Employees

[Jumper]

GRASS

They(authoririties) pay a lot of lip service re grass, but in reality do not give you any major grief unless you are pushing the stuff. Essentially the cops are powerless to stop the explosion of gorw houses, and outdoor lots that are supplying a major part of the dope to the USA. For the record I do not use the stiff, but this is a major waste of police services and scarce resources trying to weed out (pu intended) the little guy who wants to grow a little for his own. Go after the organized crime element that is exporting this stuff.

 

[Acer]

Re: New Employees

Originally posted by Jumper
........ I had problems with this guy smoking weed on the job (just great when around chippers, chainsaws and driving)

That's one thing I cannot tolerate. I used to have to work with two dopeheads. One of them would get so stoned over the course of the day - towards the end of the day, he'd be just hanging out of the tree laughing his head off. You really had to watch it if you grounded for him. He'd start cutting branches regardless. He nearly broke my arm when he threw one down as I was trying to drag the previous branch away. The boss knew, but this guy was pretty fast in the tree, and that's what made the boss money.

Fortunately, I'm my own boss now - and there's no drugs on any of my worksites.

 

[Acer]

Originally posted by DDM
Hmmm maybe i need to hire a temp or two to drag brush What percent do the Temp agencies tack on to the hourly wage?

I don't know about where you are, but the temp agencies here will charge around £15-20 per man-hour. The temp gets about £5 /hour. The sort of person you get varies as well - a lot of them are pretty useless, or lack experience.

 

[DDM]

He nearly broke my arm when he threw one down as I was trying to drag the previous branch away. <--- When this
guy got on the ground I would have made it impossible for him to climb another tree. Druggies & alcoholics on the job i have NO tolerence for.
especially when they are Risking mine or someone elses safety.

 

[Jumper]

Temps

Here in Canada, you typically pay the temp agency $5 more perhour than the guy is getting. I did have a good temp guy a few weeks ago. There is a lot of work available thru these services, but I got tired of working in a different place every few days.

 

[Nickrosis]

People that let things fly to "teach you a lesson" is very dangerous. I had something nearly hit me because the climber wanted me to put my hard hat on. I can think of better ways to communicate.

Nickrosis

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

>>People that let things fly to "teach you a
>>lesson" is very dangerous. I had something
>>nearly hit me because the climber wanted me to
>>put my hard hat on. I can think of better ways
>>to communicate.

Hmm, I wonder who that was.

I think it is usualy 1/3 of the per hour fee goes to the agency here. There are services that specialize in landscape workers. Though what the British maple says holds true here. It can pe a crap shoot with loaded dice. They tend to be the dregs of the work force. So you say "Don't send so and so back." Winnow the chaff and work with what comes, you don't need W/C because it is included in the fee. Just say you'll pay for better people. Many are laid off and want to keep working during the job search to augment the UCI check.

I have a buddy who works all his people through a service. If I work for him it is this way. The only client I have I take a wage from since I've been part timing it with him for round ten years now.

 

[Nickrosis]

You can pretty well guess.

Has anyone had any trouble with illegal immigrants? How did you deal with the situation? I heard of one nursery just putting the burden on the employee by trusting whatever Social Security number they were given, but it can come back at you, can't it?

I gingerly ask this question because I don't want to hear any racist comments. If America actually cared about the rest of the world (and actually our own future), many people would not be under pressure to emigrant simply for self-preservation. I also would like to hear from some Canadians and Europeans about foreign workers for them. Additionally, does the U.S. work environment appeal to you or are you disinterested/disappointed/disgusted by it?

I would love to hear your replies, but please be sensitive in your posts, being mindful of the policy of this forum.

Nickrosis

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The sup at MCC let most of the crew he inhereted go when he started on the fall of 2000. MAny people do not check. All you need do is inform the applicants that you verify all SSN's to cover you own tail.

I never seen a group of white people work as hard as a group of hispanics. Have you tried going through Esperanza Unitas, or the Hmung comunity center? Those Hmung work real hard too, give some a stick and they'll make a garden. Cant speekee no english though, but they sure do try hard.

 

[treeman82]

I have employed many a hispanic person before. The police by me REALLY don't bother these guys unless they do something like murder or something bad. It just costs too much to deport the guys that they pretty much get left alone. However I must say that 3 small cities by me have been over-run with hispanic people. I really enjoy hiring hispanic people because they just want to work, and learn. They usually work really hard, and don't give you much lip. I find that Americans always have something coming up; my car needs to go into the shop, this didn't work, it's raining, etc. The spanish people if something is broken they will try their best to get it fixed, if their car doesn't work they will find a way to get to work. That is what I like about the spanish people. They also are really nice people.

 

[Jumper]

Immigrants/Illegal Workers

There was a newpaper article here not long ago stating that over 200,000 Social Insurance Numbers belonging to dead people are still in use. I have worked a number of places this past year, and on many occasions I was asked for my number and never for the card, or any other piece of info to confirm indeed that I was Mitch M. There also have been well documented cases where people have a number of active cards in their possession, and use them all to spread their taxable income about. As for recent immegrants I have seen very few here in Ottawa working in blue collar outdoor type jobs. Frankly I think the climate scares off a number, and the rest seem to find positions in stores, etc including indoor work. Mind you you either have to have a lot of money to get into this country now (eg Hong Kong chinese), or have to claim refugee status from a thrid world country. There are very few people from the middle of the road.