What are you paying your employees?

[forestboy1978]

2 minutes ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Especially if you are paying for training!

good ****ing point. 

 

Dammit!

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

1 hour ago, Gary Prentice said:

Probably cos the tree business is small, soft, target, without the case complexity and big legal that chasing someone like Balfour would involve. Google and Amazon comes to mind. If you're going to do battle, human nature is to choose a weaker opponent.

That can back fire when they pick on the wrong 'soft target' though Gazzer!

[TIMON]

 
I'm a fencer btw. Just qualed as a tree surgeon i.e bloody good fencer but crap tree surgeon. Not sure which way I'm going with it ATM.  
 
 

Haha, at least you’ll be able to efficiently repair the inevitable, initial fence ‘collateral’ that happens when you first start climbing. The better you get at tree work the more your fencing skills will deteriorate. [emoji51]

[aspenarb]

Because my lads cant keep their traps shut and discuss their earnings over tea breaks  I have to pay them all the same . In reality some are worth double what I pay and others half,  I also keep tabs on the onus of earnings per man before I make anything which is currently around £200 a day per man .

 

Bob

[forestboy1978]

17 minutes ago, aspenarb said:

Because my lads cant keep their traps shut and discuss their earnings over tea breaks  I have to pay them all the same . In reality some are worth double what I pay and others half,  I also keep tabs on the onus of earnings per man before I make anything which is currently around £200 a day per man .

 

Bob

I don't ever want to totally down tools cos I suffer from depression if I'm not physically active every day but that said... can you spend a day in the office and send them out without catastrophe when needed or do you have to be on site all the time?

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

2 hours ago, forestboy1978 said:

good ****ing point. 

 

Dammit!

There's a bit more to it as well...

 

Training costs - are you expecting to submit them as deductibles?  Some caution required there - HMRC may take the view that adding a new skill is not a deductible expense whereas refreshing an existing one or undertaking a course that is required (refreshers / first aid for example) might be.

 

Good for you considering paying for the guys upskilling, but there may be better ways to skin that cat.  

[forestboy1978]

Yes but only clearly if I take the guys on the books. 

 

They will be deductible cos HMRC simply cannot claim that a training course that makes a team member legal to on site and covered by insurance is an expense not an investment. 

 

One would think....

[aspenarb]

9 hours ago, forestboy1978 said:

I don't ever want to totally down tools cos I suffer from depression if I'm not physically active every day but that said... can you spend a day in the office and send them out without catastrophe when needed or do you have to be on site all the time?

I think the answer to that is down to the efficiency of the team leaders. Our domestic tree team side of things pretty much run their own show, the lads on tracks and landscape manage ok without too much of my time , forestry work is generally  long term and never that pressing in as much as you get as far as you get and the rest runs into the next year, site clearance is balls out within a tight schedule and you have to be there . Other than that most of my time is spent on maintenance, running about making sure materials and kit are in place, the odd spell in a machine when needed and  some office work , most of the man management, H&S , pricing and paperwork is full on and done by the two in the office.

 

Bob

[eggsarascal]

9 hours ago, aspenarb said:

Because my lads cant keep their traps shut and discuss their earnings over tea breaks  I have to pay them all the same . 

 

Bob

I've never understood this. When I worked on the Motorways all the lads on the gang would do it then get arguing amongst themselves. If anyone asked me what money I was on I used to say nothing. These same lads never seemed to go and see the boss to negotiate a pay rise. I was on more money than most of them because I used to hear them talking amongst themselves. It always made me smile.

[Shane]

30 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

I've never understood this. When I worked on the Motorways all the lads on the gang would do it then get arguing amongst themselves. If anyone asked me what money I was on I used to say nothing. These same lads never seemed to go and see the boss to negotiate a pay rise. I was on more money than most of them because I used to hear them talking amongst themselves. It always made me smile.

They paid you more money because you heard them talking amongst themselves?