Terms and conditions - pay rates in particular

[Joe]

Fair enough - apologies for sticking my beak in. Nothing personal.

 

Dont worry about it mate, cheers for giving a dam.

[Alasdair]

I think that you have to weigh each employee individually & pay them acordingly. A newly qualified ND student may not be able to climb FA but he has all his tickets. A hard working aprintice, no tickets with you paying for all his training but is early to yard, grafts all day & a good learner with potential to lead a team. An ausome climber whos quick efficient, never damages property & is above all safe but is then i'll at least 1 or 2 days every week. A lead climber whos compitent yet not the quickest but with exelent client manner & business knowlege & skills who can litraly run the show while u go on holiday. What is each worth to you??? Pay them acordingly

Personally:

 

ND lad allthe gear no idea £65/day but could see rapid rises to £100/day in the 1st year or so, or dick around & stay on £65-75

Aprentice with ton's of potential £70/day increasing as he gets his tickets

Good climber with sh*t atendance £80/day possibly less/day but with an atendance bonus for a clear week

Lead climber who can run the show £100-£160/day dependant on experiance.

 

after reading that sounds like there is very mixed views on what to pay so, as a wondering how much would you be willing to pay for someone with own ppe cs 30, 31, 38 and 39 just left college and couldnt find work?

 

when i was hunting around for jobs everyone that i spoke to said i would be paid about 6.50 - 7 quid an hour which i thought was reasonable for someone in my situation. the hardest thing i found was that no one was interested in me because i had no experience and im still finding it hard just now but is that because of the econimy or is that just folk would rather have someone who knew what they were doing and could make them money with no hassel?

[Stephen Blair]

hi alisdair, when looking for work, i see it no different if you own your own business or are looking for a job, its all the same. you have to make as good a package as poss for the person who is giving you money. if i were you, i would go to the job shop and look into apprenticeships, do all the research and try and get something from them. if you did this then you could offer a lot more to an employer ie free/cheap labour. things are really tight in our area just now, the only work that is being done is council stuff before the year end. there are just too many at it imo. big companies will drop you the minute work dries up and small ones dont want to commit. it took me years to get into this game round here, i had to go to glasgow for a start, and i lied to get that job. good luck.

[Jason James Gairn]

Rather than fixating on qualifications which are easy to come by, or working for pocket money, try just climbing trees every day, climb climb climb. Its the skill that earns the top money so go and practice it in downtime. Plus its fun and free.

I'm not impressed by the theory that a worker has to work from the chipper up.

[Alasdair]

JJG that pretty much what ive been doing been out climbing when and where i can,

 

the working from the chipper up i dont mind im not expecting to start with someone and be straight up the trees as far as im concerned its all a learning curve and as long as ive got money coming in and a job ill be happy and hard working to make a good impression plus i always ask lots of questions

[Jason James Gairn]

JJG that pretty much what ive been doing been out climbing when and where i can,

 

the working from the chipper up i dont mind im not expecting to start with someone and be straight up the trees as far as im concerned its all a learning curve and as long as ive got money coming in and a job ill be happy and hard working to make a good impression plus i always ask lots of questions

 

Asking questions all the time is great Al, just remember not everyone with a big mouth knows what they're talking about. When I first started I climbed everything I could find from trees to cliffs to buildings to electricity pylons to PA systems and girls legs. It defined me on every level, that's what I was, a climber. I was able to show confidence in the tree to my first boss (Hammersmith Council Tree gang). By the end of the week I was climbing Limes with a silky. I never looked back, and never was a full time groundie ever again.

It's possible to circumvent the traditional path to enlightenment via some shrewd investments in ones ability to climb well. Its a personal thing I guess Al, but without the climbing It's tedious.

I retired from climbing for money last year, couldn't stand the idea of being a groundie or a tree officer. I'm a purist I guess, and probably an elitist snob too.

[Stuart A-C]

I think that you have to weigh each employee individually & pay them acordingly.

So do the heavier staff get more than the lighter ones or is it the other way round?

[gibbon]

So do the heavier staff get more than the lighter ones or is it the other way round?

 

Fat ones get less cos they can't prune.

[Hairyloon]

I am pretty tired of the arb industry falling behind on staff care and investment when compared with other industries.

I agree. I've worked for six firms. Only two had good staff care. One was barely acceptable, and the other three were downright crooks.

 

Of these, the worst should have been the best, considering who has put her name to them, but they were quite clearly out for the money, above tree care, customer care and certainly staff care.

 

It may be that I just encountered a dodgy branch of the firm and the rest of it does it right, but the contract came from head office so I don't think so.

 

Why can't all these certifying organisations (like the AA) also cover basic staff welfare?

Edited March 15, 2009 by Hairyloon

[Mesterh]

Why can't all these certifying organisations (like the AA) also cover basic staff welfare?

 

They are probably too busy checking if there trucks have covers on the battery terminals tbh

 

 

Out of all the lads I've worked along side with over the years (sorry no girls involved, not being sexist) I would say that I would only employee approx 20% of them, the others were wasters who thought they were over worked, under paid and always got the crappy jobs to do! Not one of them ever thought that they were poor groundsmen/climbers all thought a lot more highly of themselves than they were worth.

 

Lol they would prob say the same a bout me though:001_tongue: