I do tree work as a side hustle and typically I use family on the jobs that I need ground crew for. I'm having trouble finding enough weekends to make it all work and I'm wanting to hire a part time person to help me when I take vacation days from my daily job. I have the guy but I want to have him covered under workers compensation , I was thinking about trying to hire him thru a temp agency let them put a markup on his wages and he's covered and ran thru as normal payroll vs 1099. I have general liabity insurance and I'm sure I could add workers compensation but for a few days a month it doesn't seem very practical. I was wondering if there were any better ideas out there.
Hiring a part time hand
- Thread starter psmith0803
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Montana_Sam
ArboristSite Member
I'm in the same boat. Depending on what he (your helper) does as a real job you could have him get his contractors license...then you can just pay him straight wages. This, however, does not provide him with workers comp. For a few days a month workers comp is not practical, nor is it affordable, in my experience.
Well the temp agency finally got back to me, if I pay the ground guy $25.00 they want an all in fee of $40.00. That's certainly more than I was expecting (I was thinking around $10.00 up-charge). I may need to contact my G/L carrier and see what adding W/C to my policy would be. The problem is we're probably talking less than a 1500-2000 in labor which I doubt they will insure that small an amount.
Montana_Sam
ArboristSite Member
...I'd still go with the temp agency. Pass along the extra cost to the client, most folks understand that quality employees are hard to come by these days.
ClimberBusinessman
ArboristSite Operative
1099 only works if you don't set work hours, and they provide all their own tools, etc. Even if they have their own business, you can't just say "Show up at 9:00, we'll work till noon, take a break for 1 hour, and then work to 5:00", as that is setting their hours, and they will be considered a statutory employee. 1099 works better for say, a stump grinding subcontractor that you ask when he'd be available to grind a few stumps, and he uses his own grinder on his own schedule (but within your rough time-frame). In your situation, it sounds like you'd need to run them on payroll or hire through an agency that does that for you in order to be legal. You could try Onpay or Gusto or other payroll companies. Also, unless you are hiring them through an agency that provides it, you'll need worker's compensation insurance on them, unless you live in one of a handful of states that don't require it for very small companies, or Texas, which doesn't require it at all. However, even in those states, you're still liable for worker injuries, so I would strongly suggest getting it. Worker's compensation is based on the payroll amount, but there is usually a minimum premium amount of 1-1.5k per year, and percentage wise, it's around 8-25% of payroll for worker's comp in the tree class code.
Hiring the person through a reputable temp agency can be a viable option. The agency will handle the payroll, workers' compensation, and other administrative tasks. They will typically charge a markup on the worker's wages, but it ensures that the worker is properly covered and classified as an employee.
