[quote:="rjhowell"]I had noticed a slight growth in pay rates for field techs in recent years, something I had attributed to site's like this one and R.Joe's "shovelbums" allowing everyone to see what different folks are offering.

Funny. Although these sites have made it easier to find work, I actually think they're helping to contribute to the idea of techs as disposable. It's easier than ever to locate replacements who leave when they realize that they're not being paid anything near what they should be - just like spam, if a post on the job boards brings even a 10% response from those who read it, it's probably enough selection to replenish (or hire) a crew.

However, recently several ads have been offering pretty low rates ($12-13/hr) for low-experience/ starting techs. I wondered what people are paying around the country?

Excuse me? Maybe $12-13 is low for California, but unfortunately, this is considered decent wage in much of the area where I work / have worked. For a tech with low or no CRM experience, that's not a bad wage, relatively-speaking.

Archaeological techs are still treated (and paid) as unskilled labor. Unfortunately, that's not really (probably) going to change all that much. The firms are walking a fine line between making a living/profit and not making too much of a dent in the budgets of companies/industries with far more lobbying power than our industry has.

The minute CRM becomes too terribly costly to developers and other parties, watch the lobby for changes to Section 106 expand tenfold.

I understand the CRM firms' position in the matter, but it doesn't excuse the poor payment of their employees, even temporary ones. They're already avoiding the cost of benefits by hiring temps; the least they could do is up the pay to a living wage.

I'm already getting my net ready to catch the pigs coming through my window, just in case that ever happens.

:lol:

In WA the average is maybe $15 to start, down in OR it is more like $12. The rates do not change by season. Not sure about OR but up here per diem is usually $38 plus whatever a hotel costs or $50 for a hotel.

That is a big difference between Portland and Seattle, both cities have similar costs of living. The rates are higher in Seattle simply because several CRM firms WANTED to pay well, forcing the others to compete.

Pay scales differ around the country and seem to reflect the hourly prices that an archaeologist can get for their labor on entry into this field from an employer. The people with more experience seem to get a little more then these rate if willing to push for a higher rate and the people with actual skills get even more plus may even get hired on as permanent staff with benefits if that is there goal. But for most temporary archaeologists that have been working from job to job having their employer paying for their housing and perdiem are to accustomed to these benefits and when a permanent career opportunity is offered by an employer most temporary employees reject the offer of a permanent job with benefits completely until they are in an unemployment line.

A example of this was earlier this year when I tried to suggest to a few fellow archaeologists by e-mail that a position was open at a CRM company I was working for back in April, because I had found a much better position with the government elsewhere and suggested that they should apply, because my employer was interested in filling the position as soon as possible and was interested in some of the people I had recommended. The response was quite shocking to my surprise everyone I had e-mailed had the same comment that if I was leaving company X it must be a horrible position or they were happy being temporary employees, because they liked the time off instead of a permanent job with benefits. With logic like that there is no wonder why wages are always so low and why many employers are unwilling to hire temps on permanent staff. I thought these people would jump and snag a job that paid 36k plus with all benefits paid as soon as you were hired on plus perdiem on projects outside local area but no the temp position is somehow better.

I agree that there is a wide range of pay for field techs around the country. These stats also include info on housing, benefits, type of per diem etc. I have been compiling some stats on that topic for the past several months and hope to post the results on this site around the end of the month. I have not been able to do much with it lately as I have been far too busy.

Generally, based upon the stats I have compiled, the lower pay rates tend to be in the eastern states and the higher rates are in parts of the west. The absolutely lowest rate of pay was $8/hour (this was the only job listing at this rate and excluding this one posting, I do not recall seeing a field tech job paying less than $10/hour) and the highest was $20-21/hour. Many eastern companies are paying in the $10-11/hour range, with a few around $12/hour.

Per diem rates also vary around the country and that is to be expected as the maximum allowable rate is determined by the IRS and is tied into the local cost of living. Higher cost of living=higher max per diem rates. Per diem rates can vary widely just from one county to another adjoining county in some area of the country. Per diem is not a wage, it is for living expenses while working out of town, that is why it is not taxed.

In my neck of the woods, in the local economy the average rate of pay for a single working adult (all occupations) is only $9.74/hour. An entry level position for a school teacher pays just over $12.50/hour. Most field tech positions in my area are paying $13.50-14.50/hour with $25.00/day per diem. The cost of living here is quite low, so I think the field tech rate of pay is pretty good for this area. Around 5 years ago field tech pay in this area was around $10.50/hour which is what several companies are paying today in some eastern states.

Scotty,

I think its the Department of Labor that sets the per diem rates as part of the federal labor code - at least thats what I seem to have found in looking for this kind of information. The GSA has a link (http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentId=17943&contentType=GSA_BASIC) that will allow you to find the per diem rate for your area.

Here are the federal regs: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?sid=eec63c7ba0620e23eb78f939630f62ea&c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title41/41cfrv4_02.tpl#30100

Richard

Richard

Yes you are correct regarding the per diem rates and the GSA. I keep forgetting about them. The rules and regulations regarding per diem (the types of plans and what is covered and what is not covered) are issued by the IRS. I keep getting the two of them confused.

I noticed on the GSA site what the max allowable for lodging is for my state and I thought it was a bit on the low side from my recent experiances in trying to get motel rooms for the crew.

Thanks.

Scotty,

You're not the only one who may be confused. Trying to located accurate and timely information concerning labor laws, pay rates, per diem rules, etc., and especially regulations - particularly those that obligate employers - is damn near impossible to find through the government websites (e.g., DOL). Every major agency seems to have their own rules and regs, most of which appear to be out of date and not updated, links lost, and on and on. Is it the IRS, the DOL, the GSA, that promulgate these regs, who the heck knows? I've been looking for 41CFR301 for days (the exact code, not just an agency's interpretation of it), but its not obvious within the DOL webpage http://www.dol.gov/. You'd think it would, but it inst. I think the administration buries a lot of that stuff.

:?

Richard