stiffed on buzz job

[teamtree]

If things get slow, I like to let my guys line up a Sat. for themselves.
I fill up the equipment, and they return it that way. Builds moral, improves teamwork, and helps them learn how to get me jobs from around the block if you know what I mean.
It also nips moonlighting in the bud.
If you are going to do side work be insured. It's the comp that is so expensive. Liability is pretty easy to live with and 1 job a month can pay the bill. BUT.....
If you fall, or cut yourself, or some other unknown. The job may cost you so much more than you make off it. The owner of a tree service takes on a lot more than the average employee realizes. Take care of your boss!!!
Amen

You are setting yourself up for disaster if one of those guys get hurt doing a job on a Saturday....it WILL fall back on your workers compensation...

 

[MuniciPAL]

WHOA Blakesmaster, you got me all wrong.
im a utility arbo apprentice. i work UTILITY. im not stealing jobs from my boss. i have a TREEmendous amount of respect for my superiors. i see what angle your approaching this from and i understand. i am often asked while working on the lines and i always say "i cant do it during company hours but would love to schedule a time".
i dont even ask to borrow the equipment anymore. i purchased a few things for this specific reason

 

[TheKid]

since this has turned into a side jobby thread, here goes. there is no way my employer can tell me what to do (within reason) in my off hours. If my friend wants a few limbs lopped off his roof (picture a hinoki cypress), and I can do it with a pole pruner that I rode over on my bicycle and it takes 5 minutes to do it, and he wants to pay me, then you better believe I'm gonna do it. My company charges a stiff minumum that reflects our overhead and it is too steep for a lot of first time homeowners who need the bare minimum of roof clearance work to appease the appraisers. So I know a lot of people who own houses. 95% of these I could call my friends and 85% of the time they simply want a consultation, which my co. does for free. I guess I don't see it as competition with my co. and I don't think bossman does either. It is, after all MY time...

 

[TheKid]

I just wanted to add that I would never sell a job for me while on the clock for my co. Or use equip. w/o permission. Or even talk about anything like that on the phone at lunch.

 

[Rftreeman]

it's not so much that an employer tells you what to do off the clock but more like what NOT to do, most companies have a policy that states any work that comes in is to be turned over to the company and some even have a policy that you can't work for them and yourself because you are competition, that's the way it was a Davey, everyone there knew I had a truck and chipper and did my own thing but I could have been fired at anytime for doing so, I tried to by a chipper from them that had a bad motor and they wouldn't sell it to me because I would be considered competition. on another note... I have this guy that helps me sometimes and have caught him passing his cards to stopper byers so I made it very plain that when he is on one of my jobs then he better give them my card or I'd never use him again (he's made good money off me) and it would be hard to do the job with broke hands and feet...............

 

[reachtreeservi]

since this has turned into a side jobby thread, here goes. there is no way my employer can tell me what to do (within reason) in my off hours. If my friend wants a few limbs lopped off his roof (picture a hinoki cypress), and I can do it with a pole pruner that I rode over on my bicycle and it takes 5 minutes to do it, and he wants to pay me, then you better believe I'm gonna do it. My company charges a stiff minumum that reflects our overhead and it is too steep for a lot of first time homeowners who need the bare minimum of roof clearance work to appease the appraisers. So I know a lot of people who own houses. 95% of these I could call my friends and 85% of the time they simply want a consultation, which my co. does for free. I guess I don't see it as competition with my co. and I don't think bossman does either. It is, after all MY time...

I don't tell my guys what to do in their spare time.
And they don't tell me to keep signing their pay checks if I hear about them doing tree work after hours.

Not that it would do any good.
It is after all, My company.

 

[arbor pro]

I don't tell my guys what to do in their spare time.
And they don't tell me to keep signing their pay checks if I hear about them doing tree work after hours.

Not that it would do any good.
It is after all, My company.

How did the employee learn how to do tree care? Did he pay for his own training or did his employer teach him while on the job and possibly by sending him to conferences/training classes? If the latter, then the employer certainly should be able to have a say in what the employee does in his off hours.

Obviously, no employer is going to have a problem with an employee helping out a neighbor or a close friend for a nominal fee. But, when his work branches out to friends of friends or a relative of a neighbor and his compensation increases beyond that of a nominal fee, then he is playing with fire as he is now competing with his employer.

Any employer who supports such actions by an employee is just inviting that employee to build up enough of a base to go out on his own. Esentially, the employer is now helping the employee to become competition. :monkey:

 

[Nailsbeats]

Bingo! competition, what this game is all about.

 

[Blakesmaster]

WHOA Blakesmaster, you got me all wrong.
im a utility arbo apprentice. i work UTILITY. im not stealing jobs from my boss. i have a TREEmendous amount of respect for my superiors. i see what angle your approaching this from and i understand. i am often asked while working on the lines and i always say "i cant do it during company hours but would love to schedule a time".
i dont even ask to borrow the equipment anymore. i purchased a few things for this specific reason

Seems to be a different animal when you're working clearance, I s'pose. You're not really the competition in that respect. It's just stuff like this that irritates me because I feel I left my boss's company the right way. I did a little side work here and there for friends and family and invested every dime ( and plenty of my own ) I made from those jobs into equipment. I came clean with my boss when I was getting insurance and advertising and he sent me packing, the reason being that he was afraid I would be snaking jobs from him because it happened to him before. I had no intentions of doing so and was hoping to work something out as far as my hours were concerned and he wanted to hear none of it. Took him three months to get past his initial reaction and fear of me snaking to remember what a dern good worker and guy I was. Now we get along fine and work together all the time but those first few months hurt my wallet pretty good all because past employees were thieving scumbags who stole work from him.