Big_w_powah
Trakanon Raider
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I use a personal card for expenses at work. Its not a big deal as long as you don't get complaints and can get expenses reimbursed before their bill is due
Adventures with Lyrical: Buying a Business (REPOST)
- Thread starter Shonuff
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I use a personal card for expenses at work. Its not a big deal as long as you don't get complaints and can get expenses reimbursed before their bill is due
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I don't really like this idea because it puts the risk on you of the company dragging its feet reimbursing you, approving expenses, etc. I call home and have secretary book my hotels/flights/etc and only use my personal cards for small expenses (uber, meals, etc) so that the risk isn't on me. I mean, also it's convenient to make her do it but I don't like having thousands on my personal credit card.
Haast
Lord Nagafen Raider
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Depends on your trust in the business and their expenses policy. If they are good with reimbursement and you are confident your expenses are proper, you are giving up free airline miles or cash back by not booking expensive things on your own card. Free stuff is nice.
INB4 a condescending comment about how you're above taking free benefits because you're loaded. Not all of us make 'coke and hoors' money like you, bro.
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Naw I think your point is fair. Definitely a tradeoff to accept that risk but if you trust the company it might be fine.
Big_w_powah
Trakanon Raider
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Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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So I had an employee who has been working here four months have a seizure tonight in his off hours. His wife called and said he hit his head on the concrete. I believe that if he has a seizure while operating heavy equipment, I'm liable.
Advice? He's a great worker, but the chance of death is high in my industry already. In my eight years owning the company, I've already had one guy break his neck and another break his back and leg. And neither of those were from seizures. There's not a piece of heavy equipment I own that won't kill/maim you if you aren't paying attention. That's my industry.
Advice? He's a great worker, but the chance of death is high in my industry already. In my eight years owning the company, I've already had one guy break his neck and another break his back and leg. And neither of those were from seizures. There's not a piece of heavy equipment I own that won't kill/maim you if you aren't paying attention. That's my industry.
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Palum
what Suineg set it to
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I agree, I would not take the risk. The simple thing is just to talk to him about it. If you have the line recorded where the wife says he had a seizure you should be fine to discuss. Head injuries even without a seizure are certainly bad news anyway. Guess what happens if he takes out some house with a front end loader? Plaintiff's attorney will talk to him tell him they will name him as a co-defendant and sweet talk the wife into saying what she told you on the stand and you'll be done. Happens all the time in my industry - companies have the money/bonds so they sweet talk employees into betrayal for not getting named and then pay them to appear.
Do you have an HR attorney/firm you use? There are some great services that handle the 'hard' stuff like FMLA/disability/worker's comp and any sort of ADA related stuff that is super cheap (compared to having an employee) that have staff attorneys that would be a good resource for something like this and assume the liability for it. Also would give you advice on medical clearance you'd need from a doctor if he and an MD are claiming it's a 'once off' thing like medication side effects or something.
In an ideal world where you could find another position for him and they are reasonable people (and you have the recording), it would probably just be a tiny thing have a chat and move him to a desk jockey or non heavy equipment. But I don't know if/how useful someone who is being paid to run heavy equipment would be in another role.
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moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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Talk to your legal counsel. If his job is 100% heavy machinery you are going to have to bench him until he gets medically cleared to find out what caused the seizure and verify it was a one time thing. That may lead to lawsuits from the employee, but that is still cheaper than getting assfucked by a client if you put him to work and he hurts someone or destroys a building. Do you offer short term/long term disability insurance to your workers?
Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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The answer I got back from him today was that he didn't have a seizure, but tripped over his dog's chain and hit the cement. He said his wife was confused, because he used to have seizures 3-4 years ago. He's had a rough life for a 35 year old. He was raised as a ward of the state. He also had a child that was killed by his other son in the new home they were in. The seller asked if he could come get his stuff out of the garage in a couple of weeks, but neglected to tell them he had a sawed-off shotgun hidden in the belongings. His one son pulled it out, and thought it was a toy. He came out to the driveway to see his son's brain all over it. He went into a big drinking binge for years over it, and couldn't function. He takes a drug called Tramadol to help him with back problems. And mixing Tramadol and alcohol can cause seizures. He tells me he used to drink a gallon of whiskey a day to try to forget what happened to his son. He said his wife came out and assumed it was a seizure.
He seemed very believable explaining all of this. I knew about his past, so it all jived.
He's a very good worker, and not the type I'd want to lose (assuming the above is true). I'm very hard on employees. Some people can't keep pace, and others thrive on the fast pace we keep up. When I find the latter, I hold onto them pretty hard. The ones that can't keep up get broomed in less than 45 days (sometimes the same day they are hired, for the really lazy ones).
He's intelligent enough and hard working enough that I could see him taking my role as actively managing the company. I like managing now, but miss the days when I could go to a different city and spend a week. I also miss being able to sleep in until 9AM every day.
He seemed very believable explaining all of this. I knew about his past, so it all jived.
He's a very good worker, and not the type I'd want to lose (assuming the above is true). I'm very hard on employees. Some people can't keep pace, and others thrive on the fast pace we keep up. When I find the latter, I hold onto them pretty hard. The ones that can't keep up get broomed in less than 45 days (sometimes the same day they are hired, for the really lazy ones).
He's intelligent enough and hard working enough that I could see him taking my role as actively managing the company. I like managing now, but miss the days when I could go to a different city and spend a week. I also miss being able to sleep in until 9AM every day.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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Yikes. I mean, I dunno - you're the one assuming all the risk based on a story. I'm no pharmacist but a quick google search seems to indicate Tramadol can simply cause seizures and certain things just make it more likely. Would your insurance carrier even cover you? I don't know about licensing/contractor and heavy equipment laws or regulations and all that - but I know for instance if you are on muscle relaxers driving forklifts or similar and crash it they're going to eat you alive.
Personally I'd still feel better with a doctor's clearance about the head injury and Tramadol coming back to work to operate heavy machinery. It's all brain chemical drugs and he just (apparently) struck his head on concrete. Don't wanna be the NFL.
Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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It was multiple stories he's told me over the last few months, that when all put together make sense. And yeah, I'm apt to believe the guy, because I want to. Everybody loves him here.
I'll consider getting a Doctor's note.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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I'm just thinking if I was the guy I'd personally be concerned and want to go the extra mile to make sure my job was secure and my manager had complete confidence that I could use the equipment safely on job sites. I don't think I'd be upset if my manager was like "look man, can you get that head injury checked out by a doctor and get clearance to make sure you don't have post concussion syndrome or anything that could make operating heavy machinery dangerous?"
*shrug*
Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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As an aside, if you really like the guy that much and are thinking of making him a manager down the road, why not start grooming him for that now? Have him be site supervisor, etc.
Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Crew leaders manage the site. I need a guy who can float, like I do. 95% of my time is spent bidding jobs. When Spring hits, there will get busy enough to require two guys bidding jobs full time. The previous owner used to do it all, but he was logging 100 hours a week. No thanks.
Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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We are booked until March, so I believe it's safe to call it. We aren't losing our asses this Winter. In mid-March, everyone comes back into the market again. If I could go back with my knowledge of marketing now, my life would be entirely different. We lost $1,500 in this past December and made 13k in January. If I look at us before I started doing this advertising, it would be a 40k loss in December and 25k loss in January. Losses would have continued until April.
So I'm sitting here in my office today typing up a bid for 61k. It took the Estimator all day yesterday to run the bid. These take time, but it's sweet when you close them, and sweeter yet when the check comes in. So we have two days invested on one bid.
So I'm sitting here in my office today typing up a bid for 61k. It took the Estimator all day yesterday to run the bid. These take time, but it's sweet when you close them, and sweeter yet when the check comes in. So we have two days invested on one bid.
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TrollfaceDeux
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Shonuff
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I'm usually the highest price guy in the area. If someone is calling ten companies, including us, we are usually at the top. Yet I close 50% of every customer I talk to. I've developed a sales process over the last few years, that has worked. When I say I close 50%, that's either from being there, or after follow up for the next 4 weeks.
At the end of the day, you have to be able to present the value of your product in a concise manner. If they don't value your product, move on. We don't mow lawns. Our average ticket is $763. When people try to compare us to lawnmowers, I get out of there. Nobody values them.
In a way, I'm glad I've worked shit sales jobs peddling products no one wants. It helps you later. The best Estimators I've had are the ones that spent time selling steak knives door-to-door. If you can do all of that cold calling, then you can close the ones that are warm (because they called you).
TrollfaceDeux
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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TrollfaceDeux
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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