So I Wake Up This Morning
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,934
From: Jensen Beach, FL / Sylva, NC
Originally Posted by mazdadrifter' date='Oct 11 2003, 11:00 PM
What sucks now, is that I don't think he has any medical insurance (does he jim?) and had to go to the emergency room w/ stiches and misc. other things (he said they had to scrape gravel out of his leg w/ a wire brush. 
) And he just bought a car.
I talked with all of them 6 months ago and told them it was either the incentive bonuses or the insurance I cannot afford both. They take home an extra 500-1000 a month with the incentive bonuses. Insurance for them costs $100 a month. They should be able to afford the insurance Drew and Erin have it and dont get incentive bonuses. If my company pais its triple per person and EVERYBODY has to get a policy.
Insurance companies suck!
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,934
From: Jensen Beach, FL / Sylva, NC
O.K. here is a trick question for any of you that have employees.
This guy just went back into the hospital complications from the road rash. Probably infected he cannot move at all without blinding pain. He should have never left the hospital but because he has no insurance they dont want to spend any money on him.
So nowI am down a crew for an indefinite amount of time. He works outside in the Florida heat for me so he is out for a long time. I am swamped with work and just had to buy a $21K lot from a client because we did not deliver fast enough and it has a house hanging on it. Long story. Another thread.
We are just now getting caught up but we have promised that we will stay on top with this client and now we will most definatly fall behind being a crew down.
What would you do in my situation?? Another setback like this might **** off my biggest client and and send him packing. The job this guy does is specialized and requires lots of training so any shmo off the street cannot step in.
Do I replace him or do I wat for him to come back and risk the lively hood of my business that has 9 other employees.
This guy just went back into the hospital complications from the road rash. Probably infected he cannot move at all without blinding pain. He should have never left the hospital but because he has no insurance they dont want to spend any money on him.
So nowI am down a crew for an indefinite amount of time. He works outside in the Florida heat for me so he is out for a long time. I am swamped with work and just had to buy a $21K lot from a client because we did not deliver fast enough and it has a house hanging on it. Long story. Another thread.
We are just now getting caught up but we have promised that we will stay on top with this client and now we will most definatly fall behind being a crew down.
What would you do in my situation?? Another setback like this might **** off my biggest client and and send him packing. The job this guy does is specialized and requires lots of training so any shmo off the street cannot step in.
Do I replace him or do I wat for him to come back and risk the lively hood of my business that has 9 other employees.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 343
From: Perth, Western Australia
Originally Posted by Jims5543' date='Oct 13 2003, 04:07 AM
O.K. here is a trick question for any of you that have employees.
This guy just went back into the hospital complications from the road rash. Probably infected he cannot move at all without blinding pain. He should have never left the hospital but because he has no insurance they dont want to spend any money on him.
So nowI am down a crew for an indefinite amount of time. He works outside in the Florida heat for me so he is out for a long time. I am swamped with work and just had to buy a $21K lot from a client because we did not deliver fast enough and it has a house hanging on it. Long story. Another thread.
We are just now getting caught up but we have promised that we will stay on top with this client and now we will most definatly fall behind being a crew down.
What would you do in my situation?? Another setback like this might **** off my biggest client and and send him packing. The job this guy does is specialized and requires lots of training so any shmo off the street cannot step in.
Do I replace him or do I wat for him to come back and risk the lively hood of my business that has 9 other employees.
This guy just went back into the hospital complications from the road rash. Probably infected he cannot move at all without blinding pain. He should have never left the hospital but because he has no insurance they dont want to spend any money on him.
So nowI am down a crew for an indefinite amount of time. He works outside in the Florida heat for me so he is out for a long time. I am swamped with work and just had to buy a $21K lot from a client because we did not deliver fast enough and it has a house hanging on it. Long story. Another thread.
We are just now getting caught up but we have promised that we will stay on top with this client and now we will most definatly fall behind being a crew down.
What would you do in my situation?? Another setback like this might **** off my biggest client and and send him packing. The job this guy does is specialized and requires lots of training so any shmo off the street cannot step in.
Do I replace him or do I wat for him to come back and risk the lively hood of my business that has 9 other employees.
My 2c:
Depends on the labour situation. Do you have 'casual' labour?
For a valued employee I would hire a casual worker to fill in for him. Casual workers here are paid hourly rates on a hour by hour basis, no benefits holiday pay or insurances (the hourly rate is higher to reflect this) hired either off the street or from labour hire companies. When he gets back I would slide him back in gently maybe overlapping a week or two with the casual & infill talk to him about how valued he was and give him some insight into the expense & inconvenience having a key member off suddenly for so long was, and about private life impacting on work etc.
Bottom line though: We are all human & there is more to life than just work but when the private life impacts on the work environment (and I don't mean personal crisis like relatives dying or kids sick etc but dumb stuff like your guy) then they are given a couple of opportunities to straighten up and then they leave. I had to let a good worker go because he would come to work full of beer from his big payday binge the night before and get aggressive with the crew.......and whilst his dismissal was entirely justified to have to do so saddened me.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,934
From: Jensen Beach, FL / Sylva, NC
Originally Posted by banzaitoyota' date='Oct 12 2003, 07:19 PM
Hate to sound harsh on this JIM, but if this individual is vitally aeesential to YOUR LIVELIHOOD, then you need to have insurance to cover your losses.
I just had a meeting with my other 2 crews. I am going to the hospital today to see how bad he really is and when we can expect him back. Then I will make some decisions. His girlfriend calls and keeps telling me he will not be in the next day. I told her last night I am not expecting to see him anytime soon.
He has a co-worker on his crew what am I supposed to do with him. Now I have a guy with nothing to do standing around. I sent him out with another crew just so he can work but I really dont need him.
I have called a couple of my friends up to see if they know of anyone that would want to fill in for a couple to a few weeks.
Super Moderator
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 5,181
From: My BIG ol TURBO-DIESEL
Jim, what I meant to say, and my original post did not convey, was:
1. You can't be a nice guy when it comes to employee's
2. You offered them a choice: Big Bonus (FUN) or Health Insurance (BORING). What did you expect them to choose?
3. Now VITAL employee is in hospital, no insurance and it is affecting YOUR bottom line bigtime.
I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just give you my impressions on what I am observing.
Gutting the bonus program and instiituting Insurance won't rectify the current situation, but it will help provide stability in the future. You can't control what your employees do in their off time, but you can protect your assests.
1. You can't be a nice guy when it comes to employee's
2. You offered them a choice: Big Bonus (FUN) or Health Insurance (BORING). What did you expect them to choose?
3. Now VITAL employee is in hospital, no insurance and it is affecting YOUR bottom line bigtime.
I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just give you my impressions on what I am observing.
Gutting the bonus program and instiituting Insurance won't rectify the current situation, but it will help provide stability in the future. You can't control what your employees do in their off time, but you can protect your assests.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,934
From: Jensen Beach, FL / Sylva, NC
Agreed Banzai. But insurance or no insurance this guy is going to be layed up for a long time. I wish there was an insurance policy for stupidity I would have taken one out on him. They would have cancelled it once they found out who it was.
When I was 21 years old I didn't give a crap about insurance I just wanted to make money.
Now my one party chief has made over $7K in bonuses so far this year.
The guy thats in the hospital made over $4K this year so far as you can see its based on performance. The &K guy works his *** off ha appreciates what I have set up. He is building his 1st house right now.
The other guy has nothing he lives with his mom and just bought his first car at 23 years old. ( ha had a jeep but it never ran right) I have let him drive my company truck around for years until he finally got his crap together enough to get a car. He pisses his money away on partying and playing.
Any of you wild maniacs that are reading this you should reach a point in your life when you actually stop and thing about what you are doing and it consequences before doing it and maybe not do it.
What I have set up as far as incentives go none of my competitors would dream of doing this. I have been very generous to these guys some of them have taken the initiative and gotted health insurance this guy typically did not. That would require him to be reposible something he just does not want to do.
When I was 21 years old I didn't give a crap about insurance I just wanted to make money.
Now my one party chief has made over $7K in bonuses so far this year.
The guy thats in the hospital made over $4K this year so far as you can see its based on performance. The &K guy works his *** off ha appreciates what I have set up. He is building his 1st house right now.
The other guy has nothing he lives with his mom and just bought his first car at 23 years old. ( ha had a jeep but it never ran right) I have let him drive my company truck around for years until he finally got his crap together enough to get a car. He pisses his money away on partying and playing.
Any of you wild maniacs that are reading this you should reach a point in your life when you actually stop and thing about what you are doing and it consequences before doing it and maybe not do it.
What I have set up as far as incentives go none of my competitors would dream of doing this. I have been very generous to these guys some of them have taken the initiative and gotted health insurance this guy typically did not. That would require him to be reposible something he just does not want to do.
