Hiring an Employee: What do You consider a Fair Wage? - Page 2

Originally Posted by ResourcefulRecycling

All of my employees are independant contractors. They use all of my tools, in my shop, and i do tell them what i need done. So i dont have to pay insurance, taxes..etc.
I do not plan on doing this forever but it is great for smaller new buisnesses.

I agree with Mick and PSP...If any of your subs challenged you wouldn't stand a chance with the IRS and you will end up owing a bunch of back taxes. All it takes is one pissed off employee and your going to find out the hard way.

You could always run them through a temp agency. Then you wouldn't have to worry about anything coming back on you and it's all tax deductible. I think they can deal with a piece work employee. It might cost a little extra but the peace of mind knowing you're protected is priceless.

Be very careful with this. My insurance agent told me one story you wont believe ( I plowed snow commercially for several years): A snow plow contractor got behind one day. Another snow plow contractor offered to plow a couple places so he could catch up. First contractor agreed. Second contractor got in an accident while plowing and hurt. He put in for Workman's Comp. First contractor contested claim based on being a subcontractor. Hurt guy said, in court, that he THOUGHT he was an employee. WC was awarded and first contractor was sued by the State on several issues for thousands of dollars. He wound up selling his equipment and business to pay PART of the fine.

Again - read the IRS rules for determining a contractor - they have become more stringent. But as a MINIMUM, have a contract in place indicating what they are to do (but not how or set hours) and that they do have the option of securing work from other sources at the same time.

Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

that $4-5 an hour. most people wont stay long unless they are stealing or have other income. hopefully it goes faster than that.

what are they expected to do to the tvs and monitors?
have you thought about getting a wire stripper?

4-5 p/hr. is what I normally do in my leisure time. But I haven't done one in while.
They will have to remove the copper cones, degaussing cable, all insulated wire, metal and the boards. Place it all in the respective bins and load the carcass on the trailer that will be no more than 6 ft. from their work area. Only thing I strip is the degaussing cable.

Originally Posted by ResourcefulRecycling

My guys can do 8 TVs per hour. That includes cleaning the plastic for scrap also. Microwaves? If I have the flow we can do 30 per hour. But we normally only do 2-3 at a time.

8 t.v.'s per hour. Is that one guy or more? No plastic recycler in this area that I know of.

Originally Posted by Mick

What would you consider fair if you were doing this for someone? There's your answer.

I would love to pay a man (or woman) $12-$14 bucks an hour. Just can't do that. As I'm sure you know we're dealing with a small profit margin here. To be honest, Mick, I'm not sure what a fair wage would be in this case.

Originally Posted by NWOdrudge

$1 per unit may workout for both if hiring someone that has experience breaking down TV's. if your expecting a constant flow of TV's, monitors, microwaves and need a permanent employee then just hire someone you trust that is self motivated. the learning curve is small with those appliances. i do see a problem with theft and not certain how to prevent with little to no supervision.
i wish i lived closer. i'd <3 to break down an endless supply of TV's for a buck a set.

edit: meh, i'd be more excited at $1.50... perhaps offer bonus if he completes X amount per week.

Theft is always a concern. I do 4 security in place. They will be monitored that way. And I'm subject to come in at any time. At this point that's about all I can do security-wise.
$1.50 is not out of question. I like the bonus idea.

Originally Posted by PistoneScrapProcessing

Mick is 100 percent correct under IRS guidelines if u tell a person when to show up and what hours to work, how to do the work, what needs done, etc. You technically have an employee and not a sub contractor.

To completely clear this up read southern scrap vs us government sorry its so long but very informative.

Copy and paste this

OSHRC Docket No. 94-3393

Hey, I sell some of my larger loads to Southern Scrap!

Originally Posted by drozenski

i pay an out of work friend to work from me.

9AM to 4PM is $40 per day with lunch. My wife usually makes chicken nuggets or hot pockets and it's under the table so he dosen't lose his unemployment.

I have done this before on some larger jobs. Not with guys on unemployment, mind. Just friends of mine. I even pick em up in the morning and drop off in the evening. In those cases I usually pay $75 per day. But, I don't think a set amount per day would work out very well in this case. Still, it's something to consider.

Originally Posted by scrappy888

you have one option here...train the guy in at a fair rate per hour..with the simplicity of the work, id say a week...from there you set a quota for him each day..hes gota do x amount of tvs in a 4 hour shift..he gets paid for 4 hours o watever...if hes gota stay an extra 20 mins, then thats on him...jobs gota get done for him to get paid...video camera is a must after u send him off on his own...

Hmm, I see what you're saying. That might work. Hmmm.

Originally Posted by freonjoe

You could always run them through a temp agency. Then you wouldn't have to worry about anything coming back on you and it's all tax deductible. I think they can deal with a piece work employee. It might cost a little extra but the peace of mind knowing you're protected is priceless.

Here's something to think about. This one never even crossed my mind.

Originally Posted by skylinejack

4-5 p/hr. is what I normally do in my leisure time. But I haven't done one in while.
They will have to remove the copper cones, degaussing cable, all insulated wire, metal and the boards. Place it all in the respective bins and load the carcass on the trailer that will be no more than 6 ft. from their work area. Only thing I strip is the degaussing cable.

i've never had a large amount to break down but i would think 8 per hr. is possible if you work in stages. set the yolk and degaussing cable aside and move on to the next tube. breaking 1 set down completely will slow you down. when you have 30+ yolks, grab your smash bag. degaussing cable can be a pain but if you cut a grove in a small piece of wood and feed the cable into it then you can easily cut with utility knife and peel open.
8 per hour possible with the right set up, imo.

Originally Posted by scrappy888

Rockin out w a few tvs right now...plentiful supply in the cooler too

Your to far north for me to offer to come help!

I do like your way of thinking with the cooler though!

Sirscrapalot - Crazy like a fox, but not an arctic fox. :P