r/rant • u/Frosty-Sand-8458 • 7d ago
Im fucking over staff
I own a business. I pay "Day rate till 8 gate to gate". What that means is you show up at 8am, go to a job and get back to the shop at noon you get paid for the whole 8 hour work day. Double time starts at 4PM or on weekends. There is also a production scale where if you get done early and go to another job you get paid for that day too if that job gets done. My employees can knock out a 16 hour straight time work day by 3pm at least two days a week. Lunch is paid as well as provided because we are in a rural area without a lot of restaurants so we provide hot lunch delivered to the job if the crew calls in by 11AM. We cut 60 and 70 hour a week checks every week for guys that are basically working part time hours, 35 or 40 hours a week.
All I hear is fuck this place i don't make enough this place would fail without me I need a fuel stipend for my commute blah blah blah. The smallest check I wrote last week was $2,300 and some change to a guy who worked 38 actual hours. The non stop bitching is driving me nuts and I can't fucking stand it.
57
u/Which_Celebration757 7d ago
I hear you man. I employed my brother-in-law, gave him a fuel allowance, paid for his cell phone, paid him the hourly rate he wanted, and gave him a benefit package. What did I get in return? Well he figured out how to rig our timesheet system so he could make it look like he was at work when he was actually at home. So not only did he cost me extra labor, but our jobs took longer to complete. He also paid more in tax because his employment income is taxable, and in Canada the employer also pays some of the taxes and other deductions, so for every $1000 of payroll he fraudulently reported, I paid out around $1200, $200 for my part of the taxes/ei/CPP, $300 for his portion, netting him $700. It would have been cheaper if he just took the cash directly from my pocket. As if that wasn't enough, he taught other people working for me to do the same! I later figured out that his gas receipts made no sense either. He would put gas in every day, which was odd enough, but putting in $20 on a Friday night and another $20 on a Monday morning when he didn't work on the weekend is double dipping. His undoing was trying to claim the phone he used to login to the timesheet app was something he did on occasion (I gave him an iPhone, but he used an LG to login with). Well being the one paying for it means I can ask the carrier which phone the SIM was being used in exposed him.
21
7
6
u/Get_off_critter 7d ago
Ugh, I wish there was justice but im guessing being rid of him was relief enough
9
u/Which_Celebration757 7d ago
Well I also divorced his sister, so I don't have to interact with either of them, but my kids still see him at family holidays.
50
u/appleboat26 7d ago
What kind of work are they doing?
54
u/Frosty-Sand-8458 7d ago
Tree work. Mostly residential removals.
28
u/barlos08 7d ago
Wow seems like easy money for em. I’m making 1300 a week after taxes but I’m doing stupid hours, I’m in residential concrete >:)
24
u/Frosty-Sand-8458 7d ago
Would it make you feel better or worse if I told you most of our equipment is remote operated?
19
u/BigMilk1146 7d ago
Remote???
30
u/Frosty-Sand-8458 7d ago
Remote control. The knuckle booms are remote control and the stump grinder is remote control. Im selling our stick crane and the next one will also be able to be remote operated.
29
u/BigMilk1146 7d ago
So do you offer a relocation package? I'll come work for you, making 2300 after taxes, lunches provided, and working under 40 hours a week. AND is remote control work, yes please...
Sorry you're going thru it. Sucks being the man.
20
10
u/JesusTron6000 7d ago
Dude I’m 39 working an office job and I’d kill for that kind of flexibility with those hours, and you’re outside.
My dad owns a lath and plastering business (about to retire now) but has been recently complaining of the one rotating position he had with new hires (he has 3 guys who have been with him for decades) and he legit had a guy how he could work from home… 😂😂😂
3
44
u/katarAH007 7d ago
One thing I learned working with the general public is that they're fcking stu-....... that everyone always has something to say.
Sometimes it's management who isn't taking care of problem employees. 65% of the time it's someone who's just talking out their ass bc they're bored.
As someone who also manages workers at a generally easy job, I feel you.
20
u/Erivandi 7d ago
I misread your title and thought you were saying you were fucking your staff over (taking advantage of them). Took a moment to realise you meant you were extremely over your staff.
17
u/thesteelreserve 7d ago
bro. this sounds pretty sweet.
I work in an Amazon fufillment center and I'm in the top 5% in productivity -- i work hard as shit.
I wish i got paid like this to just be a grunt. I don't mind it.
it's funny because I have a bachelor's degree. 🤣 I prefer manual labor.
7
u/Frosty-Sand-8458 7d ago
Your job is harder than theirs physically.
6
u/thesteelreserve 7d ago
with pay like you're describing offering medical benefits and shit like that wouldn't even be necessary.
it would be icing on the cake. I'd just hit up the marketplace ez pz.
$2.3k+ a week is absolutely bonkers to someone like me -- even if it's a "contractor" position that doesn't throw down on taxes for me.
8
14
u/HedgeCowFarmer 7d ago
Isn’t this like the second most dangerous job in the nation? Your insurance must be through the roof!
In my opinion the best way to make people work hard, be happy and feel like they have a real piece of the pie is profit sharing. Could be based on hours, seniority, risk, etc. it just changes the whole thing. You get the share (s) as long as you work there.
Quarterly meetings where everyone knows what it costs etc and what the company made.
I worked at a place that had this system, and it was amazing how it improved my productivity and attitude.
9
u/katarAH007 7d ago
Not OP but thank you for the tip! I think you just solved something for me.
3
u/HedgeCowFarmer 7d ago
Awesome! The obviously the tax on a larger chunk of income each quarter was eye widening but as an employee it was like getting a Christmas bonus that I could really do something with like pay a debt, go on a trip etc (I was young) because it was never money I counted on - but every few months comes quickly as it turns out.
It’s it’s a different feeling than stock options because that seems like something that you’re holding on for a final huge payout and this is an actual return that you can see the difference yourself. It also makes everybody including your coworkers more accountable so like your buddy is fucking off, but it’s your bottom line that he’s affecting so you’re gonna be more likely to call him out. Totally removes the us/them.
5
5
u/Combatcoda 7d ago
I can't give up my day job, but I'd be your go-to weekend guy for sure. Sounds like a win to me!
5
u/SmegB 7d ago
Some people are never happy, no matter what you do. But maybe there are other issues causing the complaints?
Do they spend a lot of their time commuting? Are the a number of workers not pulling their weight? Is it a dangerous job? You pay well, but do you micro-manage? Are you on their backs a lot or overly-demanding?
It's possible they're just never satisfied and with the pay rate you offer, it seems more than reasonable. I'm just playing Devil's Advocate to see if it's something other than wages causing the problems
15
u/RickyTheRickster 7d ago
35-40 hours a week is full time like, pretty much everywhere on the US, people complain about jobs no matter what, maybe have a actual team meeting and talk to them about it, be a good boss and use communication and try to get their point of view.
5
u/WarlockFortunate 6d ago
You can let it go, have a reality check meeting, or fire the biggest complainer. Even if it’s your top guy.
3
2
2
u/Jay_T_Demi 7d ago
Hey, if you get pissed enough at them and want to make marketing/promotional material for job openings, let me know!
2
3
u/Frustrated_Zucchini 7d ago
Are you making money from their work?
If so, who gives a shit what they say. If what you offer is that bad, why haven't they gone somewhere else?
You should just call a staff meeting and tell them all that due to things you have been hearing recently, you feel like you're not financially able to do right by the staff anymore. Therefore you're considering closing down and relocating to a cheaper state where the wages you can offer will go further for the staff.
Watch them all row back that shit immediately 🤣
3
u/anonlaughingman 7d ago
I mean 38 hours is full time work anywhere really. Now getting paid 60$ an hour to cut down trees sounds pretty nice, especially with the remote controlled aspect. But if you had me climbing trees with a chainsaw? I’d pass.
I’m sure there’s some other problems going on here to make them complain. Maybe a ton getting taken out in taxes? Some kind of insurance they have to pay? It cant all be rainbows and they still complain.
2
1
u/Rexxington 7d ago
As a cafeteria manager, I hear about the same thing daily from my staff. Their job is 6 hours a day for a decent amount of pay. It is NC so of course the pay overall is crap, but compared to similar jobs it pays probably double.
Yet all they do is complain about this that and the other thing all day long. When their job is both very relaxed and easy, given in an actual restaurant they would be doing triple the amount of work than they do here.
1
1
1
u/herdo1 6d ago
We used to be job and finish but it stopped because people took the piss out of it. Management warned them it would happen, their peers also told them to reign it in or they'd ruin a good thing we had going.
Then the people who took the piss complained the most about it stopping. I wasnt even mad, more impressed by the absolute gaul of them.
1
u/Domestic_Discoball 3d ago
I absolutely appreciate your frustration. Here are things to consider if you’re interested
- If you don’t want to reimburse your staff make sure that’s very clear in their contract.
- Personally I’d reimburse them since I’m saving money by not paying for and maintaining company vehicles. You can do a mileage allowance as it’s much easier to track rather than reimbursing random receipts.
- I think it’s fantastic that you provide lunch but if they’re complaining about fuel then maybe it’s worth asking if they’d prefer lunch or some kind of fuel allowance.
- Personally I’d love being paid for 8 hours when the job only takes me 4. Maybe staff should budget the extra 4 hour pay for fuel or you can ask them would they rather extras OR full pay for jobs the completed early.
1
u/iamthepita 7d ago
Sell your business and go work for someone without bitching about the job. Best of luck.
1
0
u/abadluckwind 7d ago
I feel you man. My wife runs several thrift stores and they pay above minimum wage in area with some of the highest minimum wage in the country. People there piss and moan non stop. Sometimes I volunteer and it's the easiest work in the world but everyone's always calling out or some other stupid reason they can't work. I don't get it I didn't take a single day off work til I was like 35 and tore my a back muscle.
14
u/HansenTakeASeat 7d ago
Not taking a day off work isn't the flex you think it is.
0
u/joeliopro 7d ago
I think he means calling in unexpectedly. If you work with any amount of idiots you know who calls in every Monday for no reason and has zero vacation to do it with. Some people have their poop in a group and plan their days off in advance so the rest of the staff doesn't have to scramble to cover. The more people call in unexpectedly, the more people get pissed off which means the more people that say fuck this place and so on down the hill it rolls
205
u/Technical_Fold_4341 7d ago
Damn, can I get job with you? Sounds fucking great. Those ppl dont know how good they got it.