Estimate the labor cost of a job from crew size, hours, rates, overtime and travel time.
Wages per worker = regular hours × rate + overtime hours × rate × multiplier + travel hours × rate.
Crew wages = wages per worker × workers.
Total cost = crew wages × (1 + burden ÷ 100).
A three-person painting crew earns $24 an hour, works 16 regular hours and 2 overtime hours each, plus 1.5 paid travel hours. Wages per worker are $384 + $72 + $36 = $492; the crew costs $1,476 in wages and $1,771.20 with a 20% burden.
Use it to quote a job, or after a job to compare estimated and actual hours. Real hours from a time clock make the comparison much more useful than estimates.
Enter your own burden percentage for taxes and benefits. If you do not know it, use the labor burden calculator first.
Two electricians earning an average of $34 an hour wire a small retail fit-out in 30 regular hours each, plus 3 paid hours each driving to the site and the supply house. Set the overtime multiplier to none and the burden to 28%. Wages are $1,122 per worker and $2,244 for the pair, and labor with burden is $2,872.32. Over 66 paid hours that is $43.52 an hour, before materials and overhead.
The average per hour line is labor cost only, so compare it with your billing rate after adding overhead. Every worker gets the same rate and hours, so a crew with an apprentice and a foreman needs a weighted average wage. Overtime appears only if you enter it, and it reflects the crew’s total week, not just this job.
Travel between job sites during the workday is generally work time. Commuting usually is not. Rules vary, so check.
For estimates, past jobs. For actuals, time records per job.
Yes, for pricing. Use the overhead rate calculator.
Add them separately.
Look at where the job falls in the crew’s week. If the crew will already have 32 hours from other work, everything beyond 8 hours on this job is overtime, so enter those hours as overtime rather than regular.
Use your own payroll taxes, workers’ comp for the trade’s class code and benefits, divided by wages. Trades with higher workers’ comp rates, such as roofing, carry a noticeably higher burden than shop or office work.
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