When does the clock start?

[teamtree]

When do you guys start paying your help? It seems 20% of my wages are for drive time?

 

[TreeJunkie]

As soon as they show up! And I start charging customers as soon as i head their way.

 

[teamtree]

So you pay them from time-at-shop to time-back-at-shop. I do as well and build in the drive time to the estimate.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Most state laws do not allow you to NOT pay for drive time. If the crew drives their own vehicles from home directly to the job site you might be able to pay them when work starts at the job site.

Be careful about trying to beat a nickel out of employees. Besides the potential legalities it's bad for morale.

 

[DDM]

When they pull into my yard and when they pull out of My yard.

 

[treeseer]

"As soon as they show up! And I start charging customers as soon as i head their way."

I'm with Brandon here (how's that locust goin anyway?). It's fair to charge to get to a job. When I have subs, I pay them to go to the job but they go home on their own time; standard for all contractors, imo. but employees are another thing; you gotta pay em for all the time they're in your control or in your truck.

Morale issues are one thing, and it Seems there could be a liability issue too if they are off your clock and something happens...

 

[teamtree]

I agree with you al of you. Just curious as to what others do. I pay my guys very well and I pay them for all the time they spend in my trucks. I also pay them for most of their lunch period. We usually take more than a half hour but I tell them to deduct only a half hour. It is worth it to me to have the quality of help I have. I was more curious as to what other companies percentages were for drive time. I live in a rural area so I know my drive time is high but I was just curious as to what others spend getting to and from job sites, like in a highly populated area.

I apologize for wording my question.

 

[okietreedude1]

let me ask this variety to the question: you/owner lands an out of town contract and they/empl. ride in the company vehicle everyday to and from (from office to other town and back)...Do you pay drive for each person each direction every day?

 

[teamtree]

I usually pay a for both ways but I know a guy who pays for the ride in the morning but not the ride home.

I live in a rural area and sometimes the ride to/from the site is 45 minutes to 1 hour.

But I feel that is there time I am using to get the job done so I should pay for it. They can do anything they want during that time.

Last Monday...I paid two guys to drive around with me to find a part for our equipment. But I did not want to send them home that day cause our equipment broke down. Part of business

 

[woodchux]

My guys get paid from the time i pick them up, until the time i drop them off. If they work hard i'll pad the hours.

 

[stehansen]

I pay my guys as soon as they get to my house, it kind of bugs me to pay them to sleep in the truck on the way to the job, but I know it is part of the deal. If you made them drive their own car to the job you wouldn't have to pay them but because you are giving them a ride you have to pay them. You just have to figure out if what you pay them per day is worth it to you and factor in all the non productive time into your price.

 

[texasnative]

I pay by the day. Sometimes we have long, hardworking days...sometimes we have easy piece of cake days. There are several days a week that I am in the bank parkinglot balancing my account before noon. Sometimes it's almost dark before we get back home. It all works out and my employees are happy. Keep em happy and they'll keep you happy.

 

[treeseer]

Drive time can be professional development time. Keep some quality reading material in the truck and they can read and discuss things while traveling. Safety, techniques, PHC, Tree Biology, all that stuff. each helper gets all the isa brochures and is expected to know the material well enough to explain it to a client.

 

[jimmyq]

.

 

[Jim1NZ]

I would expect to be payed from the time i got to the yard and back (on time to work that is)

Unless contracting, payed when on site until the tree is on the ground