for yourself you should have some idea of the figures, but perhaps that’s not your strong point so decided to work for someone else.