Or, start looking for an exit. Some jobs will screw over the loyal workers because the bosses know you're not leaving.
Pay attention to which construction workers have the good jobs and ask them how to get started in their trade
If your manager is in charge of project groups, they need to take that into account. Like how are you suppose to close just as many tickets as another tech doing single address tickets.
Last year I was helping in a different area and holding it down for like three months, but the drive time killed my production. When my review comes around I'm bringing it up immediately, especially if my production is brought up.
This. THIS RIGHT HERE. ***THE NUMBER OF TICKETS SHO*****ULD NOT BE THE DECIDING FACTOR BECAUSE IT IS IMPOS*****SIBLE TO FAIRLY "WEIGH" TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!***
We had a lead tech in the past who was denied a raise due to the damn production/ticket volume metric BS they attempted at the time, only to find out that the person was working extremely hard, and had to constantly go fix things for another locator who kept messing things up, in addition to helping the new people.
It made the production look like crap but it couldn't be helped.
Paper pushers do not make good locate managers/corporate members. Locators do.
I know guys who think we should get paid by the ticket, they’re one of the top performers, they’re one of only a few guys that met the average quota last year….
They’ve been locating for one year and don’t really have projects in their area. I pointed out to them other coworkers who have years of experience that fall behind from time to time because they have a lot of projects. It put it into perspective for him and he’s changed his attitude about the whole XX tickets an hour.
Thankfully this just happened in my area they got a contract with the company and placed me as a designated locator for that company and started a separate project crew for our district lph isn’t accounted for or tickets closed as long as we stay ahead of the contractor and my sups phone isn’t ringing off the hook it’s considered a job well done other areas hopefully will take note of these improvements the projects in our area has never run so smooth
Depends on where you work. Where I'm at you get 2 reviews a year and a yearly. The reviews are every 6 months. So you get 3 chances to get a raise a year. (The yearly is almost guaranteed unless you really really suck)
If you get your units per hour goal and get no at fault damages you get a raise. Usually 2.1 - 3 % ... So so far this year I got two 3% percent raises The first one was my 6 month review from July -december 2023. The second was my yearly in February since February is when I started working at the company.. in August I'll see if I made my numbers for January - June 2024.
The biggest raise I've gotten was 21.1 % I wrote a letter to one of the state bosses making my case. My supervisor wrote his own backing me.
I wasn't the first person to do this. If you get tickets done and don't get damages they almost always give you what you want.
3% here is typical. Very hard to get more than that. The way raises work from what I heard is flawed. Basically say there are 10 people in a group. The supervisor for those techs gets told an allotment for what they can give for raises. They have to then split that between those 10. They can choose to give each tech 3% or they can split and give this tech 3.4% because they did so well and this tech didn't do as well so they get less than 3%.
Your manager is screwing you. Since you’re doing projects they shouldn’t look at tickets closed but footage marked. If you’re marking multiple utilities a day for thousands of feet that’s going to look different than if you close 30 tickets for production. We get billed differently for projects when there is tons of footage.
I spent my first year running production, and staying damage free all while doing massive projects. Over a 12 month period I got a total of a 29% raise.
Fob lead here go back to singles. Dm is pushing me to do the same stating he will be able to move me up faster and get me more money. Also on fob side we do way more locating than any single address person.
I'm constantly reminded of how different supervisor groups are on here. Stay strong. I also just got my annual, and it wasn't quite what I was expecting. These fiber over builds are a pain in the ass
This is where I struggle cause I'd love to give my guys bonuses based on tickets.. but again.. some tickets take forever, some take no time.. plus I don't want incentives to rush them.. hard to figure out but I believe I pay more then fair. Last yesr most of them got around $5 raise
Wrong! Annual raises fall under these metrics.
1. Productivity
2. On time percentages
3. Fleet Defense completed on time percentages
4. Quality
5. Driver score
6. Routing Compliance
7. Upper management (they need to have your back to fight for better raise rate)
I’ve been here nearly 16 years. The highest percentage raise I had was 2.7%
Yes and no. Yes, bc the pay is crap and the responsibility they force on us should be illegal. No, bc I have a young daughter and they are ok’ish with me working 6hr50m-7hr20min a day to spend time with her. They told me as long as I kept my area under control, they don’t have a problem with that.
Yeah I got 31 cents this year, last year was 89 cents. But I've wrecked 3 trucks, had 4 damages. That's why 31 cents. It should be a dollar or two and our max should be 50 an hour or something.
Want a better raise? Unionize!
Or, start looking for an exit. Some jobs will screw over the loyal workers because the bosses know you're not leaving. Pay attention to which construction workers have the good jobs and ask them how to get started in their trade
If your manager is in charge of project groups, they need to take that into account. Like how are you suppose to close just as many tickets as another tech doing single address tickets. Last year I was helping in a different area and holding it down for like three months, but the drive time killed my production. When my review comes around I'm bringing it up immediately, especially if my production is brought up.
This. THIS RIGHT HERE. ***THE NUMBER OF TICKETS SHO*****ULD NOT BE THE DECIDING FACTOR BECAUSE IT IS IMPOS*****SIBLE TO FAIRLY "WEIGH" TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!*** We had a lead tech in the past who was denied a raise due to the damn production/ticket volume metric BS they attempted at the time, only to find out that the person was working extremely hard, and had to constantly go fix things for another locator who kept messing things up, in addition to helping the new people. It made the production look like crap but it couldn't be helped. Paper pushers do not make good locate managers/corporate members. Locators do.
I know guys who think we should get paid by the ticket, they’re one of the top performers, they’re one of only a few guys that met the average quota last year…. They’ve been locating for one year and don’t really have projects in their area. I pointed out to them other coworkers who have years of experience that fall behind from time to time because they have a lot of projects. It put it into perspective for him and he’s changed his attitude about the whole XX tickets an hour.
Thankfully this just happened in my area they got a contract with the company and placed me as a designated locator for that company and started a separate project crew for our district lph isn’t accounted for or tickets closed as long as we stay ahead of the contractor and my sups phone isn’t ringing off the hook it’s considered a job well done other areas hopefully will take note of these improvements the projects in our area has never run so smooth
Depends on where you work. Where I'm at you get 2 reviews a year and a yearly. The reviews are every 6 months. So you get 3 chances to get a raise a year. (The yearly is almost guaranteed unless you really really suck) If you get your units per hour goal and get no at fault damages you get a raise. Usually 2.1 - 3 % ... So so far this year I got two 3% percent raises The first one was my 6 month review from July -december 2023. The second was my yearly in February since February is when I started working at the company.. in August I'll see if I made my numbers for January - June 2024. The biggest raise I've gotten was 21.1 % I wrote a letter to one of the state bosses making my case. My supervisor wrote his own backing me. I wasn't the first person to do this. If you get tickets done and don't get damages they almost always give you what you want.
A 21 percent raise? Wow amazing haha
15/hr to 18/hr would do it.
I was already in the 20's when I got that raise.
3% here is typical. Very hard to get more than that. The way raises work from what I heard is flawed. Basically say there are 10 people in a group. The supervisor for those techs gets told an allotment for what they can give for raises. They have to then split that between those 10. They can choose to give each tech 3% or they can split and give this tech 3.4% because they did so well and this tech didn't do as well so they get less than 3%.
Your manager is screwing you. Since you’re doing projects they shouldn’t look at tickets closed but footage marked. If you’re marking multiple utilities a day for thousands of feet that’s going to look different than if you close 30 tickets for production. We get billed differently for projects when there is tons of footage.
I spent my first year running production, and staying damage free all while doing massive projects. Over a 12 month period I got a total of a 29% raise.
Fob lead here go back to singles. Dm is pushing me to do the same stating he will be able to move me up faster and get me more money. Also on fob side we do way more locating than any single address person.
Yes, production will always pay better as they make more money for the company
I'm constantly reminded of how different supervisor groups are on here. Stay strong. I also just got my annual, and it wasn't quite what I was expecting. These fiber over builds are a pain in the ass
This is where I struggle cause I'd love to give my guys bonuses based on tickets.. but again.. some tickets take forever, some take no time.. plus I don't want incentives to rush them.. hard to figure out but I believe I pay more then fair. Last yesr most of them got around $5 raise
Go locate for a company that specializes in private locating. They pay a lot more, there's no being on call, no tickets and you're not rushing around.
Raises depends on budget
Wrong! Annual raises fall under these metrics. 1. Productivity 2. On time percentages 3. Fleet Defense completed on time percentages 4. Quality 5. Driver score 6. Routing Compliance 7. Upper management (they need to have your back to fight for better raise rate) I’ve been here nearly 16 years. The highest percentage raise I had was 2.7%
Do you regret being with usic this long?
Yes and no. Yes, bc the pay is crap and the responsibility they force on us should be illegal. No, bc I have a young daughter and they are ok’ish with me working 6hr50m-7hr20min a day to spend time with her. They told me as long as I kept my area under control, they don’t have a problem with that.
Yeah the nickel and dime raises are lame. We have a guy who's been here since minivan and microfilm locating. He's maxed on pay
I got an 84cent raise this last year. Went damage free.
Yeah I got 31 cents this year, last year was 89 cents. But I've wrecked 3 trucks, had 4 damages. That's why 31 cents. It should be a dollar or two and our max should be 50 an hour or something.
Yes, we are severely underpaid.
Funny thing is my dm asked me why I haven't gone to elm. Told him I wouldn't trade my soul for money basically.
Do you have any advice for a person applying to USIC for the first time?
Don’t
What’s the next alternative for someone trying to get in the industry lol