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Surely if you employ them then you have to pay them that is the law!
Perhaps taking time off as holiday would be a compromise but people have rent or mortgages to pay.
Part of your responsibilty of being an employer I'm afraid.
Harsh I know but at the end of the day you work to put a roof over your head not there's. We use sub contractors instead of full time staff, mainly to avoid problems like this.
Thanks everyone for the replies! I do use sub contractors in the busy period to meet supply and demand, and to be able to turn away once work is steady.
I employ a couple of staff which are very valuble to me and I wouldnt want to lose them by laying them off etc.
but at the same time it is sickening paying wages when no turnover of work is happening because of the weather.
Its interesting to hear how other people cope such as cleaning vans etc??
If your contracts of employment are legal then you can follow the wording in them.
If the contracts of employment state the wrong thing, not only will you get grief from the employee but you'll be at the wrong end of a tribunal which will cost you a lot lot more than a few days wages, reputation damage etc. You'll have to pay them full wages during a potentialy long protracted investigation and still be subject to a final whack if they claim damages, unfair dismissal etc.
I advise you get an HR consultancy to check your contracts before you assign them.
NMGS said:
This issue has come up regularly and the only answer I can give is that you have to forward plan and not have this problem. Glib answer I know....
However, it is too late to address it unless v lucky.
Unless you are totally snowed in, flooded I don't understand why bad weather would stop work?
We have multiple teams busy in the South 52 weeks a year. We look at the contracts we have and push out remedial work to this time of year, we engage the clients in discussions during the summer months about work that needs doing, but is not urgent and thus can be pushed out to now. We take 'advantage' of the conditions and react accordingly.
If it snows, we clear snow, if it icy we grit, if we can we plant, if we can we turf, if we can we repair/replace fencing, if we can we sort out paving etc. I've one of my guys replacing traffic bollards/posts for one of our clients this week. We enaged one client in conversation before Xmas about icy conditions/liaibility and now tomorrow, two of us are out installing 14 Grit bins and filling them up on a number of business parks they own. Ok not traditional landscaping work, we won't make a mint, BUT it will cover wages and overheads.
You need to adapt and think a little laterally.
I've read so many times on here about the problems of insurance, liability etc - all excuses in my book. Take gritting for example. We have commercial gtitters, work methods, services level agreements, site sign-offs and OUR liability insurance does provide cover (and it did not cost us extra), but then we are also insured as Grounds Maintenance providers (not just gardeners or landscapers).
Fine if "you" don't want to do - then be honest. But many don't schedule their jobs and are manic during the summer and quiet during the Winter.
All this DOES not happen overnight, it comes about from forward planning.
I've said once before that one of my mates often complains about no work/bad weather this time of year, yet when pushed into a corner down the Pub last year, he admitted it really was he decision not to work and was a good excuse for a couple of lazy months. More fool him.
That's the first 2011 grumpy old man rant over :-0)))
I have seven chaps on my books this time of year, their work is the success of my business and I therefore accept we will get ' no work days', that's life. They are normally happy to work longer days on occasions to help make up some of the lost hours. I definitely would not penalise them financially.
When we had the snow and ice pre xmas we hired a couple of bob cats and worked through the night clearing snow from car parks and in addition carried out lots and lots of gritting at night. I paid my guys extra money for this and was able to recoup lost income from not working during the days.
Thanks David -there you go - point proven - Adapt & survive.
We did the same with a Bobcat (however we knackered the bucket's leading edge -opps - did you ?)
Hi Gary
These were well used machines from A Plant and the buckets were fairly chipped before we started and i don't doubt we added a few more. Great fun spinning around empty car parks on the ice but very impressed with what these little machines can do. The only draw back was that they weighed nearly 3 tons and therefore too heavy for any of our trailers so had to drive them from site to site with one of my vans following with flashing lights. Damn cold at 5mph with open cabs!!
Gary RK said:
Paul Williams said:
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