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How much are you paying laborers?

Wawrecker

Well-Known Member
Start them at $14hr Add $1.00 for a car in there name and another $1.00 for drivers license and insurance.
 

jazak

Senior Member
I do tree work, so it maybe a little different but for a day laborer I pay $10-$15 an hr....depending on how good of an employee they are....
 

CM1995

Administrator
We start laborers off at $8 and top out at $10-$11 if they show up and have transportation to the job. Don't care about a drivers license because we usually don't let them drive any company vehicles anyway- that requires a background and license check. There is no sense in checking this because you usually know the answer.
 
Any time I have a helper with me they get 20 dollars per hour the homeowner pays that. I'am not going to find a helper if I don't pay 20 bucks per hour. The lowest I would pay a guy would be 15 dollars per hour.

If I was paying 10 dollars per hour all I would get would be a useless person. Most of the time I work on my own or the construction company I'am doing the hauling for gives me a helper.

Construction companies have to pay guys minimum 15 dollars per hour if they want a labourer. I won't even get out of bed for anything less than 20 per hour. There is a decent shortage of labourers for the construction industry because we are having a boom in B.C. . Other companies are stealing workers from other companies offering more money. If your a good skilled labourer the person could be making 25 dollars per hour.
 

CM1995

Administrator
I think the difference in pay wages correllates to the cost of living. Here in the southeast we have relatively low cost of living. Factor that in and we are all paying the laborers pretty much the same in scale.
 

Dwan Hall

Senior Member
Same as Lashlander if I was to have anyone other then my wife help. I do not want the headakes that go with hired help so I do not use any. If I can't do the job myself then I do not take on the work. on the other hand I hate to operate a shovel or rake so I charge the same as I do for running any of my equipment. Today it was $200 an hour to operate a shovel to fill the loader bucket.
What do I pay my wife? She takes it out in trade. LOL Then she gets anything she wants.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Dwan and Lash-

Do the laborers make so much because yall have such a short working season? If so what do these guys do in the winter?
 
I try not to do hand digging or heavy shoveling anymore my back can't take it so I try every thing I can of trying to not get roped in by a home owner to hand dig holes or move couple yards of dirt by hand and wheelbarrow. Most of the time I find any time I have a helper it slows me down.
 

Dwan Hall

Senior Member
Like I said "if I had any" I would pay what ever it took to get qualified help. and here that would be any time of the year. Shoveling snow is no easer then shoveling dirt.
 

Lashlander

Senior Member
Dwan and Lash-

Do the laborers make so much because yall have such a short working season? If so what do these guys do in the winter?

I think the cost of living has a lot to do with it. The season on the mainland is shorter. Those guys spend their winters playing. Here we work year around. Last time I got layed off was the month of Feb. 1990. I can't say I didn't enjoy it though.
 
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