Workers comp is killing me

S

SawinHighClimber

Location
NY and CT,, USA
I'm a contract climber in CT.
I have just got a folder from my insurance agent telling me my WC has gone up from 34 cent on every $ of payroll to 40 cent.
At some point I would like to start a business with employees. Lets say I have three and pay each one $1000 a week. That works out $4800 a month in WC.
My agent is telling me I'd have to put my prices up to cover the cost, but the insurance could go again.
There is only so high my prices can go before I stop getting work, or have to move out of state.

What are your rates?
If from CT and you're paying less, who is your insurer?
 
The trend is to become bilingual, hire the cheapest most desperate laborers from the parking lots of your nearest Walmart, and join the race to the bottom.

Which is why I purposely kept my sons out of this industry, there's no future in it, it's dying.

Soon there'll be 11 million more desperate laborers ready and willing to work hard for your competitors for 50 bucks cash a day, or less.

Doesn't pay to play by the rules these days. Sad but true.

jomoco
 
41.64 with State Fund here in California, word is its going down soon, because we've been incident free since we signed up, almost two years ago. We pay tons of different taxes monthly; payroll, unemployment, federal, state

Jomoco's right though... The system is set up for failure, it's only a matter of time until we're under water... We're still going to put up one a hell of a fight!
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Don't get me wrong guys. There's always going to be a small market for very strategic and dangerous removals that the fly by night outfits can't do without killing themselves.

Bixler, you need to work on putting that saw on your saddle and doing the small strategic limbs with a handsaw mate. Control is the name of the game!

This whacking small limbs with a chainsaw and missing the client's house by a few feet has got to stop youngster!

jomoco
 
If you are included in the policy, just fake a back injury and collect for life. JUST KIDDING!!! We are lucky, we pay just under 20% here in RI and MA. After payroll tax and unemployment, though, the costs are staggering nonetheless. Productivity and separating your service from the rest are important keys to survival. Best of luck,

-Tom
 
What kills me about all this is try making a claim! After paying for my business insurance for almost 20 years without a single claim last year I had a chipper roll and spilt diesel into a water way. $27k epa cleanup and even though it clearly states in my policy that we are covered they flat out refuse to pay up....We need to lawyer up and fight but it is more money out of pocket and Im sure a long road.....


I think the key nowadays is have equipment not employees. I have 1 employee but we roll every morning with a wheel loader with rotating grapple a mongo conehead chipper and a 12K knuckle boom. We get a lot done....
 
[ QUOTE ]
Don't get me wrong guys. There's always going to be a small market for very strategic and dangerous removals that the fly by night outfits can't do without killing themselves.

Bixler, you need to work on putting that saw on your saddle and doing the small strategic limbs with a handsaw mate. Control is the name of the game!

This whacking small limbs with a chainsaw and missing the client's house by a few feet has got to stop youngster!

jomoco

[/ QUOTE ]

You talking about my Deans Ranch Vid Jomoco?
 
This is the exact reason I posted the "who runs legit" string long ago.

I finally decided to run legit.

No more illegals, no more comp. no more cheating the rules.

I was in Haiti helping after the earthquake. I was surrounded by all the poverety, and even in the midsts of all of it, they still had peace.

I remember thinking, "If I continue cheating, I will never encounter my purpose in life. I will never find the path that I am supposed to walk down."

We all do scarry stuff... But this was REALLY scarry because it meant that I had to fire my illegal crew which would mean that I would have to sell the 125K in financed bobcat/chipper/chip truck/f250/ryans grapple and then trust that God (the universe, nature,,.,, what ever you want to call the "something" other than my own strenght) would provide for me.

So in 2010(ish) I took the supper scarry step and did it....

And guess what????

I ate pizza last night.... Yup! And I had a Starbucks this morning....

My point? I have NOT starved to death yet!

Sure.... We dont go on vacation to the bahamas because now it is me climbing and some labor ready guys running ropes, however, I also only work 1-2 days a week max.

I have ZERO equipment bills.

It is super nice and freed up my time to be able to build stuff to help others... (such as Free Mulch which we are still working on.)

Comp stinks, cash-under-the-table stinks, cheating the system stinks and hurts us all.

But do not fear.... You are loved, valuable, AND will be taken care of until the day you die!

grin.gif
 
wc is a gov scam , just another way to get into your pockets and steal your hard earn money . funny i can cover myself for $1200 a year but employees are $9000 or more a year . best thing that i found to do is keep your guys on the books part time and the rest under . F the gov !!!
 
The ever increasing mechanization of our industry makes being an independent sub-contractor that much more appealing IMO.

Been one since 92.

jomoco
 
Some guy with some economic knowledge on the internet described small business money as fluid. It comes in and goes out just as quick and we get to keep nothing. There must be a way to win this game. He made it sound like a good thing for the economy. I'm not feeling the love.
 
I pay 28.5% for tree work and 10% for landscaping. All of my PHC, spray, stump grinding, planting etc etc can be classified at the landscaping rate. In the state of PA you can qualify for multiple codes and the owners do not need to cover themselves. This second rate saves me thousands a year. My first few years in business forking over the workers comp to the state was a hard pill to swallow, but going to the private market has definitely helped. Although i dont like the rules following them will pay off in the long run.
 
We as an industry need to start to crack down on unsafe work practices, organize and self-regulate seriously. Then lobby to get better rates. We accept to readily an attitude that leads to a perception (that is all to real) that it is a high risk industry.

Let's get some licensing and real enforcement that will stop the hacks. This will help us move toward the ability to charge realistic rates that reflect the true cost of doing business legitimately.

Is there the will?
 
I think in Maryland, you start at 30% of payroll.

With no claims in 17 years, we are 14.5% I think.

I was 13% for quite a while.

I was told that Florida and a lot of California is 100% of payroll. How can a business do it legal with those numbers? Answer is, most probably DON'T.

They say the further you go South the more lazy and sue happy people are.

That's probably why you frozen North people are so low.

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Jomoco, I will help my two kids join this industry if they want. They won't be common cheap paid laborers if they do it either. They will be climbing and rigging machines, greater than you've ever seen; if they choose to do so.
 
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