Split Wage for Engineer 3

[danby64]

I'm currently an electrical designer doing control system design / PLC programming at a manufacturing plant. I'm about to get my P.Eng and my employer is saying I would then get a split wage. One wage for when I'm doing my design work, and another wage for when I'm doing engineer work.

My employer says this is common practice. Is it or are they just trying to low-ball me? My feeling is that it shouldn't be a split wage since I'm obligated to keep my "engineer hat" on at all times.

At first, the engineering work would be minimal such as stamping the odd drawing and doing the occasional pre-start safety review. So I can see from their POV that they could save a few bucks by not paying me a full engineer's wage.

 

[JedClampett]

To be clear, you're going to get paid more when you're doing engineering work, right?

 

[danby64]

Yes, about a 10% hourly wage increase.

I agree with Handleman. I have a feeling they won't pay me an engineer's wage to do a designer's job. I can't help but feel bad for my fellow designers doing the same work for less.

 

[bacon4life]

I have seen timecard upgrades when folks temporarily fill in for a more senior position, or for a different union classification.

 

[fel3]

Once you get your P.Eng, you should tell your boss, "I'm an engineer, and I expect to get paid as an engineer, whether or not a particular task I am doing is engineering." You should also have another job lined up when you tell him this.

I am pretty sure all of us on this forum do non-engineering tasks often, maybe even every day, but we still get paid as engineers because we ARE engineers. When I type a letter, am I expected to separate out the typing (non-engineering) from the composition (sometimes engineering, sometimes not)? Of course not. Do I accept a lower wage when I take a mandated break (non-engineering) during the day? Nope, and every place I have ever worked, this time gets charged to a project. What about driving to a project site (non-engineering) or pitching in before a deadline to do some of the cad work (sometimes engineering, but usually not)? I think you get the point.

==========
"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[IRstuff]

"about a 10% hourly wage increase"

Unless your original wage was already pretty good, this seems be a slap in the face. They are nickel-ling and diming you for 10%? Find a new job where they appreciate your talents and accomplishments and do not look back.

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[Ron]

No. No. No.!

 

[ProEpro]

Negotiate for a cut of the new business you bring in.

 

[Careful34]

That's their choice. Your choice is to find someplace willing to pay you and treat you 100% as an engineer.

Why would you want to do and get paid for design work, when you could get paid for engineering work? That's not making the most of your time.