Has the world changed?

[oldwoodcutter]

Yep we’re doing more and more for one of the big utility firms and of course they want to know who everyone is on their site and what tickets they hold, with all the assessments as standard practice nowadays.

[Ashley-Middleton]

On 22/09/2019 at 12:25, Old Mill Tree Care said:

Oh I totally agree with you Bob. That's the root problem and reason that we are in the position we're in but we can't change it overnight and I need staff to appear overnight. ?

I had one guy leave in a tantrum recently because he felt undervalued/felt he should be rewarded massively for his short service here. He had no comprehension of the cost to me/my business for his development. It is just a typical example of someone feeling entitled and wanting everything NOW. Of course, if he'd stuck around for another day he'd have discovered just how valued he was and the enormity of what was about to be literally handed to him.

The general attitude of "I deserve it now!" is what really riles me.

Sorry for the rant. ?

Apologies all, it's an essay!

 

I thought it pertinent to make a response. I’m not one for backwards and forwards arguing across the internet, but when comments are made that I believe are in relation to me and not entirely factual, then it’s the time to speak out.

 

I believe I am the member of staff that Al (Old Mill Tree Care) is relating to in his post stating a member of staff left in a tantrum. I don’t feel I left in a tantrum; yes, it may have been unexpected and with no notice, but that is one of the disadvantages to using self-employed staff. You can’t take all the benefits such as being able to drop them when you want (like you have done) and not expect them to exercise their right to choose when they work and who for. I turned up to work, told you I would no longer work for you as I felt you did not appreciate, respect or value me. I took my kit and left. Not exactly the definition of a tantrum.

 

You say I thought I should be rewarded massively for my short service working for you. My “short service” was in fact a period of 22 months almost to the day. At no point did I expect to be rewarded massively, I just wished to be rewarded fairly. You also say that I had no comprehension of the cost to your business for my development; I disagree. Whenever money was discussed, I said numerous times I understood that I was not fully productive whilst in a harness and even attempted to agree a different rate so that when you gave me experience in the harness, I would charge you less. I’m not naive, I know the investment but your biggest asset in an arb company are your staff, not the £2 ratchet strap that’s gone missing.

 

I hope I am not an example of feeling entitled and wanting everything now. At no point in my 22 months did I ask, request or demand for anything unreasonable. In fact, I can remember one instance of notifying you of a day where I was unavailable, with 3 weeks and 4 days’ notice, for you to tell me it was an issue and I couldn’t have it off. You then told other staff they could not work as I had taken it off last minute and could not rearrange.

 

I find it coincidental, that if I had stuck around for just one more day then I would have found out how valued I was. Surely it should not take almost 2 years to be found valued. That should happen from day 1 and continue thereon. I would love to know what was literally about to be handed to me; really, I would.

 

You also mention in another post about how long someone was destined to stay; I assume this relates to me as well. I was open from the beginning, that if I was given the right opportunities then I had absolutely no intention of going elsewhere. It got to a point where I felt I wasn’t getting the right opportunities on top of the other issues. This is quite evident to me as there are many occasions where I went several weeks without putting a harness on. Furthermore, after stopping working for you I have moved into a completely different field of work. I have not jumped ship into a different company.

 

So that’s kind of the end of my response to your posts, but for those who are interested here is some more information that explains the situation a bit more.

 

I did not go to a college, I took the route of self-funding my NPTC’s at Kingswood and obtained my 30, 31, 38, 39, Grinder and Chipper tickets. I also have a full clean driving license and I too funded my B+E trailer licence. I started with Al completely green. He gave me plenty of work for which I am grateful. I started on £75 per day as a labour only sub-contractor. After I obtained my qualifications it remained at £75. Over the course of the 22 months it increased in small increments to £100 per day, but only ever when I asked (I understand, a subby sets his own rates, but Al does not treat his staff like subbies). The £100 day rate was literally for the last 2 weeks, so basically it rose from £75 to £95 over 21 months. For this day rate, I provided myself, climbing kit, saws, running the ropes, leading on jobs, I was driving your van and towing (towing license was essential as it was not a sub 750 chipper). Whenever I spoke about money, your reply would be that you had been meaning to speak to me about it, but hadn’t; you would have to check with your wife what you could afford; and that everyone on Arbtalk and Facebook lie about what they charge and what they pay staff. Therefore, I felt undervalued. Take out the not being 100% productive in a harness, I was a groundsperson providing all kit, self-employed, driving, towing and running jobs for £95 a day. At one point, your wife spoke to me and said that you saw me as a team leader/foreman and that I should speak to the other groundsperson (now left) about their attitude. This groundsperson left because they felt they were bullied and always blamed for general mishaps. This groundsperson was PAYE and stated to me they were on £75 per day (I work that out to be bang on minimum wage).

 

I think you possibly forget about the instances when you were in absent for prolonged periods of time. I will not mention details on here, but apart from quoting, invoicing and office admin, I virtually ran your company during these periods.

 

Quite often you would send us out to jobs with the wrong kit. I get it, it happens; but it happened a lot. Yes, it makes the job longer, harder and that affects your pocket. What doesn’t affect your pocket is staff safety. This was compromised several times during my short 22 month service. Three instances of corner cutting are in my mind; two roadside jobs when we were sent understaffed and without any appropriate traffic management; and a large dismantle where an old, out of LOLER rigging rope snapped and fortune was the only reason nobody was hurt. One of the last jobs I was on I thought I was about to see you get crushed due to a poor fell with no planning. This industry is dangerous enough, it doesn’t need to be made any more dangerous by not taking the appropriate kit and cutting corners.

 

I can admit, that throughout my time working for you, I didn’t raise all my personal issues (safety wise both myself and another climber did) with you. The reason is I found it very hard to approach you. You tend to tell people they are wrong and what they’ve seen/heard/know is incorrect. You are not always right, whether you agree with that is another matter, but you never admitted to my knowledge that you were wrong in any instance. There was always a reason or an excuse for what happened.

 

If things changed, I would consider working for you again. I have noticed your latest advert on indeed (I assume via an agency) and it states from £23,000 to £40,000. I do hope this is true as I never really saw it. If you wish to attempt to reconcile our relationship, I’m still on the same number and email. I will not be posting any further to this thread, hence the incredibly long essay covering everything I wish to say in one post. Some may say my response is defamatory and unnecessary. If I had any intent on airing this publicly, I would have done so three months ago when I left. I am merely replying to the post that, in my opinion, was about me and untruthful.