Maintenance hours cost money, but not all hours cost the same. Regular time, overtime, and double time each carry different labor rates. Labor types and cost tracking in Antero capture these differences so you know the true cost of every work order, equipment repair, and preventive maintenance task—not just the part costs.
Why track labor costs?
Many plants track parts and supplier costs but ignore labor because it feels harder to capture or less important. That’s a mistake. Labor is often 50-70% of total maintenance costs. If you don’t track it, you can’t budget accurately, justify staffing levels, or compare the cost-effectiveness of repair-vs-replace decisions. Labor types and cost tracking give you complete financial visibility into maintenance operations.
How to set up labor types
Go to Database Administration > Setup Tools > Worklist Setup > Labor Type. Click Add New. Create entries for each labor scenario: Regular Time, Overtime (1.5x), Double Time (2x), Contract Labor, On-Call Premium, etc. For each labor type, set the Multiplier. Regular time has a multiplier of 1.0. Overtime has 1.5. Double time has 2.0. Antero uses this multiplier to calculate total cost when operators log hours against a work order.
Assign labor rates to users
Once labor types exist, assign a base hourly rate to each user or role. Go to user setup and enter the standard hourly wage for that operator. When the operator logs 2 hours of regular time on a work order, Antero multiplies their hourly rate × 1.0 × 2 hours = total labor cost. If they log 2 hours of overtime, Antero multiplies hourly rate × 1.5 × 2 hours = higher total. The system handles the math automatically.
Record labor hours on work orders
When an operator completes a work order, they open the work order in Antero and go to the Labor tab. They enter the number of hours worked and select the labor type from the dropdown: Regular Time, Overtime, etc. Antero calculates the cost based on the user’s hourly rate and the selected multiplier. Multiple operators can log hours on the same work order if it’s a team job, and Antero aggregates the total labor cost across all entries.
Capture accurate cost for budgeting
Labor types and cost tracking feed into Antero’s reporting engine. At the end of the month, run a report showing total labor costs by equipment, by work type, or by department. Compare actual costs to budget targets. If you budgeted $10,000 for HVAC maintenance labor this month but spent $14,000, the report shows that immediately. You can drill down to see which work orders drove the overage and whether it’s due to emergency repairs, inefficiency, or understaffing.
Support capital planning decisions
When deciding whether to repair or replace a major piece of equipment, labor types and cost tracking provide the data you need. If a pump has required $15,000 in labor costs over the past year plus $8,000 in parts, and a new pump costs $25,000, the numbers favor replacement. Without labor cost data, you’d only see the $8,000 in parts and underestimate total maintenance burden, potentially keeping a money pit running longer than it should.
Track contractor vs in-house labor
Some plants use labor types to differentiate between in-house labor and contractor labor. Create a “Contract Labor” labor type with a multiplier that reflects the contractor’s hourly rate. When you log contractor hours on a work order, Antero captures that cost separately from in-house labor. Reports can then show the split between internal and external labor costs, helping you evaluate whether bringing certain tasks in-house would save money.
Simplify payroll reconciliation
While Antero isn’t a payroll system, labor types and cost tracking can support payroll processes. At the end of a pay period, export labor hours by user and labor type. Cross-check against timesheets to ensure overtime is captured correctly. Some plants use Antero labor logs as the source of truth for maintenance-related payroll, reducing discrepancies between what supervisors approved and what operators actually worked.
Set up multipliers for on-call or weekend premiums
If your plant pays premiums for on-call shifts, weekend work, or holiday labor, create labor types for each scenario with appropriate multipliers. “Weekend Premium” might have a 1.25x multiplier. “Holiday Double Time” might have 2.5x. Operators select the correct labor type when logging hours, and Antero calculates the premium cost automatically. This ensures budget reports reflect true costs, not just base rates.
Why this matters for plant management
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Labor types and cost tracking turn invisible labor hours into visible cost data. That data supports smarter budgeting, staffing decisions, and capital planning. It also helps justify maintenance program value when you can show council or management exactly how much it costs to keep equipment running and how preventive maintenance reduces expensive emergency labor.
Next Steps: Set up Antero labor cost tracking for your maintenance team →
