This will be an interesting thread moving forward......

Idk if u know it or not, but it’s ILLEGAL to give a bad reference from a prior employer..
One way to get around that is ASK the prior employer if he would re-hire him again..
It’s a simple yes or no question w/o talking bad about the employee..(illegal) AND speaks volumes.!!

Beans & Weenies--hat bill turned to the side so doesn't collide with plate.
*
Could be a ok person I don't know---But more than likely he is nervous as a whore in church
around Vetech--because I would imagine Vetech is well known in that neck of the woods.

There's 150 pieces of equipment in their inventory, if I remember right. They spent over a million with the JD dealer last year alone. There's plenty of work for Vetch, the new guy, and honestly they could hire 2 more and still need the dealer to do work for them.

Its no doubt that its a rollicking rolling dumpster fire of adventure, but there's 150 pieces of equipment, and that paving equipment is dirty and nasty and trying in 15 different ways to vibrate itself to pieces. With that much iron, its always going to be tough to keep up. Which is easy to see with some of the date's between service's that some of the machines have had.

The new guy could run himself ragged just trying to do PM, oil changes and inspections, basically giving each machine a good going over, and just changing some hoses here and there. If the new guy does 2 machines a day of PM work, he barely sees each machine twice a year.

I don't think Vtech has to worry about having enough work to do for this company, and he certainly isn't expected to be the new guy's boss. I think the new guy probably knows that vtech does a bunch of their work, and he is likely just trying to avoid stepping on anyone's toes.

I enjoy reading about it, just because it helps me to know I'm not the only one that can't keep up.

It's all about quantity not quality.

thepumpguysc said:

Idk if u know it or not, but it’s ILLEGAL to give a bad reference from a prior employer..
One way to get around that is ASK the prior employer if he would re-hire him again..
It’s a simple yes or no question w/o talking bad about the employee..(illegal) AND speaks volumes.!!

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I know all about that unfortunately. I was wrongfully dismissed back in 1990. This was just before the freedom of information and privacy act came into effect. Actually happened on Halloween! I had a job trial all lined up at a specialty welding filler metals shop. It was through another place that helps people get back in the workforce. Friday before I'm supposed show up on Monday get a call not to show up, the deal is off. I was supposed to be tried out for 10 days and if they liked me I'd have a job. I asked why and never got a straight answer. When I went to see the woman working with me all she said is I might not want to put down the company I was wrongfully dismissed from. I was suing them but they were a large well known shop and I worked there for quite a while. I told my lawyer and of course he was told the company had not said anything negative about me. Total BS. Had the privacy act been in place at the time I might have had recourse through the gov't. Now about all a previous employer can say without a signed release from a former employer is that you did work there for a certain length of time.
The JD dealer saying the LMM is worth a chance is a much better reference than sorry, all I can say is he worked here from this time to this time. Depending on how the conversation went Vetech could have got a feeling if the JD dealer was talking positively or negatively about the LMM. If the LMM had a serious issue, I think it would have been hinted at or just no response. I think any help Vetech could get would be welcomed as long as the new guy understood Vetech was basically in charge of repairs and maintenance.

thepumpguysc said:

Idk if u know it or not, but it’s ILLEGAL to give a bad reference from a prior employer..
One way to get around that is ASK the prior employer if he would re-hire him again..
It’s a simple yes or no question w/o talking bad about the employee..(illegal) AND speaks volumes.!!

Click to expand...

Is that a SC law?

I would think it's pretty standard but don't know if it covers all states. It covers all provinces and territories in Canada.

Welder Dave said:

I would think it's pretty standard but don't know if it covers all states. It covers all provinces and territories in Canada.

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Not a law here in FL that I am aware of, and in my (not so) humble opinion, a stupid one. As a former employer all I would have to say is: There is a law against me saying anything bad about *Joe* so I obviously can't say anything at all.

On our side of the Pond you cannot legally give a person a bad reference. You CAN, however, decline to provide a reference for said person when requested. This of course confirms to the organisation requesting the reference that you don’t have a good word to say about Joe.

It's not a stupid law. I was black balled for about 6 years trying to get a welding job. I was let go for questioning why I wasn't getting the journeyman welding rate after coming back after breaking my collar bone. A few weeks before I came back the company had a meeting where the pay levels were standardized. The lead hand told me to mention that I was a journeyman. I talked to the foreman and he said he has nothing to do with wages. A newly appointed plant manager came out and said we'll give $.50 and go from there. I was getting $13.50 which was the 3rd year apprentice rate. $.50 put me at $14.00 which was still $1.00 less than journeyman rate $15/hr. 3rd year rate is 90% of journeyman rate. There were several coworkers who said I was getting screwed. One guy even said I was the hardest working guy in the skid area. The older Polish guy, who lost most of his relatives in concentration camps, ran the roller and always requested I help him roll and tack the shells. He had a lot of pull. One of the nicest guys I ever worked with said he would testify in court the J rate was set at $15/hr. He thinks they were mad because I got injured when they were really busy. They added another overhead crane and everybody complained the control was too big but they said get used to it. The Polish guy came back from holidays and said it was too big. 2 days later it had a smaller control like the other cranes. I mostly worked on large oil and gas processing plant skids up to 20,000lbs. and up to 20'x80' in size. Also worked on heaters and tanks and fire tubes. Less than 3 month's after I was let go I ended up in the hospital with what they suspected was encephalitis. Years later I found out it wasn't encephalitis and they don't know what I had. I was in the hospital for 5 weeks and unable to work for about a year. I had to have a low stress job going back to the work force. I know the stress from losing my job for asking to be paid fairly was a major contributor to my going into the hospital. The legal student assigned to me said it was a pretty open and shut case before I went into the hospital. By the time I was out I couldn't get ahold of her. She was going to do up a statement of claim and decide what court to file it in. Many years later she became the premier of Alberta. She ended doing nothing except the firm wanted $800+ for services rendered. I went to another lawyer who said he wouldn't take my case unless he felt I had a good chance of winning. I think he was paid off or something because after filing a claim for 6 figures since I ended up in the hospital so soon after being terminated he completely changed his tune. At one point he said I should accept $1000. I ended up with $2000 because I persisted but my life was ruined for over 6 years. I got a skid steer and did some landscaping for the head engineer of welding shop. He was very impressed and asked about my background. I told him my story and he asked if I'd like to get back to welding. He told me to go and talk to the foreman. I got a job on the night shift. My 2nd shift I got complimented on my welds and the night shift manager said that doesn't happen very often. The foreman said I was too good of a welder not to have my B pressure ticket. He set up a time at the boilers branch for me to take the test. I wasn't ready but got lucky and passed on the 1st attempt. I had my passion for welding again.
If an employer was mad you left or they wanted to retaliate against you for any reason they could say what ever they wanted when asked for a reference. Now in order to get a reference you have to sign a consent form allowing a former employer to give you an honest reference. Most will give a reference letter so you can decide to use it or not. Decent employers won't hold a grudge and try to hold good workers back. Sure wish I would have had a relative or good friend that was an employment lawyer. I went through a really dark period that might not have been nearly as bad had the privacy act been in place a few years earlier.

Vetech,did I read you said the new chap was fresh out of a 25 year stretch in prison?

I think it was his brother who got out of prison.

I think you’re spot on, let him fly and see if he plummets or soars….

The JD dealership might have labelled the worker as "Slow" because he didn't make the book rate ?

ianjoub said:

Not a law here in FL that I am aware of, and in my (not so) humble opinion, a stupid one. As a former employer all I would have to say is: There is a law against me saying anything bad about *Joe* so I obviously can't say anything at all.

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No surprise whatsoever that my opinion aligns with yours, as it does most of the time when employee discussion comes up. If John C. still came around we'd have to read half a Bible's length post detailing why employer's are all a bunch of assho!es and employees are always getting screwed 6 ways to Sunday by the boss.

Obviously, refusing to give a reference speaks pretty loudly, but not quite as loud as "So and so was a complete tool. Only showed up on-time about half the time, had a huge mouth that never stopped talking, and wrecked more stuff than he fixed. I wouldn't hire him back if he was the last prospective employee in the country."

And the truly sad thing is, that description fits more ex-employees than anyone wants to believe.

crane operator said:

There's 150 pieces of equipment in their inventory, if I remember right. They spent over a million with the JD dealer last year alone. There's plenty of work for Vetch, the new guy, and honestly they could hire 2 more and still need the dealer to do work for them.

Its no doubt that its a rollicking rolling dumpster fire of adventure, but there's 150 pieces of equipment, and that paving equipment is dirty and nasty and trying in 15 different ways to vibrate itself to pieces. With that much iron, its always going to be tough to keep up. Which is easy to see with some of the date's between service's that some of the machines have had.

The new guy could run himself ragged just trying to do PM, oil changes and inspections, basically giving each machine a good going over, and just changing some hoses here and there. If the new guy does 2 machines a day of PM work, he barely sees each machine twice a year.

I don't think Vtech has to worry about having enough work to do for this company, and he certainly isn't expected to be the new guy's boss. I think the new guy probably knows that vtech does a bunch of their work, and he is likely just trying to avoid stepping on anyone's toes.

I enjoy reading about it, just because it helps me to know I'm not the only one that can't keep up.

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^Pretty much spot on here with my thinking at the moment. He has already stated that he doesn't want to step on anyone's toes. He is definitely nervous......who wouldn't be.

The employer, employee description is a age old battle. There is no perfect/saint employee and
there is no perfect/saint employer. Just some employees & employers are better than others.
This is/was and always will be a two way street.

You maybe can teach a slow man to be good. You will never teach a fast man to be good.

I always tend to go with my first impression when giving someone a name that I work with. That name can change as I get to know them and their abilities. I haven't seen him do anything yet........so "Mechanic" isn't one of the words. "Master" isn't in there either. LMM stands for "Large Mexican Man" because that was my first impression.

Under his circumstances of being a temp hired person, I have to do things a certain way with him. He has to work under temp status for 480 hours before the company can hire him.....or not. I'm not trying to be a prick to the guy, but I have to know what he's got to bring to the table, and I don't have a lot of time here. Call it baptism by fire if you want but I need to know that he can multitask, be dependable, and handle being overwhelmed......because that's how it is here. I can't start him off slow and baby him, there is no time for that.

He is going to get his chance to shine as I have no problem with that. I, as far as I know, am NOT his boss. We just work together, and I am there to advise if asked. I'm going to pull for the guy and hope it works out because I dam sure need the help. I just need to know if he will be the right fit and not a liability.

Vetech63 said:

I always tend to go with my first impression when giving someone a name that I work with.

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I was told several times I had a name for everyone--always based of first impression, their stride/walk/
gate, how the body parts were assembled on their head, {one ear lower than other} things like that.
And once others stood and examined said person it would be followed by a yeah.
*
Guy who sold/delivered bulk oil---Was, OPHS--one percenter hot sh!t. Walks with the stride and
swagger of {I'm A Big Guy, A Big F---ing Guy}. Funny thing is anyone who knows him agrees with
the OPHS stamp.