multiple pay rate for resources

[maria]

hello,

i'd really appreciate it if someone can tell me how to
enter a rate system for a resource that goes like this:

Person 1 gets paid
- regular rate from monday to thursday
- time and a half on fridays
- double time on saturdays and sundays

its ok when i only have to schedule for a short term
project (2 weeks) but i'm lost as to how i would do it for
long term projects that goes for months.

any suggestions would be a great help!

thanks,
maria

 

[Steve House]

There really isn't a way to do that. Project uses standard rate for all
hours for all work performed as regular work, essentially for work done
during the regular work hours as defined by the resource's calendar, and a
single overtime rate for hours worked outside of the regular work hours
calendar designated as OT hours. You can get a partial solution by using a
mean rate for the OT rate, say something like 1.75 standard instead of
either 1.5 or 2 times but I have to wonder, why bother? Project is a budget
estimating tool - operative word is "estimating" - , not an accounting, time
and billing, or payroll management tool, and at best all of those figures
are basically just approximations for budget and cashflow planning and
progress monitoring purposes anyway. Usually a final estimate that's within
+/-10% or 15% of the actual costs is considered to be very good. In fact,
in many cases PM's don't even try to use actual wage rates in the cost
calculations, preferring instead to use something called a "burdened labour
cost" which reflects a standard mean wage for a given job category plus
included pro-rata allowances for benefits, sick leave costs, overhead such
as rents and utilities, recruiting and training costs, facilities costs such
as desks, computers, or tools, etc etc. For example, you may have 10
engineers whose salaries range from $50k for a newly graduated junior new
hire up to $100k for an experienced senior engineer but for staff budgeting
and planning purposes you might just use a standardized rate of, say, $70k
across the board for each of them. In trying to refine it down as much as
you are you're coming awfully close to micro-managing with the danger of
losing sight of the big picture. Let the accounting department worry about
getting it to the penny accurate based on timecard data and cheque stubs.

 

[Guest]

THANKS! this has been something i've struggled with for a
long while, i thought maybe i was missing something or
just didn't know how.

your feedback is very much appreciated!