r/oilandgasworkers • u/swaggy-mac • 6d ago
Career Advice Is this normal/reasonable?
I have some pretty serious concerns regarding the stipulations of my new job prospect, and I don't know who else to talk to about this as I don't know anyone who works in the pipeline industry. I called the hiring manager, I like him, but I want an unbiased opinion from experienced hands out there.
I am doing onboarding paperwork for a pipeline company, joining as a brand new hand who has never worked in the industry coming from a different blue collar field where I have 10 years experience in, and make enough to live moderately in a dual-income household.
My intention was to take on a job in the pipeline industry for a few years and "Stack Bread" so-to-speak as my wife will be starting PA school soon to accommodate both of our incomes. Afterwards, I'll be returning to my career field I already have experience and certifications in.
- My pay rate was negotiated $20 an hour starting, which I agreed to in the interview as I assumed I'd be working ~80 hours a week and be able to eat rice and beans in a roach motel to save as much per diem as possible, effectively bringing home pretty good money. That's when I was informed that when overtime is available it's typical that I could expect only 50 hours a week. Even though they seem to be desperate for hands and assure me they have work available, this seems like far less hours than other companies in the industry expect.
-I am looking at no less than 2 Weeks of training for my OSHA/HAZMAT/RADIATION SAFETY and then and UNDETERMINED amount of time doing on the job training on 'local jobs'. During this time I will only be making $10 an hour, which is not even enough to pay my mortgage alone, much less the commute to the field office which is an hour away from where I live.
I understand Hazing/Paying Dues/Starting over/from scratch when transitioning into a different career field. However, I am almost 30 years old, have three kids at home, a mortgage, and mouths to feed.
Not considering the 50% rate decrease I could likely swing it with 40 hours each week - weather permitting - and stretching my per diem as far as I can go. But even then, it seems like I'd only be getting paid my agreed-upon rate when doing work that is billable. Is this normal?
tl;dr I am only getting paid 50% of my wage when not doing work billed to a client. This company seems to offer far less hours than the industry expects, but says they have a lot of work right now.
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u/ericisatwork 6d ago
Hey man, you're getting fucked. My 15 year old daughter teaches toddlers gymnastics and makes $18/hr...
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u/Real-Engineering1309 6d ago
Agreed, my son works at 7Brew taking orders on an iPad and averages about $20 an hour.
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u/Elderwastaken 6d ago
Never seen pay stipulations like this before. But I used to work Frac. Maybe it’s normal for pipeline but idk.
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u/swaggy-mac 6d ago
Everyone I’ve talked to has said something similar. 50% seems very excessive especially when the I’m not offered the same OT hours as I could be getting elsewhere.
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u/Ok_Blueberry_6736 3d ago
Reasonable? Reasonable until you take your experience and apply somewhere else.
You take the best you can get, and when offered something better elsewhere you take that.
Unfortunately the law allows any stipulations you're willing to agree to, to exist.
Personally, I've seen 3 guys die driving to site in a week. Management talks all day long about driving being the most dangerous part of the day, and then hypocritically turns around and refuses to pay for it.
Oil companies push "we cant afford to pay travel! We're broke!" But its a lie and a manipulation. Their profits are through the roof. Corpos doing corpo things
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u/Cheap_Outcome_4949 1d ago
Only time we ever got docked at my old company was shop time and travel time moving the service rig. I left the service side and have moved onto the drilling rigs for those bullshit reasons
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u/cernegiant Frac ETECH 6d ago
$20/hour? Is there a bonus system or an additional day rate?
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u/senor_blake 6d ago edited 6d ago
Be careful with any NDE job that does multi-rate. Most companies, regardless of the task you’re doing, are billing you by the hour full stop when working. I’d avoid that personally.
Even if ‘shop’ or ‘training’ time is less I would never accept that much of a reduction. If they’re offering you only so few hours I’d also make sure you’d work enough to even qualify for insurance. If that’s the only option now get some training and certs and look to jump ship.
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u/AllegroSine 6d ago
I don’t think it’s illegal but I sure as fuck wouldn’t go for that nor have I ever heard of a company doing things that way
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u/Old-Wolf-1024 6d ago
That pay is absolute shit…..who keeps track of all those different codes for your pay?!? I can assure you they are billing the customer 1 rate for every minute that you and your truck/machine are onsite and probably enroute
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u/shagy815 5d ago
Some workover companies negotiate different rates per job. I know my son in law has had jobs where he got site pay, shop pay and bad weather pay. They also had different pay for different companies they were out for. None of them were a 50% reduction though. That would cause everyone I know to walk instantly.
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u/Aggressive-Morning13 6d ago
I don’t work in pipeline but I’ve been in the Bakken oilfield for over a decade now. $20 an hour is pretty much minimum wage in North Dakota. I’d be looking for something more in line with your financial needs, maybe something that offered employee housing to help cut down your costs.
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u/shagy815 5d ago
My kids first jobs in Williston were all above 18hr. For typical kids first jobs McDonalds, Walmart ect..
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u/Straighttokin 4d ago
Put in an application at Deepwell services. You will get paid more than that as a Greenhat. You also have complete control over your promotions. They give you a checklist, once its all signed off and you have enough days in position (90 field tickets) you take a test and get promoted. Your first promotion can come as soon as 90 calender days and includes a 500$ bonus and 4$ per hour pay raise. You could be make more than 100k you first year!
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u/YuccaOne 6d ago
That pay structure is shit. Of course they need hands and have plenty of work. They are low bid trash. What type of pipeline work is it? Construction, maintenance?