I personally believe, Time warner is doing lot of contractor is to avoid lot of labor laws, don’t need to pay worker’s comp, don’t need to pay overtime etc.
We have few time warner contractor now employed full time. They used to get charge back for missing appoint time, even when they have been loaded with so much work and there is no way they can make it on time etc. So many jobs they do it for free. Lot of them did not know how much they will get each week due to charge backs. Really bad for them. In fact what time warner does is hire contracting company for their work and that company hires the contractor. Lot of time if there are lot of claim on the contracting company, contracting company folds. Few months later new company comes up with same people running it. In my opinion it is big racket. Tushar From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adam Moffett Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 11:26 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Installer Wages Did not have good experience with that. Problem 1: You need enough volume of work to keep the person fed, or else you need someone who does other work and happens to also work for you, but then you can't know what their schedule is, which makes scheduling installs harder. Problem 2: If you're keeping them busy with installations, you probably end up paying more. The theoretical advantage is you're saving money when you're not busy, but the contractor who doesn't have work will go do something else. See problem 1. Problem 3: If he has a problem with his tools/equipment/vehicle then you're a man down. The theoretical advantage is you don't have to fix these problems, but they still hurt you and you've lost control of the resolution. Problem 4: There's more money in getting more volume of work done, so there's financial incentive to cut corners. It might have been my luck, but IMO the quality of work from contractors was lower. Problem 5: If the person is getting a flat rate for the work, then does he have any incentive to do work that might be harder or take longer? IMO, some people were declaring an install to be a "no go" without exploring options like a pole in the yard, or a long mast. If you gave them extra for longer jobs, then they now have an incentive to make every job take longer. Some of these issues are the same with an employee, but IMO you have more direct control over the situation. These are just my observations and opinions. I imagine most of this is fixable with the right processes in place or else Dish Network and Time Warner wouldn't have so many contractors out there. On 10/21/2015 12:00 PM, Eric Kuhnke wrote: Is anyone hiring installers on a contract/1099, piece work basis? Like how the satellite TV installers are paid a flat rate per install for residential dish installations. Give them access to a ticketing system for your install queue, and a small stockpile of the common CPEs to keep on hand. Negotiate a per-install flat rate price. If doing this, how does your cost compare to having someone on staff? On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 7:50 AM, Jeremy <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: We are a small shop, one installer, $17 per hour (40-hour week - gets time and a half almost every week). We buy all his tools, fuel, and supply a truck. No Insurance benefits at this time. Paid holidays - vacation probably after year one. On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 8:34 AM, Darin Steffl <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Hello all, What are of the US are you in and what is your average hourly rate for an installer? What about an installer and tower climber 15-20% of the time? Any benefits, etc.? Looking for a big picture of what they make in a year hourly and benefits they have as well. Thank you -- Darin Steffl Minnesota WiFi www.mnwifi.com <http://www.mnwifi.com/> 507-634-WiFi <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> Like us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> <http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi>
