Frankie
I Build and Run Ported Saws !
The union has nothing to say about it imho
Business owners, do you expect a potential employee to negotiate pay?
- Thread starter Kabir424
- Start date
- Replies 78
- Views 6K
Depends on what it is. If you are undercutting your own trade then hell yes they have a huge problem with that. Each area is different, and each trade is too. Carpenters often rat on just about anything they can on the side, one of the many reasons they are treated like they are. Around here residential work is mainly non union, so my tree service means nothing. Now if i buy a crane and start running that all over town, I'll likely be followed to a job and asked to join the operators, which I'll hopefully be ready for. Then i can get way more commercial work, crane hire, and have qualified operators at my disposal. My end game is to have a signatory company with enough iron to make it almost self sufficient. Then maybe I'll have enough together to start a piping outfit as well.
Burnham
Woods walker
From the expert...
Frankie
I Build and Run Ported Saws !
Is that me .... or you ?
Burnham
Woods walker
Does sarcasm fly too high over your head to grasp? Let me 'splain it in more easily understood language...you.
At least I know I'm not one on this subject. You, on the other hand...
At least I know I'm not one on this subject. You, on the other hand...
Burnham
Woods walker
And here I am again, in a foolish attempt to even try to engage with this member. Not too bright of me.
Frankie
I Build and Run Ported Saws !
I’m not professing to be an expert at all , just giving another point of view. Awful surry that put a burr in your saddle 🤷♂️ The OP asked a question and I gave him my opinion- nothing more , nothing less sir
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There is a hell of a difference between a qualified opinion and just one of those that are like assholes......................everybody has one.
The second type is pretty much worthless in a thread like this.
'Bout worth as much to the OP as if I started spouting off about the rules and regulations in Denmark.
The second type is pretty much worthless in a thread like this.
'Bout worth as much to the OP as if I started spouting off about the rules and regulations in Denmark.
Frankie
I Build and Run Ported Saws !
Mick!
TreeHouser
You just make it about you Frankie, your silly stories with you as the hero, your boringly predictable opinions on unions, taxes or the job, fouling up the thread because you are bored and need a bit of friction.
You do it all the time.
You do it all the time.
Which simply says that the OP doesn't know you and doesn't know about the enormous amount of bullshit you put out.
As in ENORMOUS!
Now go split some wood, and show us lazy loggers how a real man works.
Frankie
I Build and Run Ported Saws !
Haha ! I’m buried under snow - no cutting / splitting today ... think I’ll dust off the Xbox and play some brothers in arms !
biggun
Monkey for Hire
Didn’t know Dire Staits had an Xbox game out.
Frankie
I Build and Run Ported Saws !
Brothers in arms : Hells Highway , excellent game. Hygge!
Frankie
I Build and Run Ported Saws !
Rubbish ... found an excellent read :
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ruel
TreeHouser
I worked in MA 8 years ago. I only had one year of experience, and left making $19/hr. Health insurance and 2 weeks vacation+ 5 sick days. Not great considering Boston cost of living but not too bad either.
Some of the foreman who were long time employees were in the $40/hr range from what I heard. With a month or more of vacation time.
Up here in Maine I was offered $17/hr to be a foreman for one of the big companies. I unintentionally laughed out loud at that offer, but apparently it's not uncommon up here.
What employers are willing to pay depends on the area. I negotiated more vacation/ sick time at two of my last jobs, always worth trying for.
Some of the foreman who were long time employees were in the $40/hr range from what I heard. With a month or more of vacation time.
Up here in Maine I was offered $17/hr to be a foreman for one of the big companies. I unintentionally laughed out loud at that offer, but apparently it's not uncommon up here.
What employers are willing to pay depends on the area. I negotiated more vacation/ sick time at two of my last jobs, always worth trying for.
Mellow
BCMA
As a business owner since 1985, I have hired some 50+ employees over the years. I always make the initial offer of hourly wages. It's usually accepted except for one or two times where the potential employee asked for a higher wage. My counter offer has been to accept my offer for a trial period of one to two weeks and then renegotiate. The employee either proves himself worthy... or not.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #68
I wanted to update you all regarding my job hunt and what that pay scale has looked like. I am sorry that this is a bit of a wall of text. It might give some of you business owners some perspective about what it is like from our end when we are looking for a job as a crewleader.
I got a few offers from companies in my immediate area with one of them from one of the very large tree companies. The one from the very large company started at $27/hour but I would get pay increases for another $3/hour if I met their training requisites. That was basically 3 progressive raises of $1/hour as I would meet their requisites. I had the skills but I had to complete their curriculum to be viewed on paper to meet those requirements. Plus they would pay half of my health insurance that would be run through them after I think 30 days of employment. They provided all of the climbing gear and would give me a boot/sawpants yearly stipend. All of that is above board. The only exception is that I had no paid days off for a full year. Especially during this time of Covid that basically took them off the board for me. I also didn't really care for the corporate structure.
The only other decent local company only paid $27/hour and didn't provide healthcare, gear stipend, etc. They would replace my personal gear as it got worn but that was it. They also were focused primarily on removals and my personal preference is heavier on pruning than removals as well as doing cabling etc. I knew I could do better so they got removed from my list.
I got a great offer of $30/hour plus great perks from a really great company. The only issue was that it was on Martha's Vineyard. I couldn't make that work due to the housing issues on the island. If I was single and happy to live in smaller quarters I would happily be there. Really great company and I wish they were somewhere more accessible.
I got a great offer from a company on the New England coastline for $32/hour plus 1/2 of insurance, 3 weeks paid time off, and perks. Great company with wonderful equipment and a really great owner. But, that area was not going to work out for my wife and I as a living situation so I had to say no. We had a lot of long discussions about this but in the end I 100% support my wife in her request to let that one go. It was for the better even if that was a damn shame.
I did end up taking a job with a company in central Vermont. Pay was decent at $27/hour with room to advance financially over time and in different positions and they paid 1/2 of my insurance after 30 days of employment. Housing is expensive in the area and I had a very temporary living situation up a very difficult dirt road. That road was doing terrible things to my poor little car and I just couldn't find better living situations for a reasonable amount of money. The company recently got purchased by one of the big corporations but definitely one of the better of the big ones. No issue with paid time off like the other one. In the end I had to quit there. I put in my 2 weeks as I had an offer from another company. The management immediately wanted to increase my pay and find me better housing. They have seen what I can do and how I can manage a crew and I was what they were looking for. I do wish I had given them more of a chance and had gone to them earlier. I do have inexperience with this movement between companies. I figured since I couldn't make it work with the housing in the area that it was on me to find employment elsewhere. I am used to being independent and not asking for help and my pride got in the way of talking to them first before seeking and accepting a position elsewhere. I have nothing but respect for the management and this company as a whole.
The company where I am currently employed is in southern Vermont. The pay is $35/hour with no contribution towards health insurance but they do supply saw pants/boots etc. They also replace my private climbing gear as it is worn. The owner has worked for a number of companies over the years and really knows what it is like to work for shitty bosses that work people to the bone. He has been a wonderful boss to me. With that said, his good and easy going nature is the source of my biggest complaint. A lot of my fellow employees are not used to working like I am used to working. I have never worked with tree workers as lazy as these are. The owner is an amazing tree worker and he works at 110% all day every day. One other older guy that works with us also gives his 110%. The rest of them are varying degrees of lazy. I am not a crewleader yet with this company but I have already butted heads with a couple of people because I would say something. They fully expect to lean on their rakes for 20 mins and watch me and the older guy hustle our asses off. More often than not I am biting my tongue most of the time but its really hard to do that when I see how lazy they are. I am used to giving this work my all and to lead by example. It doesn't matter to my fellow employees. I did have a conversation with my boss and I will be taking the reigns as a crewleader soon and folks are going to have get to work or I might have to find work elsewhere. I hate working with lazy people because then it is just a race to the bottom in effort and it drives me insane. I get a lot of satisfaction out of being productive. Sorry about the rant folks. I really hope this works out with this company. I hate bouncing around and would like to work for a good company for a while. Oh, my only other big complaint is that they are not as safety focused as I am. They are safety focused and they are implementing more safety strategies over time but I am definitely the safety police out of all of them. They all wear eye and head protection and wear saw protection every single time they operate a chainsaw. It's just some of the finer points that I am more of stickler for that we are working on.
Lastly, with some of these companies I did negotiate a higher pay. With some of them I already knew due to other factors that no amount of negotiating pay would make me want to work with them. My current employer offered me the top rate from his advertisement of $35/hour right off the bat and I thought that was a generous offer and accepted.
I got a few offers from companies in my immediate area with one of them from one of the very large tree companies. The one from the very large company started at $27/hour but I would get pay increases for another $3/hour if I met their training requisites. That was basically 3 progressive raises of $1/hour as I would meet their requisites. I had the skills but I had to complete their curriculum to be viewed on paper to meet those requirements. Plus they would pay half of my health insurance that would be run through them after I think 30 days of employment. They provided all of the climbing gear and would give me a boot/sawpants yearly stipend. All of that is above board. The only exception is that I had no paid days off for a full year. Especially during this time of Covid that basically took them off the board for me. I also didn't really care for the corporate structure.
The only other decent local company only paid $27/hour and didn't provide healthcare, gear stipend, etc. They would replace my personal gear as it got worn but that was it. They also were focused primarily on removals and my personal preference is heavier on pruning than removals as well as doing cabling etc. I knew I could do better so they got removed from my list.
I got a great offer of $30/hour plus great perks from a really great company. The only issue was that it was on Martha's Vineyard. I couldn't make that work due to the housing issues on the island. If I was single and happy to live in smaller quarters I would happily be there. Really great company and I wish they were somewhere more accessible.
I got a great offer from a company on the New England coastline for $32/hour plus 1/2 of insurance, 3 weeks paid time off, and perks. Great company with wonderful equipment and a really great owner. But, that area was not going to work out for my wife and I as a living situation so I had to say no. We had a lot of long discussions about this but in the end I 100% support my wife in her request to let that one go. It was for the better even if that was a damn shame.
I did end up taking a job with a company in central Vermont. Pay was decent at $27/hour with room to advance financially over time and in different positions and they paid 1/2 of my insurance after 30 days of employment. Housing is expensive in the area and I had a very temporary living situation up a very difficult dirt road. That road was doing terrible things to my poor little car and I just couldn't find better living situations for a reasonable amount of money. The company recently got purchased by one of the big corporations but definitely one of the better of the big ones. No issue with paid time off like the other one. In the end I had to quit there. I put in my 2 weeks as I had an offer from another company. The management immediately wanted to increase my pay and find me better housing. They have seen what I can do and how I can manage a crew and I was what they were looking for. I do wish I had given them more of a chance and had gone to them earlier. I do have inexperience with this movement between companies. I figured since I couldn't make it work with the housing in the area that it was on me to find employment elsewhere. I am used to being independent and not asking for help and my pride got in the way of talking to them first before seeking and accepting a position elsewhere. I have nothing but respect for the management and this company as a whole.
The company where I am currently employed is in southern Vermont. The pay is $35/hour with no contribution towards health insurance but they do supply saw pants/boots etc. They also replace my private climbing gear as it is worn. The owner has worked for a number of companies over the years and really knows what it is like to work for shitty bosses that work people to the bone. He has been a wonderful boss to me. With that said, his good and easy going nature is the source of my biggest complaint. A lot of my fellow employees are not used to working like I am used to working. I have never worked with tree workers as lazy as these are. The owner is an amazing tree worker and he works at 110% all day every day. One other older guy that works with us also gives his 110%. The rest of them are varying degrees of lazy. I am not a crewleader yet with this company but I have already butted heads with a couple of people because I would say something. They fully expect to lean on their rakes for 20 mins and watch me and the older guy hustle our asses off. More often than not I am biting my tongue most of the time but its really hard to do that when I see how lazy they are. I am used to giving this work my all and to lead by example. It doesn't matter to my fellow employees. I did have a conversation with my boss and I will be taking the reigns as a crewleader soon and folks are going to have get to work or I might have to find work elsewhere. I hate working with lazy people because then it is just a race to the bottom in effort and it drives me insane. I get a lot of satisfaction out of being productive. Sorry about the rant folks. I really hope this works out with this company. I hate bouncing around and would like to work for a good company for a while. Oh, my only other big complaint is that they are not as safety focused as I am. They are safety focused and they are implementing more safety strategies over time but I am definitely the safety police out of all of them. They all wear eye and head protection and wear saw protection every single time they operate a chainsaw. It's just some of the finer points that I am more of stickler for that we are working on.
Lastly, with some of these companies I did negotiate a higher pay. With some of them I already knew due to other factors that no amount of negotiating pay would make me want to work with them. My current employer offered me the top rate from his advertisement of $35/hour right off the bat and I thought that was a generous offer and accepted.
Burnham
Woods walker
Keep us in the loop, brother.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #73
He works some jobs with me and then some he doesn't. It depends on the job and it depends on how much PHC he has to go do.
Jr DTS
Treehouser
Anyone that wants to negotiates what there worth before they show you what there worth isnt worth a second of your time IMHO
