A Midas shop pays its techs on the flag, and the lifetime guarantee turns into comeback labor in the bays. WageTime is payroll built for independently owned Midas shops: the comeback runs as its own pay line and the week still clears real overtime.
For independently owned and operated Midas® franchise businesses. WageTime is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Midas, SpeeDee, TBC Corporation, or Mavis; those marks belong to their owners and are used here only to describe the businesses this page serves.
A Midas shop lives on flat-rate flag hours across brakes, exhaust, and suspension, plus the lifetime guarantee that is the whole brand promise. That means comebacks a tech has to redo, an hourly oil-bay crew if you run SpeeDee, and inspection upsell spiffs that land whenever they land. Right now the comeback call, the two pay models, and the spiff math all live on sticky notes and a spreadsheet nobody reconciles until a check comes up short.
Midas built the brand on a lifetime guarantee: brake pads and shoes, mufflers, shocks, and struts replaced free for as long as the customer owns the car, with install labor covered only inside 90 days. Every covered failure is a comeback a tech has to redo. Whether that redo pays reduced flag, policy time, or full flag because a bad part caused it is a decision that lives on a sticky note, not in payroll.
Your techs get paid on the flag, but an independent Midas shop doesn’t inherit the dealership overtime exemption. When flag and hourly hours mix in a week, overtime is owed on the weighted-average rate, and a slow week still has to average minimum wage on actual clock hours. Right now that math is a spreadsheet nobody wants to defend in an audit.
A co-branded SpeeDee Midas store runs express oil-change bays on an hourly crew and repair bays on flat-rate techs, sometimes under two brand EINs for one owner. Generic payroll wants one pay model and one company. You have two of each, in one building, due on the same Friday.
The Closer Look Vehicle Check turns a courtesy inspection into recommended brake, exhaust, and suspension work, and the tech or advisor earns a spiff or commission on it. Those are nondiscretionary dollars that raise the overtime rate, and shops typically batch them into next month or cut a side check and sort it out in January.
The ASE test the apprentice just passed, the EPA 609 card, the state inspection license, the tool account a tech is paying down, and the hours sitting in the shop system waiting to be re-typed: in a store with no HR desk, every one of those is the owner’s job after close.
WageTime pays a comeback as its own pay line, the way you decide: a genuine one runs on a reduced-flag or policy-time code, a redo from a bad part runs at full flag, each entered as a line instead of argued after close.
Replaces the comeback call scribbled on a sticky note, and the hour a flat-rate tech quietly worked for free.
Usually yes: the dealership mechanic exemption stops at the franchised dealer line, a question for you and your counsel. When overtime applies, WageTime blends a mixed week’s flag and hourly pay into one weighted-average overtime figure automatically.
| Line | Quantity | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flag hours (brakes, exhaust, suspension) | 40.2 hrs | $30.00 | $1,206.00 |
| Shop time (hourly: cleanup, training) | 5.0 hrs | $18.00 | $90.00 |
| Weighted-average regular rate (all earnings ÷ 45 clock hrs) | 45.0 hrs | $28.80 | $1,296.00 |
| Overtime premium (5 OT hrs at half rate) | 5.0 hrs | $14.40 | $72.00 |
Replaces the flag-times-rate spreadsheet, and the straight-time overtime that shorts a mixed week.
Yes: WageTime runs the two businesses it is, an hourly oil-bay crew and flat-rate repair techs on one payroll, each on its own pay model, with overtime computed on the weighted-average rate when someone works both sides.
| Entity | Pay model | People paid | Labor MTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midas repair (Center 12) EIN **-3391 | Flat-rate flag hours | 8 | $31,240.00 |
| SpeeDee oil bays (Center 12) EIN **-7725 | Hourly lube crew | 6 | $16,880.00 |
| Midas repair (Center 18) EIN **-3391 | Flat-rate flag hours | 9 | $34,110.00 |
| Combined view | 2 brands, 2 EINs | 23 | $82,230.00 |
Replaces the second payroll system a co-branded store stands up, and the one pooled labor figure that hid which side was losing.
The way the work lands: a job recommended on the inspection earns the tech a spiff and the advisor a commission, both nondiscretionary, so WageTime folds them into the regular rate the overtime premium is figured on.
| Person | Earning | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renae C. advisor | Commission | brake & exhaust labor gross tier 2 | $1,020.00 |
| Hector R. | Brake-service spiff | 7 jobs at $12.00 | $84.00 |
| Dana P. | Suspension spiff | 4 jobs at $15.00 | $60.00 |
| Marco T. | Tire & TPMS spiff | 9 units at $6.00 | $54.00 |
Replaces the side-check drawer, and the advisor commission sheet renegotiated line by line every month.
The hours import into WageTime, nothing re-typed after close: Tekmetric, Shopmonkey, Mitchell 1, Shop-Ware, AutoLeap, or the oil-bay system on the SpeeDee side, tell us which on the demo and we’ll confirm the exact flow for your setup.
| Tech | Clock hrs | Flag hrs | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dana P. | 45.0 | 40.2 | Ready |
| Hector R. | 44.0 | 38.3 | Ready |
| Marco T. | 40.0 | 36.5 | ASE A5 expires in 30 days |
| Ivy L. | 27.0 | 24.1 | New hire, I-9 open |
Replaces the export-reformat-retype ritual, and the whiteboard of ASE and inspection expiration dates.
Full-service payroll is $10 a month per person paid that month, plus $50 a month per company, with unlimited runs. No long-term contracts, no per-run charges.
Off-cycle runs and bonuses cost nothing extra. No long-term contracts; cancel anytime.
Example: 50 people paid × $10 + $50 company = $550 for the month
HR & hiring, onboarding, PTO, time tracking, benefits, and workers’ comp are optional add-ons, priced separately when you’re ready.
See a demoA guarantee comeback runs as its own pay line, so you decide the treatment. A redo the tech has to make can run on a reduced-flag or policy-time code, and a redo caused by a bad part can run at full flag. Either way the dollars fold into the weighted-average overtime rate, and the week is tested against the minimum-wage floor on actual clock hours.
At independent shops, usually yes: the dealership mechanic exemption stops at the franchised dealer, and the retail-commission exemption has strict conditions a flat-rate plan doesn’t automatically meet. Whether an exemption fits your shop is a decision for you and your counsel. When overtime applies, WageTime computes it on the weighted-average regular rate whenever a tech works two or more rates in a week, automatically.
Yes. WageTime runs the hourly oil-bay crew and the flat-rate repair techs on one payroll, each on its own pay model, and computes overtime on the weighted-average rate when someone works both. Run the two sides as departments under one EIN or as separate brand entities, each filing its own taxes, with one login and labor reported per brand or combined.
The spiff a tech earns on recommended brake or exhaust work is nondiscretionary, so it belongs in the regular rate the overtime premium is figured on. WageTime runs it as a per-item pay code, in-cycle or off-cycle at no extra cost, and folds it into the weighted-average overtime rate instead of paying the over-40 hours on base flag alone.
Yes. Run each location as a department under one EIN or as its own entity, with one login across the group and labor reported per store or combined. Role-based access lets a store manager approve their store and the owner see everything, while WageTime files each entity’s taxes separately. Co-branded and single-brand stores sit in the same group.
$50 a month for the company plus $10 per person actually paid that month: $130 for an eight-person shop, with unlimited runs, so weekly pay and a midweek spiff run cost nothing extra. Filings, W-2s, and 1099s are included. Run the SpeeDee side as its own LLC? Each company keeps its own EIN, with one login and combined reporting.
Last week’s flag hours by tech, a guarantee comeback or two beside them, and your Closer Look spiff sheet. Twenty minutes with a payroll specialist on a live demo shop: you’ll watch a comeback pay code and a mixed flag week compute one weighted-average overtime, see the minimum-wage check run, and get a straight answer on running a co-branded store from one login.
Book a 20-minute demo