why do some tree companies pay by the hour?

[kf_tree]

it just seems counter productive......i get my jobs in the morning and bang them out as fast as i can, to get home. if guys are getting paid by the hour don't they just milk the job?


i can't see the advantage to paying a tree crew by the hour.

 

[fwf]

If they get paid by the job, don't they do it as fast as possible with no regard for the quality of the work, just to get done?

 

[clearance]

Guys don't "milk it" cause the good ones take pride in working hard and getting production. Where I work we all get paid by the hour, my boss bids work for a set price or by the hour, doesn't matter to me cause it's all work regardless. Buzz jobs after work however are a balls to the wall, fast as you can, gun to your head type of show because you want to get home a.s.a.p. with extra cash in your jeans. You cannot work at that pace everyday, just work hard and steady at your real job, people that are dogf%^*$#@s should be fired.

 

[MasterBlaster]

There are basically four ways to get paid in this industry. By the hour, by the job, by the day, and lastly - a salaried position. I always seemed to get screwed doing the last two, and hourly pay makes the employer scrutinize your time on the clock.
I prefer to get paid per job, or hourly. NEVER by the day or even worse - salary.

 

[vharrison2]

Wouldn't it depend on the salary? Working as close to 40 as possible?40-43 hours

 

[MasterBlaster]

The hours always seem to increase, while the pay remains the same. IME.

 

[vharrison2]

penden on who you work for!!!!!!!

 

[kf_tree]

i prefer getting a day rate......my boss expects to get x amount done in a day, and the quicker i get it done the quicker i go home. i'd say 80% of my work is removal and most of the pruning we do is job specific, house clearance, light in pool etc. so what is the quality of work that can suffer? we only bid jobs by price not by hour, so it's my job to make time on the job.

when i worked i GA it was an hourly thing. one day i was the only climber out of 3 that showed up. the job was a bunch of removals in a backyard. they told me to get done what i can and we'll finish tommorrow with the other climbers.....well i had all the tree's on the ground by 12;30. then they expected me to chip brush to finish the day out.....go scratch, i just saved you how much money? by doing the job with one climber and you thought you needed 3?

today for example i was done by 1:15 . so i would of had to milk the jobs til 5:00 to get a full days pay.

 

[vharrison2]

we only bid jobs by price not by hour/QUOTE]

The hourly rate is probably figured into the price, as well as other factors. Danger, drop zone ect.

 

[kf_tree]

we only bid jobs by price not by hour/QUOTE]

The hourly rate is probably figured into the price, as well as other factors. Danger, drop zone ect.

oh sure......but my point is the customer gets a flat price. so if it takes 3 hours or 6 its still the same price.

 

[Ekka]

I usually pay contract climbers by the day and core staff by the hour, but I rarely work a climber past 8 hours a day and in most cases they're gone by 7 hours. If I do exceed the 8 hour zone I'll usually pay them extra. But I don't have them climbing for 8 hours either ... you don't abuse these guys.

I don't like to pay climbers by the job or climb as I want them to gel with the crew and help in clean up. Otherwise they'll bang the tree down in 3 massive bits and piss off leaving the crew with a ????fight.

I find it easier for me to keep a handle on costs if I'm paying core crew by the hour, if we look like finishing early I'll get them doing some maintenace etc to top the day up. It gives me some flexibility and discourages me from pushing extra value out of that day rate by keeping them there till dark! A lot of other tree co's do that ... it's a daily rate but poor guys always do a 10 to 12 hour day.

 

[kf_tree]

The hours always seem to increase, while the pay remains the same. IME.

the hours increasing wouldn't really bother me........because if my days get longer then that means i'm putting more on the ground than the origional "x" he was shooting for in a day. therefore i just justified more money.

 

[MasterBlaster]

There is no "more money" when you are salaried, and you work overtime. Just like there is no "less money" when you're rained out/whatnot. Salary is salary, it doesn't change.

 

[kf_tree]

There is no "more money" when you are salaried, and you work overtime. Just like there is no "less money" when you're rained out/whatnot. Salary is salary, it doesn't change.

says you.....the way i see it like this....there are those that work at the bottom, middle and top of the pay scale......then there are the few that set the pay scale.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Some companies has amendments to a salary contract that increases the pay if the hours become increased. But most companies strictly adhere to the definition of "salary."

"Salary" means "Screw me."

Usually.

 

[TreeJunkie]

I agree w/ the Blaster hourly is the way to go...If i sub for someone else i always stick w/ the hourly.(with a minimum to show)

I did the daily thing a couple years back in NC, and got screwed working 12-13 hrs a day.

Didn't care for the salary position either. While at my previous job i started out as an hourly,and then became salaried. Really sucked have to come in on rain days to do nothing better than sweep the shop or jack off w/ something unimportant. Or on the other hand: I remember the first two weeks on salary ended up working 60-65 hrs, and hardly saw a penny except in the production bonus; which ended up being half of what the overtime would have been.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Both times in my life that I worked salary the work week was a lot longer than 40 hours. AND neither of those stints comped for any extra time. When the field crews got a snow day the supers still had to come in and get work done. Then, we had to still come in on the make-up work day too. Six day weeks AND missing out on ski day is not good.

 

[Jim1NZ]

Yesterday i took down a 45 foot pin oak. Not a big job or anything, but i was working for the boss.
Now i would have had it down in an hour max and left the one groundie to chip and deal with the lot if i was contracted in for the job.
I reckon, and with it being pin oak, he would have been there for 3 days cleaning up the pile of mess, but he would have told the boss to get f***ed half way through the second day.
Because we worked together, with me coming down and helping chip when the brush got too much, we got it done in 5 hours.

So i agree with Ekka in saying its better for a contractor to slow down and help with the clean up in certain circumstances and get payed accordingly.

Im happy with hourly rates or day rates, it just pisses me off when the employer blatantly abuses the contractor. Ill just charge out at higher rates to them.

 

[jason j ladue]

an hourly rate seems the fairest for the employee, and easiest/most accurate for the boss to keep track of costs. sometimes you (the employer) get skinny cows, sometimes fat. hopefully this does not depend on weather or not the crew is dragging ass. if you have a crew that milks the clock, it is because they feel like there is no incentive for them to bust ass, or they just suck. if your crew is honest and skilled -reward them when they get it done for ya. usually, even the slightest acknowledgement of a job well done goes a long way. if you get a nice big profit on a job- spread the wealth around a little bit. i helped on a job recntly where we were working on/removing 17 trees. the job was finished over a period of two days. took a total of twelve hours. i did like nine of those trees and the boss did the other seven. i was makking 25$/hr. and he had two guys hired for the ground work. no clean up, just get the brush out of sight. he had bid the job @ 5200$ he made out like a bandit. the home owner was tickled pink. when i hit the ground done w/ the last tree. the boss walked up and handed me one brand new frankiln. smiled and said good job. pretty nice. he bought dinner too and beers too. it wasnt that much considering the greasy wad of cash in his pocket, but believe me, the next time he calls, he can know dam well that i'll be there ready to kick a$$ again.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

JJ's right. I've found with my guys, showing appreciation for hard work is easy. as a boss, get a crate of ale for the boys, take 'em out to dinner or give them a bit of extra cash. Appreciation goes a long way, whereas ignoring hard work is never forgotten; it only encourages them to swing the lead next time there on there own...