Working Saturdays

[peter d]

I'm just curious how many of you typically work on Saturdays, and how many are strictly Monday through Friday guys.

[quogueelectric]

For 30 yrs I have almost always worked saturdays only sundays when I have to.

[JES2727]

I usually work on Saturdays. Rarely on Sundays.

[peter d]

I should clarify what I'm curious about. Do you work Saturdays because you have to (employer requests it, or if you're a contractor you have to because of your workload)?

[j_erickson]

My guys are usually offered work on Saturdays. On a rare occasion I tell them I really need them. Typically myself and 2 guys work at least 5 hours 2 Saturdays a month.

[satcom]

The guys love, the time and a half money working on Saturdays.

[peter]

I am strictly a Monday through Friday drone. 3:30 p.m. Friday is the target zone.
Satcom--
'The guys love, the time and a half money working on Saturdays." These must be the younger guys. They haven't yet learned to budget within their means. I do agree that working Saturdays is more better than 10 hours Monday thru Friday. There is a life after work. Lest ye forget, there is some college football on Saturdays.
~Peter

[j_erickson]

The guys love, the time and a half money working on Saturdays.

2 - 3 of my guys do. But watch out for the fireworks. A few years ago the responses flew through here about "my time/ family time/ I do enough already" etc. when the subject was brought up.

[480sparky]

I work most Saturdays. Usually about one Sunday a month, too.

I keep hearing about something called a 'weak end'.....

[mdshunk]

I'm a Monday through Friday guy. I don't schedule normal work for Saturdays or Sundays, ever, but sometimes emergencies prevail. I only do emergency call-outs on weekends for existing customers.

[macmikeman]

For me, I actually like Saturday work, and then taking off one day in the middle of the week for surf. There is less of a crowd out at my favorite breaks that way.

[DIRT27]

I am an employee. I work some saturdays when offered. I don't take advantage of all the saturday work offered. I have been working 50+ hrs the last month in 5 day work weeks. I personally would rather work the overtime durring the week and have my weekend for my time. We have quite a few guys that only want to do 40 and will do anything they can to get out of overtime. There is also I few that will take all the OT they can get and will work 60+ if they can get. In the past I have had 70+ hr weeks and don't really want to do that.

For the most part I am happy with 40hr weeks. This year I have worked about half 40 hr and half 48-50, I think it is more OT than I want, but I just want to keep my employer happy. We ussually don't have this much OT offered so I figured I should take it when it is availible.

[tonyou812]

I work most Saturdays but I go in spurts. Ill work 6 some 7 days for 2-3 months then take a short break from it and go back to it for another few months.

[S Carpenter]

My guys work Mon. - Fri. usually 40 a week if need be we can work Sats. but I usually cover all of the Sat. and Sun. emergency work because I don't get paid 1 1/2 or 2 time for it.

[e57]

I work both Saturday, and Sunday - at home. After self-teaching myself some welding and carpentry skills I have all kinds of neat contraptions to build.

[Luketrician]

I work a 12 hr swing shift. Which means that I work two weekends a month, days then nights.

Every fourth week I get seven days off. A good trade off imo..:smile:

[ptonsparky]

Small shop self employed, the only way I get a full day off is to be in the hospital or on vacation, meaning I leave the State. Even then I answer phone calls.

[hardworkingstiff]

When I was an hourly employee (from 1980-1990) I rarely worked a Saturday, and often had Friday off (4 - 10s).

Then I took a promotion and went on salary, worked every Saturday and some Sundays. I was able to hang on for 5-years before I thru in the towel and went out on my own.

Being a contractor now I've worked by myself, and with up to 4 employees over the last 11 years (I think I really prefer to work by myself). I now have one employee who is retired from the Army and does not care if we work less than 40-hours. We work between 30 and 44 hours on average, and try NEVER to work a weekend.

[electricmanscott]

I figure I'll only live once and I'd preffer to spend the least amount of time with a tool in my hand as possible. No weekends for me unless I am in a real jam.

Like to spend time with the family and do stuff other than work. :smile:

[ceknight]

I'm a Monday through Friday guy. I don't schedule normal work for Saturdays or Sundays, ever, but sometimes emergencies prevail. I only do emergency call-outs on weekends for existing customers.

That's my policy, too.

I will occasionally work on a Saturday when it's my fault -- if I've gotten behind schedule after having promised someone I would take care of them that week, for instance. Or if I'm trying to go on a fishing trip and need to cram some stuff in around the margins to ease the guilt. But those are special occasions.

[dSilanskas]

I hardly ever work on Saturdays unless we are going over on a job than I will work on a Saturday :smile:

[walkerj]

Life without work isn't life at all. Sometimes i wish there were 8 days in a week

[randomkiller]

I only do callouts or scheduled urgent work on weekends.

[infinity]

Generally Saturday work is at the request of a GC or owner and translates into more dollars in our pocket. Actually I'll be working today doing a boiler hookup. That will be later this afternoon when the plumber has the old one out and the new one in.

[iwire]

My feeling is this, if an employee is not willing to work Saturdays (or any other time) for the company when it needs to be done so be it. However that employee should not expect to advance beyond the workers that do give 100%.

Also they should be aware that if slow downs come they will likely be the first to be let go.

I look at the company and the employee as being in a relationship and if only one party of the relationship is willing to 'put out' the relationship is doomed.

I work all sorts of odd hours, Sundays, Saturdays, nights, over nights away from home etc. At the same time my employers have been good about giving me time off when I need it. Or I might get the next day after an overnight as a paid day off.

It should be a two way street, don't work extra hours if you don't want but if you choose that don't expect extras coming your way either.

JMHO, Bob

[stickboy1375]

The guys love, the time and a half money working on Saturdays.

I'm one that does not, pay me cash or forget it...

[emahler]

bob...agreed 100%...we just express it differently.

[andinator]

My feeling is this, if an employee is not willing to work Saturdays (or any other time) for the company when it needs to be done so be it. However that employee should not expect to advance beyond the workers that do give 100%.

Also they should be aware that if slow downs come they will likely be the first to be let go.

I look at the company and the employee as being in a relationship and if only one party of the relationship is willing to 'put out' the relationship is doomed.

I work all sorts of odd hours, Sundays, Saturdays, nights, over nights away from home etc. At the same time my employers have been good about giving me time off when I need it. Or I might get the next day after an overnight as a paid day off.

It should be a two way street, don't work extra hours if you don't want but if you choose that don't expect extras coming your way either.

JMHO, Bob


I'm with Bob on this... Conversely, If I wanna go on a three day fishing trip, I've never had a problem getting that time.

[infinity]

I'm one that does not, pay me cash or forget it...


You're making the IRS very happy.

[bkludecke]

I've got 6 employees (3 JWs + 3 APP) plus me and my wife who handles the office. None of my men want to work on Saturdays even though they all said they would when they hired on.

I work Saturdays doing the time sheets/billing in the morning when it's quiet. In the afternoon I do bids and service calls. I did raise my weekend service call (1st hour) to $165. That has slowed down the demand quite a bit.

One thing that I wish I could do is to offer "comp time" where the guys could trade overtime work for taking an equal amount of regular time off. In CA only government agentcies can work that way:mad: .

Sundays we do emergency work only, and I define "emergency" as having visible flames.

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

My feeling is this, if an employee is not willing to work Saturdays (or any other time) for the company when it needs to be done so be it. However that employee should not expect to advance beyond the workers that do give 100%.

Also they should be aware that if slow downs come they will likely be the first to be let go.

Your logic defines "100%" as "available anytime" (Saturdays, and any other time) and nothing less. Time was, available 40 hours M-F roughly 8-4 OR 7-3 was 100% and anything beyond that was 150%. But before that time, employers set ALL the rules without regard for anything other than themselves, and thus began the union movement. "If you don't come in on Sunday, don't bother coming in on Monday." It is clearly unfortunate that we are (as a country) reverting back to the day when the employer called all the shots at the expense of the entire purpose of why we head off for work everyday in the first place: our families and our lives.


I look at the company and the employee as being in a relationship and if only one party of the relationship is willing to 'put out' the relationship is doomed.


I don't see the relationship you're describing as being based on anything other than "it's our way or the highway." And throw in a little hint of "the less you prioritize your life, the more we'll prioritize you."


I work all sorts of odd hours, Sundays, Saturdays, nights, over nights away from home etc. At the same time my employers have been good about giving me time off when I need it. Or I might get the next day after an overnight as a paid day off.

It should be a two way street, don't work extra hours if you don't want but if you choose that don't expect extras coming your way either.

JMHO, Bob

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

I've got 6 employees (3 JWs + 3 APP) plus me and my wife who handles the office. None of my men want to work on Saturdays even though they all said they would when they hired on.

I work Saturdays doing the time sheets/billing in the morning when it's quiet. In the afternoon I do bids and service calls. I did raise my weekend service call (1st hour) to $165. That has slowed down the demand quite a bit.

One thing that I wish I could do is to offer "comp time" where the guys could trade overtime work for taking an equal amount of regular time off. In CA only government agentcies can work that way:mad: .

Sundays we do emergency work only, and I define "emergency" as having visible flames.


If comp time were to become a standard in the private sector, here's how it would affect the tradesman:

"XYZ ELECTRIC INC. - We do service calls nights, weekends, holidays NO EXTRA CHARGE!" And Joe Journeyman can't pickup Joe JR. from school or dropoff Jane at Soccer practice or schedule a dental checkup next week, or sit down with the family @ diner because the boss decided to work an extra 8 hours on Friday night and give everyone Monday off.

[emahler]

Your logic defines "100%" as "available anytime" (Saturdays, and any other time) and nothing less. Time was, available 40 hours M-F roughly 8-4 OR 7-3 was 100% and anything beyond that was 150%. But before that time, employers set ALL the rules without regard for anything other than themselves, and thus began the union movement. "If you don't come in on Sunday, don't bother coming in on Monday." It is clearly unfortunate that we are (as a country) reverting back to the day when the employer called all the shots at the expense of the entire purpose of why we head off for work everyday in the first place: our families and our lives.

so, when I tell my customers (many who operate 24/7 and lose thousands of dollars an hour if they are down, "sorry, I know it's Friday night, but I can't have anyone there until 7:30 monday morning" and they say "no problem, we'll call someone else"

do you want to tell my employee(s) that they are being let go because we lost another customer?

It's not about "I want you here on Sat!", it's about our customers operate on Saturdays and sometimes they have a problem that needs to be handled immediately.


I don't see the relationship you're describing as being based on anything other than "it's our way or the highway." And throw in a little hint of "the less you prioritize your life, the more we'll prioritize you."

Bob is/was a service electrician. It's a different world than a construction electrician. You appear to be a construction electrician. That work can usually be scheduled M-F from 7-3:30...electrical service can't always be scheduled. That's the nature of an emergency. I need guys who I can count on to make the customer happy today, so we can all work next month.

BTW- this is not regarding residential.

[emahler]

If comp time were to become a standard in the private sector, here's how it would affect the tradesman:

"XYZ ELECTRIC INC. - We do service calls nights, weekends, holidays NO EXTRA CHARGE!" And Joe Journeyman can't pickup Joe JR. from school or dropoff Jane at Soccer practice or schedule a dental checkup next week, or sit down with the family @ diner because the boss decided to work an extra 8 hours on Friday night and give everyone Monday off.

Not at all...

[iwire]

Your logic defines "100%" as "available anytime" (Saturdays, and any other time) and nothing less. Time was, available 40 hours M-F roughly 8-4 OR 7-3 was 100% and anything beyond that was 150%.

You can not give 150%.

You can give 100% or less, not more.

So IMO workers that can not find a way to work some extra hours when needed are giving less then 100%.

entire purpose of why we head off for work everyday in the first place: our families and our lives.

I agree, I work to live, I do not live to work.

But I expect that being a 'team player' and harder work will result in better treatment. If I don't find that to be the case I handle it myself. I have never let an employer take advantage of me.

I don't see the relationship you're describing as being based on anything other than "it's our way or the highway."

Well sort of yes.

The company is in business to make money, if someone is not as good as another one at making that happen why should they be carried indefinitely?

Members keep in mind we will not discuss union vs non-union issues here.

[iwire]

Bob is/was a service electrician. It's a different world than a construction electrician.

I am used as both, you know jack of all trades, master of none. ;)

[emahler]

and you obviously know the difference between the 2 worlds...

[iwire]

and you obviously know the difference between the 2 worlds...

Yes, if left up to me we work 6AM to 2PM Monday to Friday on a construction job. It happens to be what I am doing now. Leave at 5 AM home by 3 PM. 8-)

But off of construction jobs the hours could be any time.
Most of our customers are retailers and they get real upset when you kill the power to the cash registers during 'normal hours'.

[MAK]

I am an employee and work when ever I am asked. With that said there was about a 6 month span of time this past year where I was working every Saturday and working very long hours on a bunch of trips that took us out of state far from home. I worked the hours for the money & also because the company needed it (we were understaffed and getting really behind). I liked being a guy that the company could rely on (I always had that work ethic). My wife however did not like it one bit and this conflict caused a lot more stress in my life.:-? It has made me think hard about working extra hours and when I can/should and when I need to pay attention to my family. :confused:

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

so, when I tell my customers (many who operate 24/7 and lose thousands of dollars an hour if they are down, "sorry, I know it's Friday night, but I can't have anyone there until 7:30 monday morning" and they say "no problem, we'll call someone else"

do you want to tell my employee(s) that they are being let go because we lost another customer?

It's not about "I want you here on Sat!", it's about our customers operate on Saturdays and sometimes they have a problem that needs to be handled immediately.



Bob is/was a service electrician. It's a different world than a construction electrician. You appear to be a construction electrician. That work can usually be scheduled M-F from 7-3:30...electrical service can't always be scheduled. That's the nature of an emergency. I need guys who I can count on to make the customer happy today, so we can all work next month.

BTW- this is not regarding residential.

Way back when, towns rolled up the sidewalks on Saturday night. You could not go shopping for clothes, nick nacks, 5 & 10's, on Sunday. The bakery would be open till noon. Along came the business owner who decided they'd capture more of the market share if they opened on Sunday. (and then eventually, 24 hours, and then eventually, open Thanksgiving and Christmas day such as with WalMart and Home Depot) This was not "needs driven" it was a profit motive. Do you think the world is a better place for this? I don't.

An emergency service call is what it is, I'm not really addressing that situation. As you say, Bob is more service than construction. But I have no doubt there are instances when jobs are scheduled in advance specifically for nights, weekends or even holidays because "that's what the customer wants." That's a cop out, a disarming technique called "deflection" that the contractor will use deflect the "blame" from having to answer for this unfortunate predicament, (either through necessity or not) and place the blame somewhere else. It's an old "how to deal with an irate customer" trick - you redirect the blame or the cause to someone or something that's considered untouchable or pure happenstance.

If I WANT to get root canal on Sunday at 9pm, I assure you my dentist will tell me exactly where to go, and it ain't a nice place. And part of his ability to do that is he knows the rest of the dentists will tell me exactly the same thing. And he'll continue to have that response until some lower form of dentist decides to become a 24-hour full service operation.

As a contractor or as a Journeyman or as a customer, individually nobody is singularily responsible for what I'm describing as the overall degradation of the quality of life. We all play the cards we're delt, and this unfortunately happens to be the way it is. What I'm addressing is how it got to be that way - where an employee of a contractor thinks he has to be available 24 x 7 or else he has no job. I can only surmise the next logical step in this evolution is, the "100%er" is the 1st employee who is not only always available, not only willing to travel and be holed up in a motel room without notice, but willing to work 8-10 hour days for 80 hours pay, earn no overtime, then get the next 6 days off.

And already a contractor here has chimed in that it's a shame comp time isn't legal. Which begs the question, a shame for whom?

[emahler]

lawnguy...you sound like my father...and as I always tell him "i'll go back to running a business with a pad and pencil when everyone else gives up their computers"

the point being...the world changes, for good or bad, for better or worse...change with it, or fall behind.

now, i personally would love to confine my work week to M-F from 12n-1p and take an hour of it for lunch everyday...but well, ain't happening.

and I disagree, there is definitely some necessity to all the extended hours. Now if you were to lower costs and taxes, so that all households could survive on 1 salary, then the wife could take care of all her errands during "normal" business hours and there would be no need for night or weekend hours.

[480sparky]

...........................http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/PHB.gif

"I expect every employee to work 178 hours per week."

[chris kennedy]

Well I just got home from work to see this has turned into a bit of a debate.

I also agree with Iwire. We are both just employees. I put in alot of extra time. Not for the money(wife gets that) and not for my boss. I do it because this is what it takes to run large projects smoothly. Good jobs make me feel good.

All you employees that spend time here working to stay on top of your game, are you compensated for this time? No, you do it be choice.

Go Gators!

[bkludecke]

Lawnguy, Comp Time is just good for everyone. Many times I have an employee who wants to take time off to attend to personal business but he wants to make up that time with a few longer days so his paycheck won't be short. I have to pay time and a half for those over time hours and I usually have to say no because I don't have the extra money figured into the jobs. And as I said, Government allows themselves to do it so they must think it's an OK practice.

You seem to think that this is an employee vs. employer game. I think that is a really warped perspective of things.

As far as stores being open 24/7? That is market driven. WalMart wouldn't do it if the customers wouldn't support it or the workers didn't want the work.

I'm a capitalist. Let the market drive the economy. If I don't treat my employees right, I won't have employees. If I don't treat my customers right I won't have customers. If my employees don't play by my rules they can find a job that's better suited to them.

[peter d]

I'm going to moderate my own thread. Can we please keep the discussion away from politics and the socio-economic reasons why we work Saturdays.

[bkludecke]

I'm going to moderate my own thread. Can we please keep the discussion away from politics and the socio-economic reasons why we work Saturdays.

OK, I work Saturdays because 1) I can't get everything I want to do done in five days. 2) I work Saturdays because the office is quiet and I can get the paperwork done without interruption. 3) I work Saturdays because that's what many of my customers demand/need from time to time.

But I'd really rather talk about politics and socio-economic stuff.:D :D

[iwire]

I'm going to moderate my own thread. Can we please keep the discussion away from politics and the socio-economic reasons why we work Saturdays.

Peter I tried earlier to 'Moderate' this thread but could not come up with any way to do it other then closing it.

How can we talk about work on Saturdays without any of this other stuff? :confused:

I mean, I like my job but I would not be there at all if it were not for economic reasons.

[mdshunk]

I manage to find more than enough work that I can sehedule between Monday and Friday. Sure, there are certain customers (retailers chief among them) who won't suffer work during the daylight hours very kindly. I completely understand that, which is why I service very few of these folks. That leaves a great big population of people who otherwise use electricity that I can take care of. Even when I did run much bigger work than I'd ever do now, Saturdays were more of a rarity than a necessity. I'd rather bring on extra labor than work Saturdays when I can possibly help it. It's just two approaches to the same problems, with neither one being more correct than the other. Just a personal decision. I worked my share, and then some, of mandatory overtime in my career. After a while of that, you have more money from overtime than a show dog can jump over, and are too tired and worn out to enjoy it. Overtime wears on you (or at least it does me).

[480sparky]

This is what I was doing this morning:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/DSC05533a.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/DSC05534a.jpg

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/DSC05535a.jpg

Trenching in a 50-a line from the service to a new shed a customer had built. The only reason I did it this morning is because Ryan (the guy on the trencher and a good friend of mine who does rural water installations) scheduled it for today. He had another job in the same area, so he wanted to do them at the same time.

[chris kennedy]

How did you get an underground inspection on a Saturday?;)

[480sparky]

How did you get an underground inspection on a Saturday?;)

This is out in the sticks... no inspections at all.

But that don't mean I cheat.

[cadpoint]

I'm just curious how many of you typically work on Saturdays, and how many are strictly Monday through Friday guys.
As an Employee, I was asked Friday to work next weekend on another job. Seems they couldn't get enough people at 10 PM Thursday night to get a crew to go this weekend, or that super waved off this weekend.
We almost always are asked on Thursday to do weekend work. Now I'm penciled in for a the job that will not see OT till ... some time We'll see ...:roll:

[peter d]

How can we talk about work on Saturdays without any of this other stuff? :confused:

I was more curious about "how many" rather than the underlying reasons why. It seems like most who have responded to this thread do work weekends, and that has satisfied my curiosity. I didn't realize the topic had the potential to drift into the forbidden areas when I first posted it.

When I started seeing Wal mart get mentioned, I knew it was headed for trouble. ;)


I mean, I like my job but I would not be there at all if it were not for economic reasons.

Of course. I don't think any of us love our jobs so much that we do it for free for all year long. ;) :D

[mdshunk]

I think that a willingness to work weekends (ie, a strong Puritan work ethic) is more important than whether or not you actually have work to do on the weekends. When push comes to shove, I expect that guys work at least Saturdays. I try to be respectful of their time, and not require this unless there's no other way. As a result, when Saturday work is needed, I don't want to hear any crying.

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

Bob, I don't think this is employer vs. employee. After all, my employer is the employee of the customer, and that client is the employee of it's customers, etc. It all comes full circle.

[electricmanscott]

I agree with Bob on this 150%. Is that even possible? 100% anyway. :smile:

If you don't want to "give" what the company wants then the company should be able to show you the door no questions asked. To me it is that simple and black and white. A business owner should be able to hire, fire, or otherwise any person at any time for any reason whatsoever. Unfortunatley the sense of entitlement people seem to feel today has made more problems for business owners that just should not exist.

Companies should however be respectful of employees lives outside of work, no employers, the world does not revolve around you.

Having said that I work for myself and by myslef and that is the way I like it. It's paid the bills for 13+ years and I see no reason to change now.

[stickboy1375]

I agree with Bob on this 150%. Is that even possible? 100% anyway. :smile:

If you don't want to "give" what the company wants then the company should be able to show you the door no questions asked. To me it is that simple and black and white.





I just don't see how you could legally fire someone for not working overtime...:-?

[bkludecke]

I just don't see how you could legally fire someone for not working overtime...:-?

Not only can I legally fire someone for not working OT; I can legally fire someone because I don't like them, or because they are ugly, or because they have a tatoo, or because I feel like firing someone that day, or because I don't like the quality of their work, if fact I can fire someone for almost any reason I want or for no reason at all. Yep, "your fired Keith" , "but why boss?", "I just don't like you Keith, never really have, so clean out your truck grab your hand tools and get out of here".

I cannot fire someone because of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion (I think), etc.,....

[220/221]

For most of my life I worked whenever there was work to do. Sat, Sun, all nighters...whatever.

About 15 years ago when I started my "legitimate" EC business, my younger business partner lobbied for weekends off. Being "old school" I was afraid but is was by far, one of the best decisions ever.

If there is an emergency with a good client or a REALLY good money (cash) job we will ask the guys if they want to work. It only happens maybe 3 or 4 times a year.

5 days a week is PLENTY. Enjoy your family time and cut your grass dammit!

[220/221]

I also agree with Iwire. We are both just employees.




JUST employees? Without employees I would be working twice as hard earning half as much.

People that are willing to work hard for/with me are my heros.



Added:

In MY opinion, giving 100 percent is showing up on time and working 40 hours a week.

Anything extra is OVER 100 percent.

[qcroanoke]

Not only can I legally fire someone for not working OT; I can legally fire someone because I don't like them, or because they are ugly, or because they have a tatoo, or because I feel like firing someone that day, or because I don't like the quality of their work, if fact I can fire someone for almost any reason I want or for no reason at all. Yep, "your fired Keith" , "but why boss?", "I just don't like you Keith, never really have, so clean out your truck grab your hand tools and get out of here".

Are you kiddin me?
I'm glad I don't work for you.
What a jerk.

[480sparky]

Not only can I legally fire someone for not working OT; I can legally fire someone because I don't like them, or because they are ugly, or because they have a tatoo, or because I feel like firing someone that day, or because I don't like the quality of their work, if fact I can fire someone for almost any reason I want or for no reason at all. Yep, "your fired Keith" , "but why boss?", "I just don't like you Keith, never really have, so clean out your truck grab your hand tools and get out of here".

I cannot fire someone because of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion (I think), etc.,....

If you fire someone just because you don't like them, you'll have to pay unemployment. Truth is, no one gets fired for that reason, at least that's what the Employment Office officials are told.

You can fire Keith, but you tell him some other reason. "You don't produce enough" or "We have too many problems with your work" or "You just aren't reliable enough", whatever it takes to be able to fire the guy without having to pony up the Unemployment bills. If you're smart, you'll have this conversation several times with Keith, and document it with a paper trail.

That way, when you DO fire him, he can't collect unemployment because you told him (and can prove it) several times he just doesn't cut it.

[220/221]

Are you kiddin me?
I'm glad I don't work for you.
What a jerk.




To be fair, he didn't say he WOULD, only that he COULD.

Big difference.


If you fire someone just because you don't like them, you'll have to pay unemployment.

We had a guy fax us a handwritten note saying "I found a better job". A few weeks later the knucklehead TRIED to file for unemployment. It was a classic moment in stupidity.

[emahler]

Not only can I legally fire someone for not working OT; I can legally fire someone because I don't like them, or because they are ugly, or because they have a tatoo, or because I feel like firing someone that day, or because I don't like the quality of their work, if fact I can fire someone for almost any reason I want or for no reason at all. Yep, "your fired Keith" , "but why boss?", "I just don't like you Keith, never really have, so clean out your truck grab your hand tools and get out of here".

Are you kiddin me?
I'm glad I don't work for you.
What a jerk.


The flipside is the employee who can quit at anytime for any reason...got $0.25/hr more...new company has a hot secretary...etc...and they can quit at 9am Monday morning by phone (when they were supposed to be in at 8am) or when you are in the big push to get a job done and need them...

does that make them jerks?

[220/221]

The flipside is the employee who can quit at anytime for any reason...got $0.25/hr more...new company has a hot secretary...etc...and they can quit at 9am Monday morning by phone (when they were supposed to be in at 8am) or when you are in the big push to get a job done and need them...

does that make them jerks?



Only when they do it.


But IF they did that, you will be better off without them in the long run.

[misterbill1972]

all weekend work SUCKS !!! , but if I have to I will, no complaints and preferably for a day off rather than O.T.

[360Youth]

Over 40 hours is rarely required. Mon-Fri 8-5 is our schedule. But I will work when there is work to do. Sometimes I will work 2-3 hours on a sat and hit the beach or I will work a full day if need be to get caught up or ahead if there is a heavy work load coming. Very rarely will I work a Sun. I believe in the 7th day of rest. Doesn't have to be Sun, of course. And sometimes you just gotta work, but I don't feel is has to be the norm.

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Closed.asp

[qcroanoke]

To be fair, he didn't say he WOULD, only that he COULD.

Big difference.

True, It just tee'd me off the way it was posted.
I'm all for employer AND employee rights.
Just don't do something because you can.
That's all I'm sayin.

[Kessler4130]

Used to work saturdays all the time, now I only work them if I really have to get something done. I can always make more money, but cannot make more time.

[bkludecke]

qcroanoke. Sorry if I upset you. I don't think I'm a jerk (at least not for the reason you stated).:D

I was just trying to explain that I don't need a reason to fire an employee. Believe me when I say that I treat my employees very well. We are an independent shop in a small resort town. I pay my JWs north of $26/hr + 10days paid vacation/sick leave + 7 paid holidays + paid family health insurance + 40hrs holiday bonus check + a company truck to take home + all the hours they want to work. My JWs have been with me for 21yrs, 14yrs, and 12yrs. So you see I don't fire people very often, nor do they quit.

Peace

[TOOL_5150]

I will be working tomarrow [Sunday] because I want to, and because it will put a lot of money in my hand at the end of the day. I like what I do - no matter what day it is. I also work for a company mon - friday. I can decide what jobs I want to do on the weekends though, I can also choose to not do anything on the weekend. Tomarrow I will be troubleshooting a job that a prior 'electrician' worked on. Quite interesting; if you turn off the bathroom light the tv in her bedroom goes off as well. I enjoy a challenge!

~Matt

[tallguy]

Quite interesting; if you turn off the bathroom light the tv in her bedroom goes off as well.I dunno... doesn't sound that challenging.

Now, if turning off the bathroom light turned the tv in the bedroom on... :)

[S'mise]

40 hours works fine for me, but I'll be there on a Saturday if needed. John

[stalllingselectric]

Well it seems that as my family needs increase i.e. college , housing etc i rarely find myself not working. In fact if im not working i feel guilty and typically its sunrise to sunset, so in the fall/winter my income drops cuz of the shorter days
not to mention some weather interruptions :D

[TOOL_5150]

I dunno... doesn't sound that challenging.

Now, if turning off the bathroom light turned the tv in the bedroom on... :)


There was another switch box that she said the 'electrician' took the switch out, made sparks, and put it back together with out the switch and said he would not deal with that box any more as it was unsafe. So she has a blanked off switch box, and a bathroom switch that controlls half of her bedroom. At any rate, I will be making good money on this job so it is a good time spent on a sunday.

~Matt

[iwire]

There was another switch box that she said the 'electrician' took the switch out, made sparks, and put it back together with out the switch and said he would not deal with that box any more as it was unsafe.

Comforting words from the 'professional' to the home owner. :roll:

[LarryFine]

Tomarrow I will be troubleshooting a job that a prior 'electrician' worked on. Quite interesting; if you turn off the bathroom light the tv in her bedroom goes off as well. I enjoy a challenge!

That's an easy one. Someone placed the hot feed out on the wrong side of the switch.

[iwire]

That's an easy one. Someone placed the hot feed out on the wrong side of the switch.

Wow how did you figure that out? :D

I think the challenging part will be fixing what the other 'electrician' blew up, blanked off and ran from.:rolleyes:

[electricmanscott]

Not only can I legally fire someone for not working OT; I can legally fire someone because I don't like them, or because they are ugly, or because they have a tatoo, or because I feel like firing someone that day, or because I don't like the quality of their work, if fact I can fire someone for almost any reason I want or for no reason at all. Yep, "your fired Keith" , "but why boss?", "I just don't like you Keith, never really have, so clean out your truck grab your hand tools and get out of here".

I cannot fire someone because of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion (I think), etc.,....

I strongly believe you should be able to if you so choose.

Would I do it? I don't know for sure because it is not something that has ever come up for me but I doubt it.

But like I said, as a business owner I should be able to if I wanted. If you don't like the way I run my business, key words my business, you are free to go work any where you want.

[masterinbama]

When i was doing industrial PM work we would work Fri,Sat,Sun, and Mon
8 hrs,12 hours,12hrs and 8hrs. We would travel on fri. morning set up do thermals and amp draws Sat and Sun repair any problems found if possible. Mon was follow up thermals and amp draws and travel. Tue. Wed. and Thur.
was spent on the golf course or at the fishing hole and rivers are a lot less crowded in the middle of the week

[DIRT27]

I think the challenging part will be fixing what the other 'electrician' blew up, blanked off and ran from.:rolleyes:

In my experience it is easy to trouble shooting something that was working and then stoped. It is much harder trying to trouble shoot something that someone eles got 1/2 into and quit because they couldn't figure it now, I can never figure why they did what they did or what they were thinking.

Good luck, it doesn't sound to hard but you never know untill you get out there.

[emahler]

Now I should point out, that I don't like to work weekends...and we almost never schedule work for weekends...only emergencies...

Today, I spent time with my family and took my son on a hayride and to pick pumpkins. That's worth a lot of money to me. Someone would have to pay me a ton of money to give that up.

But, should one of our customers call me now with an emergency, I would go. And they would pay me a lot of money to get there...

[Rewire]

well its Sunday and here I sit at the shop.The boys are out cleaning out trucks and I am faxing out a bid due at 10 AM monday so I guess I do work weekends,but so do the sons

[cschmid]

I am monday thru friday except when on call but when I did construction it was anyday we could work so in winter time when work is slim we had enough cash to live on..unemployment only pays so much..can we add a poll to this thread on the issue...

[-=PEAKABOO=-]

I work a 12 hr swing shift. Which means that I work two weekends a month, days then nights.

Every fourth week I get seven days off. A good trade off imo..:smile:

[/hijack on]

Luketrician, nice avatar.


[hijack off]

[TOOL_5150]

I think the challenging part will be fixing what the other 'electrician' blew up, blanked off and ran from.:rolleyes:


Bob, Yeah it was definately a mess. He blanked off a few switches, tied all hots together and a noodle:-? ...

I made sure to show my customer what is wrong and why it was wrong. come to find out, the light didnt work in the bathroom because the hot and neutral were both tied to the hots. I just opened the blanks, unhooked everything, toned everything out and hooked it back up. And what do you know.. she has light. Hasnt had light in her bathroom for months so she said. I made more money today [sunday] then I will make all next week. The best part: She told me she has more stuff she wants me to do.


~Matt

[emahler]

what happens if her house burns down? i assume your insurance will cover your work?

[Rampage_Rick]

I work Wednesday to Monday. We can bring in $50k on a good weekend in the summer, so I'm here in the event something goes awry. I know they'd keep me here 7 days a week if they could, but Tuesdays are the least busy. The sad part is that my workload doesn't decrease in the winter...

Salery makes fools of us all.

[qcroanoke]

qcroanoke. Sorry if I upset you. I don't think I'm a jerk (at least not for the reason you stated).:D

I was just trying to explain that I don't need a reason to fire an employee. Believe me when I say that I treat my employees very well. We are an independent shop in a small resort town. I pay my JWs north of $26/hr + 10days paid vacation/sick leave + 7 paid holidays + paid family health insurance + 40hrs holiday bonus check + a company truck to take home + all the hours they want to work. My JWs have been with me for 21yrs, 14yrs, and 12yrs. So you see I don't fire people very often, nor do they quit.

Peace
I'm good with that,no problem. i probably over reacted.
Peace to you too.

[chris kennedy]

I pay my JWs north of $26/hr + 10days paid vacation/sick leave + 7 paid holidays + paid family health insurance + 40hrs holiday bonus check + a company truck to take home + all the hours they want to work.
Peace
You looking for help?

[emahler]

I work Wednesday to Monday. We can bring in $50k on a good weekend in the summer, so I'm here in the event something goes awry. I know they'd keep me here 7 days a week if they could, but Tuesdays are the least busy. The sad part is that my workload doesn't decrease in the winter...

Salery makes fools of us all.

How many trucks on the road to generate $50k on a weekend? what type of work?

[hardworkingstiff]

You looking for help?

:grin: :grin: :grin:

Yea, you looking?

[iaov]

Small shop self employed, the only way I get a full day off is to be in the hospital or on vacation, meaning I leave the State. Even then I answer phone calls. My life exactly.

[Rampage_Rick]

How many trucks on the road to generate $50k on a weekend? what type of work?
600 rounds of golf, 2 outdoor weddings, and all of our rental villas booked. On my end that will involve fixing a couple dead carts, running power for all the lighting and sound for the weddings, and helping people who can't operate the plasma TVs or hottubs. On a bad weekend you might throw in dead reefers or a total network crash. http://www.thefalls.com/

[emahler]

600 rounds of golf, 2 outdoor weddings, and all of our rental villas booked. On my end that will involve fixing a couple dead carts, running power for all the lighting and sound for the weddings, and helping people who can't operate the plasma TVs or hottubs. On a bad weekend you might throw in dead reefers or a total network crash. http://www.thefalls.com/

ok...maintenance electrician...i got it.

i was ready to start a service company in BC if I could make $50K in a weekend :D

[ITO]

The wife said no more weekend work, so I switched to 13 hour days.

[electricguy]

ok...maintenance electrician...i got it.

i was ready to start a service company in BC if I could make $50K in a weekend :D

When ya do Could I apply for the service manager position :D

[JohnME]

I would never work for someone who REQUIRED weekend work.

I work 7-3 M-F and thats that- if one of my jobs needs more time on it I would rather work 10 hour days and still have my weekends free to enjoy what life is really about, friends and family.

My employer has asked me to work weekends before, if I have plans already made I will decline the offer, and if I do not have plans I will work it. However, the company respects me enough that this is not an issue either way. If they are in serious need I will do everything in my power to help them out.

I am doing new commericial construction so there are little needs for weekends anyway.

[jaylectricity]

I've been through stages:

As an apprentice: almost strictly Monday through Friday. It was a two man show and it had to be extenuating circumstances for us to work on Saturday.

When I got my license, I occasionally worked Saturday's as side jobs because I was still working for my previous boss.

When I stopped working for my previous boss I started taking Mondays off and occasionally worked Saturdays for a customer's convenience.

Then for a while I was getting away with 10am-3pm three to four days a week.

Then my schedule was very erratic where I worked a bunch of small jobs whenever they came up. When larger jobs came up I would still work 10-3 or so but I would work everyday until Saturday or Sunday until I completed the work.

Then I started doing a little work for another member of this forum and started working Tues, Wed, Thurs for him, usually an 11 hour day.

After a month of that, I started working for him those days, but also working Friday and Saturday for some of my customers.

Now I'm starting to be productive on Monday's also, and Saturday has been a definite for the last month.

[MAK]

How many trucks on the road to generate $50k on a weekend? what type of work?

1 truck. If it were a Brinks Armored truck.:grin:

[brian john]

We work 24X7 have done this for 30+ years it comes with the type of work we do. We have worked most holidays (Though I/we avoid this like the plague).

[ty]

It's 1:47 and I just faxed a material list to my supply house.

Saturday is just another day to me, that if we need to work, we will. We try not to, but it happens. Sundays too.

But, it's hunting season.

Was on a job yesterday and the GC said he lost his trim carpenter to 'hunting season' and now the job is behind schedule.

Now i'm going to take my nightly nap...zzzzz

[TOOL_5150]

what happens if her house burns down? i assume your insurance will cover your work?



Well, I dont have to worry about that because I was there and fixed everything. I looked at everything he touched, and really all he did was hook up the origional wires wrong. It was quite easy money to tell you the truth. Shes more likely to have her house burn down due to lightning then any electrical that I have touched.

Yes, I am very confident in my work and am proud of it. :smile:

~matt

[emahler]

Well, I dont have to worry about that because I was there and fixed everything. I looked at everything he touched, and really all he did was hook up the origional wires wrong. It was quite easy money to tell you the truth. Shes more likely to have her house burn down due to lightning then any electrical that I have touched.

Yes, I am very confident in my work and am proud of it. :smile:

~matt

you either missed my point or avoided it...either way, others understand it...

[TOOL_5150]

you either missed my point or avoided it...either way, others understand it...

:-?

What exactly IS your point? Do I have insurance? Yes. So what is the problem? I fixed what was broken, job done.

~Matt

[emahler]

fair enough...from the wording of your original post, it appeared as if you were employed by someone else and just moonlighting. Apparently, I was wrong.

[TOOL_5150]

I did read through what I had initally said. I agree with you, I was not as clear as I should be. I DO have 2 jobs, My own and I also work for another company [during the week] However, they are not an EC, they have their own license, which I cannot remember off the top of my head [the construction of prefab buildings] They install the building and I wire it, and hook it to a source. Since they are not an EC there is no conflict of interest. I have my own customer base which I had before I started at the current company and do work for them, including pulling the permits, and anyone they refer to me. Life is good.

~Matt

[cschmid]

I did read through what I had initally said. I agree with you, I was not as clear as I should be. I DO have 2 jobs, My own and I also work for another company [during the week] However, they are not an EC, they have their own license, which I cannot remember off the top of my head [the construction of prefab buildings] They install the building and I wire it, and hook it to a source. Since they are not an EC there is no conflict of interest. I have my own customer base which I had before I started at the current company and do work for them, including pulling the permits, and anyone they refer to me. Life is good.

~Matt

Dang if you stay busy and pay the bills that is not a bad way to make living..

[electures]

I work 4 1/2 hrs a day five days a week. No weekends. No holidays. Two four day weekands in November. Week off at Christmas and Easter. Ten weeks off during the summer.

[art82]

im a m-f only if the project requires it very rarely do we work on weekends is not a obligation

[electricmanscott]

I work 4 1/2 hrs a day five days a week. No weekends. No holidays. Two four day weekands in November. Week off at Christmas and Easter. Ten weeks off during the summer.


And they still complain that they don't get paid enough. :rolleyes:

[StreamlineGT]

I do not schedule for Saturday and Sunday, but I did work yesterday, due to an upcoming inspection on Monday. I hadn't even started the job, just looked at it, and I didn't even know I had the job until Friday at noon. Then at about 3:00, the data portion got dropped in my lap too. The GC calls me and says, "Oh, by the way, the inspection is at 11am.." :mad:

So, I had to get three guys to work in a 14 unit office outfit, cable and phone in every office with conduit stubs and bridle rings (pulled cable too), relocate lights and add switches in every office, relocate emergency lights, and add some outlets here and there. In at 9am, out at 3pm. Not too shabby for the three of us. 8-)

[Energy-Miser]

I do not schedule for Saturday and Sunday, but I did work yesterday, due to an upcoming inspection on Monday. I hadn't even started the job, just looked at it, and I didn't even know I had the job until Friday at noon. Then at about 3:00, the data portion got dropped in my lap too. The GC calls me and says, "Oh, by the way, the inspection is at 11am.." :mad:

So, I had to get three guys to work in a 14 unit office outfit, cable and phone in every office with conduit stubs and bridle rings (pulled cable too), relocate lights and add switches in every office, relocate emergency lights, and add some outlets here and there. In at 9am, out at 3pm. Not too shabby for the three of us. 8-)
No, not at all. Can I borrow some workforce from you on occasion :-)

[StreamlineGT]

oh, and we had to take down some sheetrock that was already put up.......... :mad: The GC isn't making life easy for me, is he, as long as he pays, I guess. At least I got approved for the time and a half!! $$$$$ Oh, and I forgot to add that it was all new work, which made it easy.

[Energy-Miser]

oh, and we had to take down some sheetrock that was already put up.......... :mad: The GC isn't making life easy for me, is he, as long as he pays, I guess. At least I got approved for the time and a half!! $$$$$ Oh, and I forgot to add that it was all new work, which made it easy.
Still, pretty impressive ... e/m

[augie47]

Still, pretty impressive ... e/m

impressive, indeed.

no wonder your screename is "streamline" :smile:

[StreamlineGT]

impressive, indeed.

no wonder your screename is "streamline" :smile:

Much is to be said about the help I had though. One of the two gentlemen worked as a data project foreman for a contractor at Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino, doing ALL of the data work they had. He was able to do all the stubs, rings, and cable pulling by himself! I didn't have to help him once. Kudos to him, and his pay reflects his ability. The other guy working with me on the line voltage stuff used to be a Navy nuclear electrician, and currently owns his own successful electrical company where he is all by himself. I had great guys, that is the secret of my success.

[bigjohn67]

M-F always, Saturdays when needed, Sunday - Never, I need rest more than money.

[iwire]

I will work any hour any day, it makes little to no difference to me.

Nights pay much more..... 8-)

[electricmanscott]

The GC calls me and says, "Oh, by the way, the inspection is at 11am.."


Does the GC normally schedule electrical inspections. :-?

[StreamlineGT]

Does the GC normally schedule electrical inspections. :-?

He does when he schedules his framing inspection, and wants to light a fire under the electricians behind. I didn't care as long as he approves the time and a half.