Consultation fees?

[leitmotif]

OK so you are not Top Secret Dept of Defense type work "just" a Washington state food plant type guy. No real big issues over trade secrets intellectual property ad naseum ad infinitum.

OK to get pragmatic
1. In essance you have no real loyalty to them - they have not brought you on as permanent and I suppose no benefits.
2. It is a paycheck though - which is better than a lot of your neighbors have.
3. I think if you and the management understand what this is all about and agree to it then all will be OK.
4. Charge no less than what you make at your present job. If you want jack it to time and half.
5. You can make a strong point that this is the introductory one time good deal price.
6. Check with IBEW and see what commercial union electricians make to give you one starting point.

You are the local guy who best knows the locale and the people. It is a one time deal so make your best call and see how it works out. Prices in my locale ie Seattle have nothing to do with prices in yours.

Dan Bentler

 

[bce123]

DO NOT under price your services !!!!!!

 

[Lancie1]

I tried to make clear that I am basically contracting with my employer

Sorry, I believed you the first time when you said you were "on staff".

I have been working for a few years doing programming and controls for a couple different companies, on staff as one would say.

Now we find out that you were shamming us all along and are really just a self-employed contractor with no employer-employee legal relationship. In which case you can accept whatever contract job you want.

 

[KNeland]

Excellent advice, thank you guys.

Lancie,...Yep your right. I've been shamming again.
Honestly, I didn't think I'd be detailing the relationships I have in my professional life when I originally asked what kind of compensation I should pursue for this new project. You can see from the quote you posted that I was kinda ambiguous I think by saying "on staff as one would say". I am not a "contractor" per se...it's called a 1099 I think...I am employed by the company...paid by their accountants on regular payroll....went to the Christmas party....wear the company hat. For me it is uncharted ground, this relationship. They hired me originally for a 5-6mo. project, with the usual if things go well maybe a permanent position could be made. That was 2010. I'm tied into an unprecedented in scope(for this company) expansion project that I will be working on for the foreseeable years. Perhaps that will explain my deceitful shamming, and my leading on of helpful advice givers.

 

[Andrew Hardy]

If your finished software is going to be in the machine for (say) 10 years, and improve the productivity of the machine by x% saving $y overall you should be charging $y/2.

Or as much as you think you can get away with, whichever is the bigger number.

 

[Lancie1]

Honestly, I didn't think I'd be detailing the relationships I have in my professional life when I originally asked what kind of compensation I should pursue for this new project.

What kind of compensation you should pursue is directly related to what type of employment you have. It seems it is some kind of hybrid, not a contractor, but not a full employee either. You have all the responsibilites of an employee, attend the meetings, walk the walk, wear the hat, but I suppose none of the usual benefits like retirement, liability from damages, unemployment benefits, and so on. If that is where you are at, then it seems you should ask for a little more than the usual hourly employee wages to compensate for all the benefits you don't have.

 

[FixesIt]

Lancie1 - whether or not there is a conflict of interest has more to do with the nature of the business than if he is a permanent employee or a contractor. If the company's business was in system integration, there would be a clear conflict and there could be issues (likely are) even if he was a "contractor" depending on the contract language. However, as he is doing in-house automation for a company this isn't the case. The issue would be if the company believes it has a competitive advantage from its in-house automation, and the potential client is in the same business. Then there would be a conflict, and I would blow my stack as a boss. Lacking this scenario however, I would encourage such work as a boss, because it is a great opportunity for my staff to develop better skills which would ultimately benefit me as an employer.

KNeland - I think you were pretty clear on your relationships. I would definitely not charge by the hour, but have a fixed price contract. The client will like it. Unless there is some overwhelming risk for which you can't account. You can estimate by the hourly rate you think you deserve and estimated time, but present it as a fixed price. Likely if you put more time in it may be due to your lack of experience and you can chalk it up as an educational expense. Travel can be invoiced separately by both time and expenses (hourly rate + $/mile if you're driving, right now the standard rate is something like $.555/mile)

 

[Clay B.]

Pandora's Box

As far as what to charge that is highly subjective. One place you can get an idea is any of the Salary check web sights. Just use your area and you can see what people are making in your area. I would use the criteria Control Engineer or something along those lines. Then I would probably charge in your case from the experience you have said you have a rate on the front half of the bell curve.

Now out in the world several have talked about Overhead. In your case it may be nothing right now since you are "part timing" it. This is something you will have to figure out. It should always be watched. You can end up working for free if you do not watch this.

As far as Pandora's box the reason employers do not like moonlighting is the strong possibility that it will conflict with their business.

In my experience it is best to be up front about this. Even though you are a "contractor" with your current employer it sounds like you are treated as an employee.

When running multiple projects its not just possible for time conflicts it is inevitable.

At any given time I have 12 or more project going at the same time. I always have to do a balancing act between these jobs. It is just the nature of our work. Do not think you can get around it, just have a procedure to deal with it.

I tell you this so you can venture into this with your eyes open. The more variety of work you do the better an engineer you become. Its a fact not an opinion.

So when my guys talk about moonlighting I tell them to go for it and help them get started. I also tell them when there is a conflict we discuss it and work something out. It may **** off their other customer but I pay them a full time salary so my work comes first. If I can help them I will but I will not sacrifice my business for their side work.