Clutchy

Top tip for Barnet and north London councils - never provide pics just submit. They take 14 weeks to respond to TPO enquiries 6 weeks will have passed before they even look at the address for CA apps - they don't even bother responding I'm very close to becoming the guy who no longer applies for CA apps Given the number of TPO'd trees I've lost quotes on becuase I don't want to batter the tree, only for it to happen and the tree officer do nothing about it (not actually their fault, planning enforcement rarely has budget for TPO legal proceedings except for developments) Here's a recent specimen

Yes both

My newest recruit that I put through his climbing tickets last week rewarded me on Thursday by filling the EVO165 petrol with diesel and ran it for 3hrs (I'm actually impressed it lasted that long). It's all fun and games isn't it?

I too have been using the Facebook log goblins on our council work. It amazes me how quick they collect. Although some dick head decided to not park on the cycle track and instead churn up all the grass and get stuck in a communal area to save 5m walk I normally send someone the next day to confirm it's all gone and a quick blow. I always say that they cannot cut up on site. As I had it before a few years ago where someone decided to start cutting it up at 8pm and I get a call from the Council asking wtf we are doing 😑

In fairness I price everything higher than most so will get my usual hate; But i would genuinely be around the £15-20k + VAT mark. If it needed 40 man days then we aim for £450 + VAT per man per day. So that would be £18k Got a £19k single tree we are doing in a few weeks (inc crane and traffic management admittedly). Should have that done in 2-3 days though. Priced it so high as didn't want it and of course there the ones you always win.

Yep, 10 days seems totally possible. Especially if the drag is really crap (it is really crap as OP confirmed there is no access for skidsteers etc). If you want to keep staff morale up I'd certainly be saying work till whatever time gets you back to the yard for 14:30 if fairly local Not every job has to be done the fastest, if it's crap price it high, allow the time on it. Have done this several times and it's so worth it makes a crap job ok

Straight to instructor, maybe I was damaged since then 😂 Yeah I get it 100% that's how it should be, train basic stuff on the job, but feels like we are in a time where everyone is looking to sue, and so just trying to protect myself/the business Maybe overkill then

The fact that there are qualifications available and are readily used in the industry it will be argued in court that they should have one. I put staff through chainsaw tickets before they pick one up and climbing tickets before they get up a tree. Have fun fighting the court battle of why you let an untrained 18 year old up a tree even under your supervision fall and die when there are readily available courses out there. You also have no proof that you taught them best practice etc etc The qualifications don't mean anything- other than once they've got them it's then really time for us to start the real training. But it protects you from being sued.

Perfect that's mission accomplished, you've just wasted money on a solicitor that you can't claim back (you cannot claim legal costs in small claims). Local newspaper: "Local Tree surgery firm asks to be paid back partial training costs as agreed by employee breaching their contract, who left after being trained" Oh no what will the world think of me and my little business I'm hardly JCB 😂 Again just to be clear, I would only be this spiteful if it were really bad terms it was left on. Also, your example is of a clearly unfair and unreasonable contract signed by a 16 year old.

Wut?? That's not how it works. Or I'm not understanding what you're saying. Claiment (me) sues for £2k training costs Defendant (employee) puts their defense forward. If I win = £2k plus approx £90 court fees If I lose = nothing happens, the claim is dismissed, I lost out on the £90 Nothing really to lose and a small price to pay to worry them and inconvenience them. They would have to be the biggest A hole for me to do this I am actually a very nice employer I swear 😂 Edit: I think I know what you meant now, if I wasn't confident that I could deduct from their final pay - I would take them to court in which place if I lost there is nothing they can do to me and it's no public either.

What are they going to counter claim for? Or do you mean them start a claim against me for deducting wages? Yeah guess that's a risk but I'm pretty confident and for the sums involved no win no fee aren't going to bother and most tree surgeons don't know how the small claims process works so I'll be ite

Being in control (or more control) of your staff by being able to install values, culture and continuous improvement to get the best team you can. Other wise you've got one foot in and one foot out. Becuase you're too scared to go all in. IMO of course.

Sure, but for the 10 minutes it will take my admin to do it, I'll enforce the debt if they have left on bad terms. Whether I win or not I will annoy them or ruin their credit rating.

Cons are You're not committing to them - they're not going to commit to you. People skirting PAYE employment irrationally annoy me, if you're not going to play the business game for real stop playing at all and leave us to it.

Once they've done a month I start sending them on courses. Small stuff like first aid, chipper etc I just write off. Climbing, saws etc it's written into their contract and MORE importantly, I ask them before sending the bespoke training agreement for that course - if they're happy with said agreement. Agreement is that they pay it back if they leave within 24 months (I also add wages lost for the say 6 days they are off, to make the value larger). I then write into the agreement that the balance reduces by 1/24th for every month worked. Plus a few other conditions such as if you're fired and so on. The main reason to do this isn't whether it's enforceable or not, but most employees genuinely think they are tied in for 2 years when realistically they could easily pay it and leave. I will say all of my guys are here by choice I know I'm coming off as a tosser here. You absolutely can write into the contract and training agreement (which they must agree to) that any deductions can be removed from their final salary payment. I have had this confirmed and documents checked over by our HR consultant. Is it worth the battle? No, the last climber that left had £400 balance left. He swapped it for the 3 days holiday in owed him and called it quits. He comes back and subs to this day (is a barber 5 days a week lol)