Nomadic Arborist

What it is is the government being aware that unscrupulous companies are lying about the fact that people are their employees in order to avoid paying for the mandated protections that are supposed to be in place for every working stiff. So they say "Oh, that guy's not our employee, he's his own separate little contractor. We know he works under our roof, shows up when we tell him to. Leaves when we tell him to. Works on the stuff we tell him to, using tools and materials provided by us, but that doesn't mean he actually works for US. He's his own man, yeah, yeah, that's the ticket." (Using the voice of "The Liar" from Saturday Night Live).

So, the government has to have some indicators that they look at to determine if an arrangement is truthful or not.

I would like to see every working stiff refuse to participate in the lie, and deny them the labor. They only do it because they feel they can get away with it.
 
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Tim, that may not always be the case. The workers comp is in my opinion a corrupt entity. The post injury care they provide is often substandard, and not always in the best interests of the injured worker. They spend a lot of time trying to disprove the claims. That is just my experience with them. I as an employer would rather see the money that is paid to workers comp go to a worker who has his own,hopefully better insurance. And as far as the 1099 goes that's just the cost of doing business, you plan ahead for those taxes and save accordingly. I'm sure there are others out there who are unscrupulous and trying to scam someone be it employers or employees. I'm not one of them. I can see how hiring an independent contractor would be beneficial to both parties.
 
Right on. I worked as a sub last summer for a business committed to some EAB injections but lost their CA/ pesticide applicator. Owner didnt have a pesticide liscence so I came in for a couple of weeks to get the work done. Everybody won out in this case. Ended up selling some work for both of us above and beyond the EAB work so things really worked out well for both of us. Now I take care of all the RCX, root prunings, and soil remediation projects as a sub.

Sometimes subs are a great way to get things done when your backed up, behind schedule, over-committed etc.
 
Levi.CO said:
Right on Tim!

Think about cause and effect though...

Workers comp rates are a big factor. Roughly 30% in CO.

People who don't play by the book bring our rates down and harm the industry. Insurance, licensing, WC.... And so the story goes.....

I used to be really concerned about this stuff as an employee and a sub. Then I realized how easy it is to have a successful tree service while abiding the rules. Well, maybe not EASY but you don't have to be dishonest.
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That's not right or you're getting ripped off. My MOD rate was about 17% last year and went up to about 19% this year.
Closer to your claimed 30% if you include your part of employment tax.
 
@Tyler Durden came out and worked with my crew and I a few days ago on a good sized Elm and Boxelder crane removal. I have nothing but good things to say about him. He is a skilled arborist and climber, hard worker, and still humble! Was a pleasure working with you Tyler. I'll hopefully get some pictures and a little bit of footage posted up when I find some time, probably on the next rain day we have.
 
I don't know what his out of pocket is but here we only have one choice for workers comp. state fund is the only one who will provide for tree services and they've got us by the short hairs. My rates aren't as bad as his but it's a lot more than 30%. Basically by the time all the w/c and liabilities are paid its like I've got a ghost crew that sucks up money without working. California makes it pretty tough for small businesses.
 
Levi.CO said:
I must be ill informed, we do not have wc, no employees. I got that number from the guy I get my gl from. Perhaps he was saying that figure in conjunction with the employment tax. What is MOD?

One employer I had, told me that he paid 50% of my wage into tax and wc. This was during a wage negotiation of course :)
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chiselbit said:
Try living in California. I know a guy who's paying 127%
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That is possible if they have had a bunch of WC claims in the past. If that is really the case it's probably not a outfit you would want to be working for.
 
chiselbit said:
I don't know what his out of pocket is but here we only have one choice for workers comp. state fund is the only one who will provide for tree services and they've got us by the short hairs. My rates aren't as bad as his but it's a lot more than 30%. Basically by the time all the w/c and liabilities are paid its like I've got a ghost crew that sucks up money without working. California makes it pretty tough for small businesses.
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How would you not know what youre paying in work comp it's a pretty large expense?
I was at 16.86xx now I'm at 18.84xx that is with no claims ever so the quick math is your wage times 1.25 is what you "cost" me per hour not including any other benefits.

BTW as far as I know all work comp is a state run deal. In Colorado Pinnacol is the provider and your only option that I know of.
 
I was talking about the guy who's over 100%. I don't know what his costs are. I know he's had some claims but he is a bcma and runs a top notch company. Great guy.
 
@mpatch; I'm about to try to answer a question directed at someone else (@Levi.CO), and I know that can be irritating.

My guess is that Levi might not know the numbers because Levi does not have to, because he is part owner of the business, and therefore workers comp may not apply to his company at all.

He can chime in and straighten me out if I'm wrong.

Tim
 
tc262 said:
Man this thread really keeps getting derailed. Most other threads off topic discussions are usually all good and fine but lets all remember this thread is about a good tree guy looking for work to provide for his family.
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Oops! You are absolutely right. Sorry for continuing to derail the thread after you tried to get it back on the rails. I will say though, that the topics being discussed do relate generally to the issues faced by a "nomadic arborist" and are therefore of general interest to the forum members.

Back to the main topic at hand, a thought just occurred to me. If Tyler's reputation gets big enough, his prospective employers might have to book his time months or even years in advance. This could provide Tyler and his family with a sense of security about the future, and an ability to plan well for all of the logistics involved in making such moves.

Tyler might have to have a calendar dedicated to the purpose of seeing where he can "schedule in" prospective employers. Just the way that arb companies have to "schedule in" customers for individual tree jobs, he could do the same for his services. Which he's probably doing already.

Tim
 
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Knight, welcome to The Buzz. I am looking for a longer gig then a week, but thank you.
Currently the wife and I are headed back to DFW, the northern winters are just too harsh in the teailer. And if your house can move, why stay.up north?
California is my next stop, as of.right now, but we plan on heading east after the winter.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 
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