Side Work

Yer know.......could be none of us has ANY right to dictate WHAT ANY of the lads do on a W/end.......in their OWN time, with THEIR OWN TOOLS. PERIOD!

As for "you can do it if it's under ten sq, but you have to buy your materials through us"!?............

Two words, Seven letters......with emphasis on the first word. >>>

In all these years i have never required anyone to work on a Saturday or a Sunday! Although we have worked many of both but it was always optional not mandatory. I have no right to tell a man roofing must be his life with little to no family time. Its my opinion that side jobs are simply a part of being a roofer, a subcontractor or a contractor. As a roofer i have the right to roof my cousins house for money on a saturday even though i work for mr. x thru the week by the hour. As a sub its the same. The lead must not come from the company i am working for however. As a roofer or a sub its my duty to refer the company. As a contractor its my duty to make sure no roofer or sub is stealing my work. lol But if he got the lead somewhere else and i was never going to get that lead anyways then what difference should it make to me if he wants to make some extra cash and get a nice boost to his bankroll? Maybe the baby needs a new pair of shoes? Or mama's car is broke down! Or theres no groceries in the fridge due to some unforseen bills that popped up!>>>

Egg,

How rainy is your locale?

Curious just because of the frequent rain in our area. I've never had a mandatory Sunday, and this month has been the first time in 15 years that we've even asked for Sunday work, but if we only get in 2 days M-F, Sat's are often mandatory. Sometimes you gotta feed the horse if you want the wagon to move.>>>

I take a philosophical position regarding side-jobs. It comes down to a careful reading of loyalty and abundance. Loyalty is a two-way street and I can read it quite well from either direction. I have a few hard and fast rules, but putting them aside, I can smell disloyalty a mile away anyway. On the other hand, I don't happen to ascribe to the notion that abundance is something reserved exclusively for the owner and I consider that attitude merely another form of disloyalty. I'm not a dog-eat-dog kind of guy. I'm not worried because "they" can't do what I do. I want "them" to grow up strong and competent. If it's undermining my business, it's over. I think everybody knows what that means. It's not that abstract. They do NOT have to recommend going through channels if it's something they can handle on their own. Everybody needs to get off the tit once in awhile. Right? It's against the law here to contract without a license. You can work anywhere you want for wages. As Mike says, it can't undercut the primary responsibility to the primary employment, although I differ regarding weekends. After years of experience, I have come to believe that weekends are sacrosanct and I feel I have zero right to compel someone to work for me on the weekend, for any reason whatsoever, even though there are a number of very compelling reasons from time to time. I believe it needs to remain entirely voluntary.>>>

I never do side jobs, but I have three different contractors that call me up every now and then when the are in a pinch. I get a payroll check for each one for the work I do. When I signed on with my new emplyer several months ago, He stated he does not allow side work. I was up front from the beginning, He liked my honesty and he would not have a problem with it so long as I put his company first and foremost. That meant if he needed my services over the weekend, that he could call upon me when needed regardless if I am working for someone else or not.

That is how I operate anyways, my backup work knows that I could be called away at moments notice and they are cool with it.>>>

Hi Jesse,

I hope things are going well.

Like Jed and others, side work was an important income subsidy when I was young, and I've always remembered that. Side work was never a problem until some guys did not show for work on a mandatory Saturday, and I found out they were working for a competitor, $25/hour cash.

My policy still allows side work, but has a number of limitations. If you'd like I can e-mail our policy to you.

The short version of my policy is: Side work is allowed as long as it does not detract from duties at the company. IOW, if we need you, you better be there. If it's low slope, it needs to be less than 10 square. Materials should be purchased from us. Needs to be a family or friend reference, not an open market project. Our tools are not available for use.

The longer part of the policy goes into a laymens explanation of why side work is potentially harmful to the ocmpany.>>>

Jed, I think I might start doing that. ;) We can have races every monday. Ciak, I don't think it is about trust. I think it is about when we go to our potential customers and tell them they should be using insured contractors and then I have employees going out and doing work uninsured and no license. I also then believe they are also competition. Pete in the pick up truck is competition and there is enough of that out there.>>>

If they are doing side jobs then they are competition...gotta have consequences,lay the rules if they wanna work for ya.>>>

A variety of opinions from all sides here. Seems to me you gotta take it for what it is Jesse. Or veto it altogether, but then you have to be willing to back it up which may mean losing a good guy(s) over nothing much. If you are worried about injuries being passed off on you then have them run and circle a lampost first thing Monday mornings before they head off.........be good for a giggle anyways>>>

Jesse If you are worried about the employees scamming and scheming against the company from the outside in , Well , you need to make a statement to them that you don't trust them and what you will require of them . That is what this is mostly about anyways isn't it ? " i dunno ">>>

They can do all the "side" work they want as long as it isn't roofing related or come from one of our jobs. If so, they're history.......

JET>>>

Well, the work was about a mile from our shop. He is not a foreman. He did not use any of our tools or any of our material. He got the job from a friend of his girlfriend. If they are doing side work isn't just like steal it from you. Shouldn't they refer the compnay they work for to do the job. I also worry about guys getting hurt and not being able to come to work of having a claim and saying it was from our job.>>>

There is one more serious problem with guys doing side work and thats injury's. Just suppose a guy blows a knee or injures his back and comes to work Monday morning and acts as if it just happened at work that morning and files a comp. claim on you. I had that happen.>>>

I agree with Willie, where the lead came from is the first thing I would want to know. Side work is ok as long as they are not stealing from me.>>>

I had a foreman that started doing side jobs. I had a meeting with him and told him it was ok as long as he never used any of of my tools, materials and still was able to give me 40 hours of work per week. The hardest part of doing a tile job solo is loading the tile. I drove by the house he was doing on a Saturday and this guy had three of my other employees loading the roof with two of my marked pickups parked in front.

Sunday morning I showed up at his house and took my pickup and tools. I also left him a piece of paper showing him how his pay and benefit package that he was losing added up to over $80,000 per year.>>>