Hiring Day Laborers

[Magnusfarce]

I'm going to begin prepping to paint the outside of my house soon, and want to wire brush by hand all the eaves and such. Unfortunately, a neck injury prevents me from doing that specific part of the job myself. I was considering hiring a day helper (here in SoCal you can find casual day laborers in front of Home Depot, among other places) to do this part of the job. When I mentioned this to a friend, he warned me away from the idea, saying that I should always be careful hiring someone like that, and especially not to put them up on ladders because at least some of them may be looking for an easy injury and liability lawsuit. Any advice on this?

- Magnusfarce

[jim]

you own a home, your homeowners insurance will cover injuries on guest top your house and postman, etc.. but will not cover a worker for you( thats why you need workmens compensation insurance for them.. and if you dont have it you gonna have to pay out your pocket for it.............. your friend is correct, if they get hurt(on a ladder is a real big possibility) then you gonna pay.. and having them at your hose, well i try to do just about everything at my house so i dont have to have any workers come to my house.. what if next week they think: oh this rich sob just gave me xxxxdollars and he can afford more, let me go over there and take his TV, rape his wife, cut his throat??? you get the idea..

[CBhvac]

Paranoia...let me explain something to you.....

IF and thats IF, someone wants what you have, be it your TV, your wife, whatever, there is not a damn thing you can do to stop it.

From someone that had a home invasion in Southern CA, its not a fun thing.....and it was not from someone that we had paid, or had come in. We had a full grounds crew, a security guard, and gate. This happened to us right after the gardners left and went to another part of the property.

IF and thats IF you hire a licenced and insured person, even if the work you want done is just basic handyman stuff, you have practically zero to worry about. It is the guy that has been casing your place for a month that knows as much about you and your habits as you do that you worry about.

and BTW, the wife could add to it, but lets leave it at that.

[Magnusfarce]

Thanks for the interest and advice so far. For reasons I won't go into, I'm not worried about personal safety, nor would the worker be in my house to any significant degree. Besided, it's a safe assumption that every house in my neighborhood has all the same general possessions, so "casing" my house" would be of no particular value. I was more interested in the legal/liability issues. Any more thoughts on that subject?

- Magnusfarce

[HA HA Budys Here]

Yes. You get what you pay for. Menial unskilled labor at a rockbottom price. From someone who has absolutely nothing to lose no matter what he does or doesn't do.

"For any item or service available, there will always be some man willing to offer a lower quality version at a lesser price, and those who consider price alone are this man's lawful prey."

[Jeff Cochran]

Use a day labor company. They have the insurance and can provide laborers with the exact skills you need. I've used them on a number of manual labor type jobs and always been thrilled with their work and the effort they are willing to put forth.

Jeff

[m Ransley]

jim@ No Name No BRAIN @ NO BRAIN is you f*ck off racist possss ..p ise off shitttttt you piee of shitttttttttttt

[Jimm6y Dean]

Yup, I've seen it. I wouldn't hire them at all. Hire a contractor with proof of insurance that you have seen, then make sure you don't do anything stupid or careless to let someone raise an injury claim. Otherwise you can easily end up at hearing for work injuries with hte worker claiming you are an employer required to carry insuirance coverage, that they should have been covered, that they were injured, and that you should pay. And if you don't go to defend yourself, you lose. Even if you do go to defend yourself, perhaps you lose because the judge is looking to protect workers.

I don't know the law in CA, but I've seen it happen to people in PA.

[Jimm6y Dean]

I'd ask a CA lawyer. In PA workers comp protects the employer (the temp agency) from lawsuits for injuries. The problem is 3rd parties. The 3rd party would be you as the homeowner. That requires protection of you, the homeowner, who is not covered by the Workers' Comp policy that protects the liability of the employer, the temp company.

In other words, the employee is limited in suing the employer when workers comp is carried. That settles liability between those parties only. As between the injured worker and 3rd parties (like homeowners), that is lawyer heaven generally. In other words, make sure you have some kind of coverage, either legal or through insurance before bringing ANY workers onto your property.

[David Babcock]

If you must use day laborers I would skip the migrant worker hanging around the store and look into a labor pool situation. They usually pay the salary, insure the people that they place, and for what it's worth, at least know where these people come from, and go as well.

Dave

[Des Perado]

I'm afraid we live in a society today that makes hiring day labor a potentially dangerous thing to do. Check with your house insurance company and see if you may have coverage for workers getting injured on your property. Probably not. Perhaps they sell coverage of this type. Probably not. Is there a neighbor that has a High School aged Son? Maybe he would like to earn some $ over the Christmas break and may not sue you if he was injured on the job. It is a shitty world we live in these days.

[Zemedelec]

Look for a company that screens such workers and has them insured. In New Orleans it's Labor Ready and Labor Solutions, so you might try looking under Labor. It costs more, but might be worth it for your peace of mind.

Memo to grammar-challenged troll: there are some members of a different ethnic group that worked a similar scam with staged car accidents. The police investigated and the "accidents" diminished. zemedelec

[AgaPSDIVER]

"not a damn thing you can do to stop it."??????

Nope... here in Texas we have guns...... We can take care of them.....

[Magnusfarce]

At the risk of apearing to bait this argument, what happens when I hire a neighbor boy to mow my lawn? Am I at as much potential risk if he should hurt himself while working for me on my property?

- Magnusfarce

[AgaPSDIVER]

In today's society, lawyers are falling over each other to sue any body they can.....and the public is willing to share the wealth. Look at the woman who sued McDonalds for her stupidity in spilling coffee on herself. Use common sense... don't leave rubish in the yard where the little tike is mowing that might jump up and bite him..... and live your life....anyone can sue you for practically anything... don't spend your life worrying about it and give the kid a break and some spending money....

[Lou W]

Unfortunately in today's society where many are going for the golden egg via lawsuits I would say yes you are at risk. Of course the odds of even finding a teenager that is willing to cut grass today are nil.

Lou

[HA HA Budys Here]

The neighbor's boy isn't thinking: "Hmmm, I could move out of that cold damp garage I'm renting for 1500 a month, into a nice place, AND bring the 40-50 other relatives I left on the other side of the border to come live with me, for a new life in Ah Mir eek ah!"

[Richard J Kinch]

Probably more.

Push lawnmowers are hazardous machinery that minors should not operate. In many jurisdictions it is unlawful to hire a minor to do such hazardous work, and if you wind up with an accident you will be in a huge amount of trouble. This is similar to, say, a grocery store unlawfully using minor employees to run a meat saw.

I know several (sensible adult) people who have been severely injured by lawnmowers. These machines are inherent dangerous, and not something for a foolish child to be operating. I don't like the personal-injury lawsuit abuse, but minors should not be allowed to choose to do something that may hobble them for life, simply to earn a few bucks. The worker's comp to cover adults running lawnmowers is expensive, and somehow you think you can just ignore that when it comes to hiring a clueless kid?

It's also a good reason to treat yourself to that ride-on mower.

[Neil Zirconia]

World? Nah. The sue-happy attitude is a very North American thing.

[CBhvac]

Here in NC, we have them, and can use them....still...

Bad thing was, on the home invasion we had them in CA too....but there was no way to get to it fast enough, and it didnt matter, since the guy that broke into the home should have been on Amercias Stupidist Crimminals.....