Side Work

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.>>>

It may seem compassionate to permit side work, as many of us had done. However, should the shhht hit the fan, in the eyes of a jury and a sharpie attorney, these employees could be construed as your agents, making you and your insurance carriers responsible. Moon lighting has been done forever, but the consequences for employers can be disasterous. By being a good guy, you can wind up w/ the short end of the stick.>>>

Alright , oddly enough I find myself in alignment with Jed s post Whoa!! B) :woohoo: :woohoo: B) The H/O can pull their own permit in Fl. That wold settle that problem . As long as you are not stealing work from the company and or using equipment not requested . That is where I draw the line .>>>

I guess it all depends on to what extremes the employee will go to get the side work. Is it a friend of his or someone from his church that asked for a favor or is it one of your potential customers that you quoted at $5000 and he quoted at $3500? We had a lot of that going on here several years ago and it damn near bankrupted this business.

Is he using your residual supplies for the job? Things that you would normally keep in stock (coil nails, felt, flashings, etc). If so then I would spank him hard. I would give him my bid for what it would take for me to finish the job and he would have to pay my price.

If this appears to be a first-time thing that went wrong for him, maybe I would help him out for a small fee. I would most certainly have a long talk with him and his "crew". Make them realize that if they want to make the big bucks during the day, they can't steal work from the boss.

We have a loose policy about side work. We ask to be informed about it and have no problem if it is a family member or close friend but that is where we draw the line.>>>

No problem with it at all, unless as stated it stems from the companies customer base. I always worked w/ends when I could back in the day.....had to really...young and married, you want nice shit, you better work hard. I found that one shingle roof from, say someone at the wifes work would usually lead to another, then another etc Nowadays all I have to say is, "If you wanna work w/ends on the side that's fine, but you better not be draggin ass come Monday".>>>