Flat-rate technician guide
Flag Hours: How Flat-Rate Technician Pay Works
Flag hours are the paid labor hours attached to completed jobs. For flat-rate automotive technicians, they matter more than the number of clock hours spent in the building.
What are flag hours?
A flag hour is a labor hour credited to a technician for a repair operation, inspection, service, or other job. If a brake service pays 2.0 hours and the job is completed and accepted, the technician may flag 2.0 hours for that operation.
Shops may also call them flagged hours, flat rate hours, flag time, or booked hours. The exact terms vary, but the idea is the same: each completed job adds labor time to the technician's pay total.
Flag hours vs. clock hours
Clock hours are the actual hours you are at work. Flag hours are the labor hours credited from the jobs you complete. A technician can work eight clock hours and flag more or less than eight hours depending on the work assigned, the labor times, approvals, parts delays, and how the day goes.
How flat-rate pay generally works
In a typical flat-rate setup, each job or operation has an assigned labor time. Your paycheck is based on the flagged time that makes it through the shop's payroll process, multiplied by your pay rate. For example, 42.5 flagged hours at $30 per hour equals $1,275 before taxes and deductions.
The important part is the pay-period total. Individual repair orders and jobs add up over the week, half-month, or month, and that total should match what payroll shows for the same period.
Why totals can differ
A technician's personal total and a payroll total may differ for normal administrative reasons: an RO may close after the pay period, a job may be waiting on approval, a warranty operation may be adjusted, or a paid/unpaid status may not be updated yet. A mismatch is not proof of bad intent, but it is a reason to review the details.
Why independent records help
Keeping your own log gives you a second record of repair orders, jobs, flagged hours, dates, and paid status. When payday comes, you can compare your records against the shop or payroll total instead of relying on memory, loose paper, or a spreadsheet you only update sometimes.
A simple example
During a pay period, you log 18 repair orders and 46.2 flagged hours. Payroll shows 43.7 hours. With a clean record, you can review the unpaid or missing workorders, find which job did not match, and ask a specific question with the RO and job details in front of you.
How Flat Rate Tracker fits
Flat Rate Tracker is built for individual automotive technicians who want a personal record of flat rate tracking: repair orders, jobs, flagged hours, pay periods, and work history. It is not a dealership time clock or shop-management system. It gives the technician their own numbers.
For a broader look at personal technician tracking software, read the mechanic time tracking guide.
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