hourly rate

How much should I be paying. The going rate for manual labor is $12/hr, which I assume is pretax. Now, it seems as if everyone wants $25 for labor , most of who can't do a simple job. I am hesitant to not pay afterwards i f they do lousy job, mostly because I worry that they might throw a brick t hrough my window when I am out of town.

The rate here in NJ about 5 years ago, was $10 an hour, with lunch (pizza, sub, etc), thrown in and they'd get tipped for good work, ~$20. So, for 8 hours that was similar to your $12 rate. More recently I've heard stories like yours, where they now want $150 for a "day". And you have to be careful what a day is. When it comes to 3PM they say they have to leave soon for their other job. Years ago they were happy to keep working more than 8 hours to get the job done at the hourly rate.

On Sat, 19 May 2018 08:54:13 -0700 (PDT), Deodiaus wrote in

In Northwest rural Alabama $12/hr would be very adequate.

Doesn't matter, he plans to get "hurt" on your property & sue you to get a payout. Hire a real company

Once you have established the quality of his or her work (references?), then you should pay him by the job. Just because "the going rate" of manual labor is $12/hr, doesn't mean it's fair to pay someone $12 to drive to your house and do one or two hour's work (would you do so ?). Do you have loads of work that needs to be done? Maybe to establish his or her style, you could hire him to do something "small" and see how it goes (on time, professionalism, quality of his work, clean up, etc.). If you are going to hire an unemployed worker, why try to be "cheap" about it? If he's smart, he will give quote you a price for the work you want done. That way he won't have to dicker with you about the number of hours he is on site, and vice-versa.

The going rate for manual labor is $12/hr, which I assume is pretax. Now, it seems as if everyone wants $25 for labor, most of who can't do a simple job. I am hesitant to not pay afterwards if they do lousy job, mostly because I worry that they might throw a brick through my window when I am out of town.

Just write the "standard" for your work into your agreement, then there should be no confusion (also, do some QC early on--this should avoid "bricks"). This is another reason you may not want to pay by the hour. I don't think you want to be in the position of saying "You should be working faster", if you are not sweating along with the people working. It's been pretty humid lately! As a homeowner, I get to choose the days I do yard work and I take breaks when I please. : ) If I were to tell you I'll be at your house at 9:00 am tomorrow rain or shine, it would cost at least $25/hr. I would provide all of the tools and materials.

When I need temporary help on my farm I call a local employment agency that provides temporary workers. I pay the agency, the agency pays the worker. Last time I did this (2 years ago) my payment to the agency was $12,50 / hour. Note that I also have a personal liability insurance policy should any worker get (or claim) injury.

-dan z-

That is very true and even holds for any licensed contractors you hire. My son works as an insurance company lawyer and sees it all the time. It gets very sticky in our small state of Delaware where someone from out of state may come in and think he is insured but policy only covers his state.

Also want to mention that even if you have liability insurance on your home owner's policy, it probably will not cover those working on your property. I discovered and discussed all these concerns last year when I got a new deck. I was emailed copies of all the contractor's policies.

You should check the date the policy was issued and most importantly- call the agent or company to make sure it's still in force.

I'd immediately be suspicious of some dog-eared copy of a policy dated a few years back.

Some jacklegs make an initial payment on a liability policy, get the paperwork, then cancel.

If you want to pay the minimum you can get away with, expect the poorest lob he can get away with. Pay what the job is worth.

It's very easy to photoshop fake insurance documents.  Can a homeowner call an insurance company to verify if a potential contractor has the appropriate coverage?

I give my guy 30 bucks for my yard. Cut trim and bag. It takes him 45 minut es. For shrubs i toss him 10 per. I have 7. That takes him 1 hour twice per summer. The cuts are never scheduled. He shows up about every 10 days or s o and always the day before a holiday.

At work. the contractor's agent would send a certificate of insurance. When I had a tree taken down at home, the guy had his agent send me a copy and I was also named as being covered by his insurance.

I'd probably not bother for a guy raking leaves, but for tree work or other risky situations, get the information.

Very good point raised on the matter of Workers' Compensation insurance. We tend to think about that for major stuff, but what about yard work (mowing, etc.), painting. . .

Very hard to escape liability on hired labor unless there is a policy in effect.

As for the dog-eared copies? WC policies (as well as most others) are issued on an annual basis. If the copy handed you is more than a year old, you need to find a new contractor. If he's legit, he'll just pick up the phone, call his agent and a Certificate of Insurance (Think it's ACORD Form 1) will be faxed/mailed/emailed to you in a hour or two. When I used to do work for insurance companies, they wanted evidence of malpractice or errors & omissions coverage. A call to my agent and the job was done.

Although I have personal liability insurance on my home owners insurance an extra policy would be needed to cover workers.

I have had the entire gambit of workers and work done. Lawn contracting services are expensive, say $300 for 1.5 acres per week. I will say that they do a pretty good job. Although, they also have their issues, like wanting a 10 month contract, as opposed to working on demand. The other issue I had was that one service would come by to cut my grass in December, when the ground had frozen and was covered with leaves. They ca me by and mowed the grass, and left. After an hour in windy weather, you c ould not tell that they had done anything. Had they done something worthw hile, they would have gotten off their toys and bagged leaves during their time, and left. I guess they were paid to cut grass in December, as per agreement!!! I have had guys ask for a lot and cut up my garden hose because it was too much effort to get off their toys to roll up the hose, or avoid the hose.

the personal liability insurance I have is separate from the homeowner's insurance. However under the homeowner's insurance, the insurance agent listed that I have one employee, so I am covered for injury, etc. by both.

-dan z-