Good wage for a groundie/Inexperienced climber?

[MattyF]

I concur- £60 plus a hard-work bonus at the end of the week, this weeds out the w@nkrs. I he is good an a fast learner- he will soon get the big bucks- an not turn into an egotisicalclimber who thinks he should be paid for wiping his a......

 

£60 a day for mine only basic lantra saw certs ,but he was on £80 a day this week becouse he worked his @rse off!

[conkers]

The skills needed in many aspects of grounding should mean a good wage in return.

The reality is that across the hort/agric/arb in fact anything in the land based industry- pay is naff.

The economics do not add up.

There are not enough customers in Britain to pay the number of tree companies with two man, well equipped, pro teams any more than £300 a day let alone £400 a day which is nearer the mark.

Loads of us get fustrated by the money but love [most] of the work.

Money does'nt grow on trees but it's fun looking,cheesey:ohmy:

[Rentachimp]

I don't think I've ever taken home more than a grand a month after tax without doing cash-in-hand on weekends. My last treework position, bearing in mind I had 4 years experience, Full first aid, mewp, felling and top handle and all below it, was £220 a week.

 

I earn 17 1/2k now though. Working behind a desk for the National Assembly for Wales. I would like to say I regret the decision, but it's made me realise how ludicrously hard I worked as an arbo. This is a piece of cake!

[Andy Collins]

A lot of talk of "hard work" bonuses, but in reality how will this work? Unless the boss is on site himself to see it, favouritsm will determine the recipient. Bonuses rarely favour the employee, only the employer. Bonuses are taxable, which can lead to problems if the person is a family man receiving benefits due to being on a low income, and thus losing out on some benefits, and in fact ending up having less money coming into the house, (I've been there, had the t-shirt). Just pay the men a fair wage for a fair days work, get rid of the deadwood, and chuck in a fry-up now and again, re-evaluate them now and again, giving a rise when afforable.

Makes me laugh with all these employers wanting to be seen as better than the agricultural sector, yet only wanting to pay out as little as possible, for what is a tough and demanding trade.

[Mike Hill]

Excellent post Andy.I agree with what you said,especially the part about favoritisim.You just get on better with some than others,be them your co-workers or employee's.

 

Being as impartial and fair as possible is just another part of being self employed I guess eh.

[Mozza]

Well said Andy

[18 stoner]

A lot of talk of "hard work" bonuses, but in reality how will this work? Unless the boss is on site himself to see it, favouritsm will determine the recipient. Bonuses rarely favour the employee, only the employer. Bonuses are taxable, which can lead to problems if the person is a family man receiving benefits due to being on a low income, and thus losing out on some benefits, and in fact ending up having less money coming into the house, (I've been there, had the t-shirt). Just pay the men a fair wage for a fair days work, get rid of the deadwood, and chuck in a fry-up now and again, re-evaluate them now and again, giving a rise when afforable.

Makes me laugh with all these employers wanting to be seen as better than the agricultural sector, yet only wanting to pay out as little as possible, for what is a tough and demanding trade.

 

Nice one Andy, i spent far too long working in agric but, i can assure anyone who doesnt know, arb is harder!

 

I do believe the day rate is a sliding scale though, for instance a young lad who can drag brash well, but no more must be worth around £40. Wereas an experienced one with all tickets, saw, MEWP, chipper, ariel rescue, occasional climber, etc, etc, who doesnt spend half the day texting his girlfriend, must be worth nearer £90.

 

Just my view, but feel free to shoot me down. I just think a fair days pay for a fair days wage.

[Mr Ed]

IMO opinion, any bonus should be on top of an existing good wage, and only in situations were piecework is possible, e.g., volume of timber cut, number of trees planted, number of trees climbed and pruned, number of kilometers of powerline cleared.

 

Bonus should also be distributed between teams, not individually.

[Andy R]

bonus system is dodgy for reasons already stated...one thing our boss has always done is offered the chance of saturday work for very good money...100quid on top of your weeks wages for, sometimes, less than a days work is a nice bonus with no strings attached.

[RPA]

My view on bonus was from the point of view of a small sole trader.

 

A bonus would be in no way to replace a decent wage but to give a little back when things are going well (in the same way as a fry-up).

 

Its also true that a groundy ay be worth £90/day but a company may only be able to pay £70/day week in week out and £90/day would put everyone out of work.

If the workers are that good things will hopefully progress business wise and the basic wage will follow.

 

As a sole trader I took on an employee on I would pay as much as the business could for the right person. I would still also reward them - fry-up, year end bonus, or whatever