Feel like I'm being taken advantage of

[kwired]

Sorry but I don't quite understand this whole issue. Never had a job that provided a vehicle or tools In 40yrs. So jumping to self employed wasn't any big deal either. Had to buy my own tools even specialty ones, if needed to make my life easier just got it. Self employed did get me a nicer van though.

When it comes to tools I once was working on a new home and plumber's guys were there doing their rough in at same time. Guys I run into a lot. As I watched the one guy burn his way through studs with an obviously dull hole saw I made some comment about boss being too cheap to get them some good drilling bits. His reply was something to the effect - I get paid same hourly rate whether the job takes an hour or ten hours.

So if an employer wants you to get done more efficiently it should be up to him to be sure you are properly equipped to do it more efficiently. Now if you have a tendency to lose or destroy said tools that is a different animal to some extent.

 

[Eddie702]

Driving your own vehicle and not getting reimbursed for it is the best deal there is. You can deduct everything over and above your commuting miles.

if you figure it out you won't wan't the van back

 

[winnie]

Gonna disagree.

If you do $500 worth of driving and get reimbursed that $500, you are out of pocket nothing.

If you do $500 worth of driving and don't get reimbursed, then you can deduct that so you don't pay taxes on the $500. Your net out of pocket is less than $500 but greater than zero.

Jon

 

[Electricalartist]

So they kept telling me they're going to give me a van. Keeps getting pushed back two days here next week couple more days. The last one was Monday the van will be ready. This whole time I was contemplating that I need more money. Last week even though I used my car and worked more than 32 hours I got a 32 hour paycheck of less than $700. Made me sick waking up to that and having to go drive my car again. I was only making $26 an hour and I basically told the foreman that I need to make 1100 a week after taxes whether I have a van or not. Turns out they don't even want to pay me 32 an hour even though they're hiring.
I basically have all the tools I need including the circuit tracers, drills, bandsaw, hammer drill, pipe bender, just about anything I would need in this company. They refused to give me that 32 an hour and I know they're hiring.

Is there anything illegal about letting someone go for wanting a certain amount of money and hiring somebody else for that same amount or more that is equally qualified?

 

[ggunn]

Is there anything illegal about letting someone go for wanting a certain amount of money and hiring somebody else for that same amount or more that is equally qualified?

In a word: no.

 

[James L]

So they kept telling me they're going to give me a van. Keeps getting pushed back two days here next week couple more days. The last one was Monday the van will be ready. This whole time I was contemplating that I need more money. Last week even though I used my car and worked more than 32 hours I got a 32 hour paycheck of less than $700. Made me sick waking up to that and having to go drive my car again. I was only making $26 an hour and I basically told the foreman that I need to make 1100 a week after taxes whether I have a van or not. Turns out they don't even want to pay me 32 an hour even though they're hiring.
I basically have all the tools I need including the circuit tracers, drills, bandsaw, hammer drill, pipe bender, just about anything I would need in this company. They refused to give me that 32 an hour and I know they're hiring.

Is there anything illegal about letting someone go for wanting a certain amount of money and hiring somebody else for that same amount or more that is equally qualified?

32 hours and you want 1100 after taxes?
I would have told you to take a hike.

I know there is a saying that squeaky wheels get the grease. But in my operation, squeaky wheels get replaced

 

[James L]

There's no fix for a victim mentality.
Your job is an asset, not a liability.

I had a guy working for me 2 years ago. In the same day, he told me
1) that he was making more money than he'd ever made
2) that he just knew I was taking advantage of him, he just couldn't see how.

I told him he can take his victim mentality down the road, and I'll find somebody who appreciates making more than he's ever made

 

[Electricalartist]

Why is 32 a hour a bad thing? With inflation going up, the fact that I have all the tools I need, plus I'm doing a ton of paperwork and making sure everything gets done right and gets build. Combined with most of the other workers at the company don't care. You had one guy that stays home and the helper signed him in. Who knows how long they did that till they got caught.
Another worker yells at customers at the supermarket and sometimes is disrespectful to managers.
I'm teaching and training my helper so he could go out and get his own helper within a year or so. I'm taking the van home and I'm responsible for it. I'm not sure how this is a victim mentality more like I want to get paid fairly

 

[Tulsa Electrician]

If you have documented work more than 32 hours they you should have paid for those hours. Your state should have a wage and hour board.
Maybe call it lesson learned.
Most states are right to work states so it goes both ways.
Wish the best of luck.

 

[McLintock]

Why is 32 a hour a bad thing? With inflation going up, the fact that I have all the tools I need, plus I'm doing a ton of paperwork and making sure everything gets done right and gets build. Combined with most of the other workers at the company don't care. You had one guy that stays home and the helper signed him in. Who knows how long they did that till they got caught.
Another worker yells at customers at the supermarket and sometimes is disrespectful to managers.
I'm teaching and training my helper so he could go out and get his own helper within a year or so. I'm taking the van home and I'm responsible for it. I'm not sure how this is a victim mentality more like I want to get paid fairly

Sounds to me this company is a very poorly ran company. If all that is going on I would get out a find a new opportunity.

I was in a similar situation 8 months ago, where it was the best paying job and a good place to work till he wouldn’t give me a raise after I got my masters also he quit getting work, to the point the last few months was almost 40 hours a month.

I decided to go out on my own, now 6 months later I have more work than I know what to do with, and making a lot more.

All that to say I think you need to move on, there is so many places looking for electricians, it’s not worth the headache dealing with all the nonsense of this company, no matter how good the pay is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[865resi]

Did the van get fixed yet? Are you still driving your car? What date did you start driving your car?

 

[Electricalartist]

Supposedly I'm supposed to get the van this week. Been driving my car for 2 weeks

 

[ptonsparky]

It can easily take two weeks to get something in and out of a shop.

 

[ggunn]

It can easily take two weeks to get something in and out of a shop.

Especially now that people are running their existing vehicles longer and parts being harder to find.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

The van supposedly is supposed to be ready this coming week, it's been in the shop over a week and it's misfiring doesn't take that long to fix.
As far as car rental it's not my decision I'm basically being forced to use my car or I can stay home

Ask them for gas money and an oil change for the weeks you've used your own vehicle, with the promise that the company vehicle will be up and running real soon. I'm sure they'll reimburse you because they are still making out.
We almost always met at the job site for the last contractor I worked for before I went on my own. When ever we picked up stock and carried it in our own vehicles the owner always reimbursed us one way or another.

 

[ramsy]

Sounds to me this company is a very poorly ran company. If all that is going on I would get out a find a new opportunity.

I was in a similar situation 8 months ago, where it was the best paying job and a good place to work till he wouldn’t give me a raise after I got my masters also he quit getting work, to the point the last few months was almost 40 hours a month.

I decided to go out on my own, now 6 months later I have more work than I know what to do with, and making a lot more.

All that to say I think you need to move on, there is so many places looking for electricians, it’s not worth the headache dealing with all the nonsense of this company, no matter how good the pay is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Remember reading about that here. IIRC your previous mentor was fair to you, and deserved your patience and consideration.

Glad to see your prior mentor will be getting out to train again. However, surviving 6-months on your own is the tip of this iceburg. Anyone that goes from W2 to Self-employed will be exposed to learning curves with bidding, general contractors, cash flow, and regulatory issues.

None of this is mastered in 6 month, much less the regulatory side. My State License Board reports over 50% of licensed contractors register themselves exempt from Workmans Comp, but do work not possible without helpers. Trying to get my clients help, finds 90% of EC's registered at the license board declare themselves WC exempt, and most likely show up to these jobs with a crew.

If one of these helpers try to collect on an injury, the labor Dpt., Unemployment Dpt., OSHA, State License board, and if violating Building Permits, the municipality will all descend upon that contractor, who will either file bankruptcy, and change corporate names to continue business as usual, or throw the Responsible Managing Operator (RMO) under the bus.

While exclusive service work avoids some bad business, tax reporting and accounting incompetence still gets me. I found professional Tax advisors were specialized in either W2 or corporate returns, and quit after getting caught screwing up my taxes. I stopped a Tax Attorney from submitting my tax return after he copy & pasted data from a prior tax year. It seams everybody relies upon tax software expert systems, which are very expensive to keep updated with every year's tax changes, new laws, & formats.

Filing IRS 1040 with Sched C, may avoid the formal title of corporate scum, but still imposes criminal liability for all sorts of tax filing errors. The last time I was audited the IRS refunded me for paying twice the amount owed. After providing ~4 hours of online customer support to get it filed the previous year, my IRS Approved E-File provider had cut off the support option for this round of filing errors.

The private enterprise of professional services are incompetent, if not more so, than the defunded & busted government.

 

[James L]

Why is 32 a hour a bad thing? With inflation going up, the fact that I have all the tools I need, plus I'm doing a ton of paperwork and making sure everything gets done right and gets build. Combined with most of the other workers at the company don't care. You had one guy that stays home and the helper signed him in. Who knows how long they did that till they got caught.
Another worker yells at customers at the supermarket and sometimes is disrespectful to managers.
I'm teaching and training my helper so he could go out and get his own helper within a year or so. I'm taking the van home and I'm responsible for it. I'm not sure how this is a

Last week even though I used my car and worked more than 32 hours I got a 32 hour paycheck of less than $700.

First, I'll say I misread this part earlier. I read it as though you were saying you only worked 32 hours. You have my apology for that.

I was only making $26 an hour and I basically told the foreman that I need to make 1100 a week after taxes whether I have a van or not. Turns out they don't even want to pay me 32 an hour even though they're hiring.

You know if you make $1,100 per week AFTER taxes, that amounts to $45.00 per hour before taxes. I don't know anyone who's ever worked for me that's gonna get a $20 per hr raise

I basically have all the tools I need including the circuit tracers, drills, bandsaw, hammer drill, pipe bender, just about anything I would need in this company. They refused to give me that 32 an hour and I know they're hiring.

I'll tell you, I advertise for help sometimes. When I do, I always say the pay range is $25 to $45 per hour. But I won't commit to any exact amount until I see their work

And almost every person is offended when they find out they're not getting anywhere close to 45

I just had to have a talk with my buddy about it two days ago. He's got 28 years of experience, and can't be left alone for any length of time. Lights installed ziggy-zaggy, no grounding pigtails at switches, no romex connectors, yanking wire clamps out of boxes, Romex staples 6-8 feet apart, dimmers installed wrong, excess drywall damage, holes drilled in trusses, all kinds of stuff code violations on everything he does. On top of that, he takes easily twice as long as me to do the work. He's lost on troubleshooting, can never remember which circuits need arc fault, TR receps....I'm not kidding, if I don't micromanage his whole day, it's almost all wrong. He's an hour to 3 hours late at least twice a week, and wants to leave early half the time. Last week he had 21 hours in 5 days.

And he's offended that I paid him 25/hr and told him that's too much on most days.

Maybe you need to do some introspection. See why they pay other guys more

Is there anything illegal about letting someone go for wanting a certain amount of money and hiring somebody else for that same amount or more that is equally qualified?

That might depend on your state laws.

 

[kwired]

Electricalartist said:
Is there anything illegal about letting someone go for wanting a certain amount of money and hiring somebody else for that same amount or more that is equally qualified?

That might depend on your state laws.

Is it anybody else's business what the next guy is paid? I mean one can ask but I don't believe the employer would be required to give any accurate figure to former, current or even potential employees if he doesn't want to.

Payroll taxing authorities, worker's comp insurance and such can be a different story though.