Why Does Stuff Gotta Be This Way?

[Raider Nation Fisher]

After the last 3 months of not having a forty hour week, and from what I've seen and heard from the carpet walkers in the office. I've come to the conclusion Im working for Mickey Mouse and his whole dang family. Well I got that filthy rat today. I managed to drag 5 hours worth of work out to 7hours. They wanna slow down on giving everyone except their pet electrician and his helper hours. I figure I'm just gonna slow down on my output. There is a lot more to the politics of what is going on and what is happening with all this then I feel like gettin.g into right now. Hopefully one of the other companies I've applied with will call this week. 20 to 25 hours a week just won't pay the bills. If worse comes to worse, i can always go back to travelling. I would prefer not to, cause I quite enjoy seeing my son every night. Yet if that's what it comes to then so be it, I can't tell him, "No you can't eat tonight, because Mickey Mouse won't give daddy any hours." I'd rather him have all the stuff his little heart desires. If that means I rarely get to see him until the economy picks up, then so be it.

Why the hell does life have to be so dang tough sometimes?

[tomustang]

Because there's too many people that want the pie but don't want to work for it.

[deaknh03]

Raider, what his heart desires most is to see his Daddy every night, and don't tell him Mickey Mouse won't give you hours, that could ruin Disney for him.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

Raider I don't know your particular situation and certainly not trying to bust your chops, but let me come at you from the other side of the coin as I am the one that dictates the hours of my employees. When work slows down , hours have to get cut or else the company loses money and If that happens to long no one will have any hours. Most often things like this are not popular with employees and rightfully so, but I can tell you that by dragging out a job and using more hours than necessary you are not helping the company any and that's what the Mickey mouses are looking for , people that help the company. I can personally tell you of the employees that work for me that continually drag out a job ( and yes management does have a good idea how long jobs are supposed to take) get less and less hours until they either quit or I terminate their employment. The ones that get the most hours are the ones that consistently show they can get the job done UNDER the expected time it takes to do the job. Why? Because its better for the company. So my suggestion in this case would be show the MickeyMouses what a great worker you are by completing jobs before any one else and I'll bet you will see a increase in jobs and hours.

[tomustang]

Raider I don't know your particular situation and certainly not trying to bust your chops, but let me come at you from the other side of the coin as I am the one that dictates the hours of my employees. When work slows down , hours have to get cut or else the company loses money and If that happens to long no one will have any hours. Most often things like this are not popular with employees and rightfully so, but I can tell you that by dragging out a job and using more hours than necessary you are not helping the company any and that's what the Mickey mouses are looking for , people that help the company. I can personally tell you of the employees that work for me that continually drag out a job ( and yes management does have a good idea how long jobs are supposed to take) get less and less hours until they either quit or I terminate their employment. The ones that get the most hours are the ones that consistently show they can get the job done UNDER the expected time it takes to do the job. Why? Because its better for the company. So my suggestion in this case would be show the MickeyMouses what a great worker you are by completing jobs before any one else and I'll bet you will see a increase in jobs and hours.

I know your POV, I bet your well oiled machine (business) runs better than the one he's apart of. Unfortunately many of the other companies out there have higher up employees that screw up and cover their own butts while the people under them suffer before of it.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Raider I don't know your particular situation and certainly not trying to bust your chops, but let me come at you from the other side of the coin as I am the one that dictates the hours of my employees. When work slows down , hours have to get cut or else the company loses money and If that happens to long no one will have any hours. Most often things like this are not popular with employees and rightfully so, but I can tell you that by dragging out a job and using more hours than necessary you are not helping the company any and that's what the Mickey mouses are looking for , people that help the company. I can personally tell you of the employees that work for me that continually drag out a job ( and yes management does have a good idea how long jobs are supposed to take) get less and less hours until they either quit or I terminate their employment. The ones that get the most hours are the ones that consistently show they can get the job done UNDER the expected time it takes to do the job. Why? Because its better for the company. So my suggestion in this case would be show the MickeyMouses what a great worker you are by completing jobs before any one else and I'll bet you will see a increase in jobs and hours.

You make an extremely valid point on that. In 98% of cases you are entirely right also. Myself and two others are the two highest producers of income for this company. Consistently week in and week out our billable labor, material sold, and efficientcy are above average. Especially myself and one other electrician. It's almost as if I have been going too fast. Used to be we would get slammed with 4 to 5 jobs a day, and it would take 8+ hours to do them all. Now for the same 4 to 5 jobs I'm getting them knocked out in 6-7 hours. That's assuming we actually get that many jobs in one day. I have a pretty good idea of why the work is slow coming in as well, and why things have declined the way they have. I have never seen or worked for a company that runs and operates the way this one does. The more I think about it. the more I feel the need to get away from this place. It just seems to me that in my experience a electrical company should be run by someone with a decent knowledge of electricity and electrical work in general. The purpose of becoming a master electrician is to run a electric company. However as with this case apparently you can keep one on retainer, and accomplish the same thing I guess.

[Bassn Blvd]

Slow down and take your time, unless you get paid by the piece. You have to know how far to push the envelope when slowing down though. LOOK busy and do just enough to make the boss happy but get your hours. Remember- you want the most amount of money for the least amount of work.

[preach4bass]

Slow down and take your time, unless you get paid by the piece. You have to know how far to push the envelope when slowing down though. LOOK busy and do just enough to make the boss happy but get your hours. Remember- you want the most amount of money for the least amount of work.

^Taken right out of the "Winner's Guide To Success!!!" Imagine how proud our forefathers, who fought and died for our freedom in this great land of oppertunity would be if they could read these words of inspiration.

Raider, employees who have integrity usually come out ahead in the long run. Integrity has been defined as "What you do when no one is looking." If you work like the boss is always watching you, you'll probably be the boss one day. That might happen through promotion within your current company, or you'll get tired of being taken advantage of and take your talents and work ethic somewhere that they will be rewarded (even if you have to create it yourself by starting your own business).

[Raider Nation Fisher]

^Taken right out of the "Winner's Guide To Success!!!" Imagine how proud our forefathers, who fought and died for our freedom in this great land of oppertunity would be if they could read these words of inspiration.

Raider, employees who have integrity usually come out ahead in the long run. Integrity has been defined as "What you do when no one is looking." If you work like the boss is always watching you, you'll probably be the boss one day. That might happen through promotion within your current company, or you'll get tired of being taken advantage of and take your talents and work ethic somewhere that they will be rewarded (even if you have to create it yourself by starting your own business).

That's the plan right now. My welder friend and I are busting our butts trying to get our own thing started. It all comes down to me passing my master exam this September. We have another master electrician as well as a 20 year journey man electrician commited to the electrical side. We have an amazing estimator that has agreed to work with us. We also have three other welders and a fitter commited to the welding side. Basically I'll run the electrical, he'll run the fitters, and we'll both be over the welders. Or something along those lines. The running of said company is still a work in progress. Finding work isn't that big of an issue either. Currently the two of us, plus those that want to work with us have more experience in the field we are going for than anyone else in the state. The jobs are there its juating getting to the point where we can go for them. We also already own the equipment to do the jobs. Again its just getting to the level where we can go after them. Even after getting my license its still going to take at least a year to get to the point where we can even start chasing these jobs.

[preach4bass]

Awesome! Congratulations on the future business!

[slonezp]

My .02 worth

If you have a marketable skill, the only one holding you back is yourself. Whether working for your current employer, someone else, or yourself. Make as many contacts as you can in the trades. There's always somebody looking for somebody, and if you know enough somebodys, you could be that somebody they're looking for.

Fortunatly I have a little security where I work even though I don't agree with some of the things that go on. I don't own the business, so I go to work, perform my job to the best of my ability, and go home.

Me, It's been slow here too.I just started getting 40 a week since last fall. In my off time I've been putting together something for myself and doing some side work. Shhh...don't tell my union...Also got an almost guarantee to work for a company in Hawaii and keep my local affiliation so I wouldn't lose any benefits. I'd have to sign a contract, but would be giving up bass fishing and more importantly, my boy. We all have to make choices in our lives, and we have to live with these choices. You'll be alright.

[SirSnookalot]

I think IMA BASS NINJA is right on the money. The whole of any business is greater than the sum of it's parts. The object of a business is to make as much a profit as they can, if jobs can be done with less hours and less employees, that is exactly what they are going to do. Employees are not always aware of other expenses they create other than their paychecks, workmans comp, healthcare, SS taxes, etc., not too mention sick days, personal days and paid vacation time.

The way to control your own destiny is to have your own operation, don't think for a second that's a cakewalk, it's probably harder and with more pressure than working for some one. Once you're there you may find you have to do the same thing to keep your business going, less hours for your labor force. If I were to give 1 tidbit of advice it would be this...........no one person or company is indispensable, we are all replaceable.

[Sfritr]

Hard Work beats Talent when Talent doesn't work hard..........

[Ima Bass Ninja]

I think IMA BASS NINJA is right on the money. The whole of any business is greater than the sum of it's parts. The object of a business is to make as much a profit as they can, if jobs can be done with less hours and less employees, that is exactly what they are going to do. Employees are not always aware of other expenses they create other than their paychecks, workmans comp, healthcare, SS taxes, etc., not too mention sick days, personal days and paid vacation time.

The way to control your own destiny is to have your own operation, don't think for a second that's a cakewalk, it's probably harder and with more pressure than working for some one. Once you're there you may find you have to do the same thing to keep your business going, less hours for your labor force. If I were to give 1 tidbit of advice it would be this...........no one person or company is indispensable, we are all replaceable.

Lots of good stuff in this post ...especially the stuff in red.

[Hyrule Bass]

i work in printing and bulk mailing. the work is always up and down. one week youre working 60 hours, the next youre working 30 hours and it doesnt look pretty going to the bank those slow weeks. but then again like you said, 20-25 hours every week wont support a family. for the time being i would slow down my pace some to pad my pockets a bit. in turn your company needs to realize some things. one, is the may need to lower their bids just to get you guys some work even if their profit is minimal. also, if they cant give you guys the work, they may need to let one or more of you go instead of stringing you along. or they need to split the work up more evenly amongst you. when work slows here, my boss will have people stay home without pay and some come in and work, the next day they will switch so atleast its fair to everyone, there is no employers pet getting all the hours while everyone else is scraping by...

then again, you may need to continue looking elsewhere for a job more suitable to your needs...

[GrundleLove]

Sac up. Life sucks sometimes. Jut be grateful you have a job in this economy and have skills that are needed by companies.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

i work in printing and bulk mailing. the work is always up and down. one week youre working 60 hours, the next youre working 30 hours and it doesnt look pretty going to the bank those slow weeks. but then again like you said, 20-25 hours every week wont support a family. for the time being i would slow down my pace some to pad my pockets a bit. in turn your company needs to realize some things. one, is the may need to lower their bids just to get you guys some work even if their profit is minimal. also, if they cant give you guys the work, they may need to let one or more of you go instead of stringing you along. or they need to split the work up more evenly amongst you. when work slows here, my boss will have people stay home without pay and some come in and work, the next day they will switch so atleast its fair to everyone, there is no employers pet getting all the hours while everyone else is scraping by...

then again, you may need to continue looking elsewhere for a job more suitable to your needs...

Wow...just wow....I really don't know where to start with this post. I probably should just shut my mouth and go about my business but i believe this type of thinking sets a bad example for other people that may have similar situations.

Raider the only thing that padding you pockets is gonna get you if your bosses find out is unemployed. How hard is it going to be with no income? And this may be a dumb question but have you tried asking your supervisors for more hours? Sometimes thats all it takes.

And Red....the cost a company suffers ALWAYS goes back to the consumers. Would you be ok if you hired an electrician or plumber or tradesman to work on your house and they slowed there work down to pad their pockets and sent you a high invoice because they needed the money? No i don't think you would be to pleased with that and probably wouldn't use there services again.

Also the company doesn't need to realize anything..If you don't like whats going on..... leave. Thats the great thing about America..we have a choice. We are not forced to work anywhere we don't want to. The only obligation the company has is to pay you for the hours you work...thats it..Companies don't survive by making no profit. if thats the goal the why bother to go through all the work to have one.

And as far as letting one go? What if that someone is Raider? Is it a good idea then?

I agree that all things being equal then the work should be split. But again its not your company, its there rules and you agreed to play by them when you took the job. If the rules have changed, or you think its unfair...leave. Its your choice.

Lastly , If there are bosses that are covering up there on mess by making the employees suffer who do you think they are gonna keep around them? The ones that help them or the ones that call them out? Sooner or later their bosses will figure it out and you may just be the person they replace him with.

Raider, you are obviously a intelligent individual and yes the situation you are in stinks. Trust me i know, I've been there. But i didn't get through it by working less. Actually, i had a pay decrease....yes decrease, 3 years ago because work got slow. And haven't seen a raise since. My hours have increased since then, but i don't justify working any less than my peak just because the company is struggling.. I have a choice.

The one question you need to ask yourself when working for an individual or a company is "what will make me happy" More hours? A raise? A promotion? Then ask yourself , what is gonna get me those things? Do you think slowing your work output is gonna get you there? And if none of those things are gonna make you happy then it is certainly time for a change.

I'm done ranting, and Raider i wish you the best of luck

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Wow...just wow....I really don't know where to start with this post. I probably should just shut my mouth and go about my business but i believe this type of thinking sets a bad example for other people that may have similar situations.

Raider the only thing that padding you pockets is gonna get you if your bosses find out is unemployed. How hard is it going to be with no income? And this may be a dumb question but have you tried asking your supervisors for more hours? Sometimes thats all it takes.

And Red....the cost a company suffers ALWAYS goes back to the consumers. Would you be ok if you hired an electrician or plumber or tradesman to work on your house and they slowed there work down to pad their pockets and sent you a high invoice because they needed the money? No i don't think you would be to pleased with that and probably wouldn't use there services again.

Also the company doesn't need to realize anything..If you don't like whats going on..... leave. Thats the great thing about America..we have a choice. We are not forced to work anywhere we don't want to. The only obligation the company has is to pay you for the hours you work...thats it..Companies don't survive by making no profit. if thats the goal the why bother to go through all the work to have one.

And as far as letting one go? What if that someone is Raider? Is it a good idea then?

I agree that all things being equal then the work should be split. But again its not your company, its there rules and you agreed to play by them when you took the job. If the rules have changed, or you think its unfair...leave. Its your choice.

Lastly , If there are bosses that are covering up there on mess by making the employees suffer who do you think they are gonna keep around them? The ones that help them or the ones that call them out? Sooner or later their bosses will figure it out and you may just be the person they replace him with.

Raider, you are obviously a intelligent individual and yes the situation you are in stinks. Trust me i know, I've been there. But i didn't get through it by working less. Actually, i had a pay decrease....yes decrease, 3 years ago because work got slow. And haven't seen a raise since. My hours have increased since then, but i don't justify working any less than my peak just because the company is struggling.. I have a choice.

The one question you need to ask yourself when working for an individual or a company is "what will make me happy" More hours? A raise? A promotion? Then ask yourself , what is gonna get me those things? Do you think slowing your work output is gonna get you there? And if none of those things are gonna make you happy then it is certainly time for a change.

I'm done ranting, and Raider i wish you the best of luck

Hard to really put it much better than that.

[preach4bass]

i work in printing and bulk mailing. the work is always up and down. one week youre working 60 hours, the next youre working 30 hours and it doesnt look pretty going to the bank those slow weeks. but then again like you said, 20-25 hours every week wont support a family. for the time being i would slow down my pace some to pad my pockets a bit.

That's the spirit that made America great! Forget all that junk about hard work, sacrifice, and doing things the right way. Just go "pad your pockets a bit"!

On a serious note, if you keep that attitude up, your employers will probably eventually help you find a more stable source of income.....unemployment.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Wow...just wow....I really don't know where to start with this post. I probably should just shut my mouth and go about my business but i believe this type of thinking sets a bad example for other people that may have similar situations.

Raider the only thing that padding you pockets is gonna get you if your bosses find out is unemployed. How hard is it going to be with no income? And this may be a dumb question but have you tried asking your supervisors for more hours? Sometimes thats all it takes.

And Red....the cost a company suffers ALWAYS goes back to the consumers. Would you be ok if you hired an electrician or plumber or tradesman to work on your house and they slowed there work down to pad their pockets and sent you a high invoice because they needed the money? No i don't think you would be to pleased with that and probably wouldn't use there services again.

Also the company doesn't need to realize anything..If you don't like whats going on..... leave. Thats the great thing about America..we have a choice. We are not forced to work anywhere we don't want to. The only obligation the company has is to pay you for the hours you work...thats it..Companies don't survive by making no profit. if thats the goal the why bother to go through all the work to have one.

And as far as letting one go? What if that someone is Raider? Is it a good idea then?

I agree that all things being equal then the work should be split. But again its not your company, its there rules and you agreed to play by them when you took the job. If the rules have changed, or you think its unfair...leave. Its your choice.

Lastly , If there are bosses that are covering up there on mess by making the employees suffer who do you think they are gonna keep around them? The ones that help them or the ones that call them out? Sooner or later their bosses will figure it out and you may just be the person they replace him with.

Raider, you are obviously a intelligent individual and yes the situation you are in stinks. Trust me i know, I've been there. But i didn't get through it by working less. Actually, i had a pay decrease....yes decrease, 3 years ago because work got slow. And haven't seen a raise since. My hours have increased since then, but i don't justify working any less than my peak just because the company is struggling.. I have a choice.

The one question you need to ask yourself when working for an individual or a company is "what will make me happy" More hours? A raise? A promotion? Then ask yourself , what is gonna get me those things? Do you think slowing your work output is gonna get you there? And if none of those things are gonna make you happy then it is certainly time for a change.

I'm done ranting, and Raider i wish you the best of luck

More hours and a raise would be wonderful. However none of those are really gonna make it all right again with them. Im kind of in a limbo state if you will. The job I was at got sold after the owners youngest son kept getting the company ran off of jobsites. It was a real bad deal, but you know life goes on. Plus the boss gave me the heads up it was coming, and kept me til the bitter end. This company hired me on about an hour before I recieved my lay off notice. I figured hey its a cut in pay, but at least its work. Now work is running slow due to what I can only call lack of effort to branch out some. The two people whose opinions matter the most here are dead set that branching out to bidded work will require thousands in equipment to do. Neither will really listen when we try and explain it to them either. Again though its their company not mine. I don't make the decisions on what we do.

Really and in truly though I'm probably not going to be satisfied until I'm back either doing construction or industrial. Commercial service work is definitely not for me. Especially the type that we are doing. Least I've learned more about other aspects of the trade. The knowledge gained is probably the biggest benefit to all this. Plus like I was told when I hired on it is the easiest job I have ever had.

Also let me clarify. Our customers are billed the same regardless of how long a job takes. 2hour minimum plus travel. After the 2hours it jumps to 4 hours plus travel, and so on. Material is a separate charge. I'm just talking about hours. The travel time is where the kicker comes in. minimum travel is 1hour. Even if it only takes 15 minutes to get to the job. So as an example: I Bill out 8hours for the day yet only get paid for 5 of those hours. I know that's where profit comes in.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Update.

After talking with my boss today, apparently I didn't get away with anything. I was informed what I did was perfectly fine. He also said that until work picks up they prefer we slow down and take our time. He said that as long as we don't exceed our cash allotment on the job they are fine with it. Kinda wish he had told me this before.

[South FLA]

Update.

After talking with my boss today, apparently I didn't get away with anything. I was informed what I did was perfectly fine. He also said that until work picks up they prefer we slow down and take our time. He said that as long as we don't exceed our cash allotment on the job they are fine with it. Kinda wish he had told me this before.

Glad to hear that everything worked out.

After reading some of the post I can tell you that some people as employees don't understand the ordeals that their employer goes through and some employers don't fully appreciate their employees. With that said owning your own business especially since you have a trade job should be your long-term goal, but just remember when you make decisions to reflect back on your experience working for someone and being the employee. Empathy, communication, and transparency help employee/employer relations tremendously.

[Hyrule Bass]

all of a sudden my post doesnt seem so ludicrous now does it?

[Ima Bass Ninja]

all of a sudden my post doesnt seem so ludicrous now does it?

No not really It's still just a ludicrous as the day you Posted it. There's a huge difference in having permission from your supervisiors to slow down than slowing down because you decide on your own that you need to pad your pockets.

[Root beer]

Anyone whose job charges by the hours are subjected to this dilemma. Lawyers, accountants, and those in the trades. With that said, it takes me HOURS to perform financial services. I'm not as smart as I think I am, thus, it takes me awhile.