Sorry... multiple themes in this thread. Do you guys hire occasional help? Pay cash? Does hiring help concern you at all? What if one gets hurt, is there liability? I do this, I pay $10/hr. One time, I wondered should I pay $12 but I quickly dismissed that. Especially finding out loggers get $12/hr! That is hard work, demanding. My stuff is yard work, handyman stuff, help splitting wood. Liability... should I be concerned, what do you think? It seems 'wrong' that one can't hire somebody for odd jobs. An alternative would be to form an LLC and get insurance but, heck, I bet that would cost quite a bit. Yet, I have not checked into it. That seems kind of silly for a homeowner. I wonder if the laws 'change' if you sell some wood. Not making a living, just sell a few cords to get rid of wood. And also pay for equipment maintenance. Another 'hazard' -- it's dang hard to find workers here, and finding a good one? Double hard. I swear, it is SO much different from when I grew up. Back then, we wanted spending money! I'll end with a sad story. I have one guy who is like McGyver, this dude can fix anything. Often, with stuff just laying around here, no need to go to a store. But this kid is 100% irresponsible. Actually, not a kid, he's probably upper 30s. Strong, works like a beast. He says always been in trouble his whole life. Very likeable. I think the guy is on meth sometimes he is so energetic. I also suspect he stole from me and I have been a friend to him. Not just paying him for work, I've gone beyond the call of duty! And then, after a few hours of great production, he'll promise to be back tomorrow bright and early and he NEVER shows up. He'll show up in a week or so. Pitiful. The guy has nothing. Rides a bicycle or lately, he's on a motorcycle. Popo hauled his motorcycle in the other day. He has no ride, no house, few clothes. He is a piece of work. Will never have anything. Odd thing is he is not dumb, he's sharp and a good worker when he's here. His home life wasn't good during childhood, I know for a fact. I wish I could help the guy get his act together but I think it's a lost cause, I really do. I think even if you set him up with a steady job, wheels, clothes, place to stay... whatever you did... I think he'd fail... hopeless. The last story and the continual problems to find anyone to do simple, simple stuff... is why working alone has advantages. But heck, I sure do like help sometimes! I'm 65 and can afford to pay for some help.
For all the reasons stated i work alone. Have you considered having a teen aged neighbor help? Someone you can trust? Try the local high school. I dont know if you could ask the principal, guidance counselor about this or if its even legal? Disabled vets make excellent PT help. I had one for a couple years. Good worker, good guy, reliable but had bad PTSD. Walked off the job one day in 2003 and never came back. He did a few months later but i said no. Got used to working alone again. Kids today and for the last generation IMO/IME dont want to "work" where its physically demanding. Classic case. In my conversation with the "kid" Asplundh crew chief. Im 51 and anyone younger than 30 looks like a kid to me. He became crew chief after only ten months and was hired with no experience. Tells me they have a high turnover. I probably couldve out worked the crew of four. Watching them i wanted to jump in and help. My brother had a similar experience. Had a "kid" working for him. Hard worker, not a punk, had a history, i worked side by side with him, very likable with a good work ethic, later my brother finds he was stealing the homeowners jewelry when they did some inside work. My brother would hire anyone willing to apply. In 2007 i had my new at the time and still current GF's 15yo old son help me roof. He was the clean up ground guy/laborer. He worked some that Summer and days off and the following Summer. He graduated and worked some then got a job in his trade (auto body). Last year he comes up and thanks me for instilling a good work ethic in him. I wasnt a crack the whip type of boss, but led by example.
We started out with a buddies sons. Just stacking but then the hit 16 and on to better things. They were in boy scouts. So 2 yrs ago, Chaz knew a guy at work that was into scouts if knew of any kids that might be interested. He said his kids. Had a 12 yr old daughter and a 15 yr old son. He recommended his daughter. She is a work horse. With her parents permission we taught her how to drive the 4 wheeler and hook up the cart. So when we need her, they make sure she gets here, I tell her what we need done. Off she goes. I would recommend contacting the scouts. The leaders know who to recommend.
The younger generation are weak and lazy. There are exceptions, but generally most have been so coddled they are incapable of working and have no work ethic or social skills. We pay our guys at least double that and getting people is virtually impossible. Once our economy slumps, people lose their belongings to the bank, and the coddling stops...things might change. Good luck.......
I have two high school girls that help me. Last year they started doing it. Now I can leave them with the splitter and stacking chores on their own. They never complain asking when they will be done. One of them enjoys machinery, and turning wrenches. They are coming Saturday morning, to split wood and hopefully finish up my latest holsen house, and to dismantle my oldest one, to transfer the wood to the shed by the boiler. They have a teen from China staying with them, and she will be there too. I advised the mom I would pay her less since she is new. I also told the mom that Bernie Sanders wants me to give half their pay to college students who will still be asleep while the girls are working. My farm insurance has about a million policy for helper related injuries.
In the year 2000 i was freshly married and in a new house. Wife and i worked full time so i hired a couple teens starting a landscaping business to cut my lawn. Good sized yard and i HATE cutting grass. They did it a couple times and i was pleased. I asked if they did other landscape work and hired them to dig up the sod in front of the house as it was planted right up to the foundation, then mulch it. Rather straight forward job. They quote me which i thought was low and i said go ahead. I told them they could dump on site in back and use my wheelbarrow. They show up a few days later on a real muggy evening in June. Worked hard and got very sweaty and dirty. They didnt finish and would show up again later in the week to finish. Never saw them again. Wife asks if i would pay them for the work they did to which i said no. She then asks why they didnt come back. "It was hard work" was my reply. If they finished i was planning on giving them a few extra bucks, but... The machines did all the work when they cut. Manual labor was not for them. Funny thing is i ran into one of them later on and he said they went "belly up"!
For those who declare the younger generations lazy, I have hired many a college student for day work, and they nearly always give me every bit of my money's worth and more. Currently I pay $12-15 per hour, as the minimum wage here is $12. If they don't prove to be worth that, they will not be back, but that has rarely happened for me. My homeowner's insurance will pay for injuries, but that has not happened yet. (Unless they are working on my airplane, that is specifically excluded in the insurance ...) Keep trying, you will find good workers. That all said, I will rarely hire a "professional," as I usually find I know more than they do - or at least can figure it out with a little help from Google, and either get the job done myself, or teach one of the "kids" how to do it.
I've hired plenty of high school kids to help with firewood through the years. They haul branches when needed, load my dump truck with rounds, split, load splits, keep things tidy at my processing area. I also do landscaping on the side and they help with that. I've had a lot of success with them but being a teacher, I have access to basically unlimited labor. But when it comes to kids today who don't know how to work, don't blame them - it's not their fault the adults in their lives didn't take the time to teach them.
This one sounds like he can be saved. Getting a bad start in life makes for huge problems later on, but people can pull themselves together. I'll wager there is some kind of addiction at work in his life. If it were me, I'd try to be kind to him but not allow him to take advantage in any way. And I'd spend time letting him talk and unburden himself. He's carrying around some pain, both from his present problems and from his childhood
I have found, instead of an hourly wage, when I need kid help I show the kid the job to be done. For example, a calf pen (need manure removed from barn by wheelbarrow to a compost pile). We are talking about a pen of 10x10 about 2 feet deep. I'll ask them what they think it is worth. Generally I figure $50.00. When half the job is done, they get half the money. When the whole job is done, they get the remainder. If they complete the job in the same day (generally expected) I give them a 5 dollar bonus and offer another job opportunity.
Good of you to understand that. Lots of factors play in a helpers life and just to remember that if you hire a helper, he or she is helping but it’s a matter of how they prioritize things so they can work and deal. Never know what they’ve been walking in. Knowing I have worked for many people, I also felt absolutely fine with working to just get a meal. Not being poor that way (very grateful) I have told my bosses I don’t mind being fed in terms of payment if they offer. And often they made me something and paid me well anyways. The best ethic to learn about is to do the best you can to finish and don’t stop. Thing of it is, home work and outside of that can be two different parallels ...
This is so TRUE!! A lot of these kids don't have good role models. Especially those from the broken homes. Teach them and give them life skills..
Being a teacher is advantageous. You know the kids and that is half the battle. I like going through the scout leader of boy scouts. They know the hard workers and that is who they recommend.
One of the best workers I've had over the years just became an Eagle Scout. He asked me to write a letter of recommendation for him as well. Make that 2 - 1 for Eagle Scout and another for college. Great kid!
I am friends with a neighbor who heats his very large shop with a wood-fired forced-air heater. I hang out at his shop at least once a week. He and his wife are in their mid-'60's, but it hasn't slowed him down. They raised 2 girls and a boy--the son was adopted. The son drifted away from mom and dad 6 years ago. Wrote them off. Wouldn't call, wouldn't stop and see them, wouldn't talk on the phone. My neighbors bought Christmas presents for the son (who got married and had kids of his own), but he never ever came to pick up the presents. It was a sad situation for them. Two weeks ago the son showed up at the shop, started crying and apologizing for being such a jerk. Long story made short, the son and his wife and kids moved back here, the son is working for my neighbor full time in the shop. Miracles DO happen. Interestingly enough, a few days after the son made came back and made amends, the sermon at Mass was The Prodigal Son. True story.
When I moved into our current house, our insurance wanted a "professional" licensed and insured to install the class A chimney for my stove. The company I hired was a buddy's friend. The owner was good and skilled but didn't usually do Class A work. His "apprentice" however should have been dropped off at the corner and never picked up again.... I had to lend him tools, show him how to use them and he still screwed crap up. The chimney support for the T and clean out was bolted into my masonry wall, well he was trying to put the lag bolts in with a crescent wrench and was taking for ever. Also he was putting them in crooked so I went and got socket wrench and took over.... Also lent him a plumbob to ensure the chimney was straight... I wanted to do the install myself but I needed a licensed "professional" to meet the requirements for home owners insurance.
Yup - corporate America would prefer to spend $'s for a consultant's opinion, which would be same opinion we would give.
I made my son help with some of the firewood I've sold. Usually give him 25-30 for 2-3 hrs work. At least 30 minutes is riding in the truck. Most customers tip him 10-20 additional for stacking. He left for college in August. Less than an hr away. The last job we did together before he left he shocked me by saying give him a call if I got a big job. He complains while he's working but busts his butt doing it. And never complains around customers. Guess I raised him better than I thought
