06-30-2008, 05:18 AM
Aloha Jay,
There are huge legal - as well as moral - differences between hiring "project labor" and hiring an "employee". I think Dr. W & Pam were both looking for what would be considered "project labor" and they aren't looking for an official employee.
Frequently when folks are working as a "project hire" they have another job and the project work they are doing is side money and not the money they actually live on. If someone is willing to work for $10 an hour to help weed whack a back yard and their real job is rocket scientist then they can afford to eat and what they make as project labor doesn't really matter. If some high school kid wants to work for $10 an hour project labor, he's probably just trying to get cash for a skateboard or iPod and he's not starving no matter how little he makes as a yard worker. I don't see any guilt in hiring those sorts of folks since the person hiring the project labor usually doesn't have that much money to spend on the particular project. Hopefully, the workers will learn some sort of skill while working on the project (whatever it is) although some projects are just sweat work with no real skill involved.
I hired a "demolition crew" for a week and paid them one skateboard plus lunches for a weeks' worth of work. Of course, their parents weren't charged babysitting fees either or the skateboards would have just about been paid for by their parents at the end of the week. Picked the three kids up, let them destroy things, fed them, took them back to their parents when the parents got off work and even taught the kids how to lay ceramic tiles by the end of the week. Teenagers make great demolition crews should you need one. This arrangement worked well, the parents didn't have to pay for day care, the kids had a great time AND got their skateboards and the project got finished on time. These kids didn't need the money to live on, what they actually needed was adult supervision during the day for that week. Their parents couldn't afford summer camp or skateboards at least this way the kids got the skateboards.
Actually, what I would like to see is more self employed skilled folks out there creating things or doing services so they can create their own incomes. If they charge by the item produced or by the service instead of by the hour and if they work fast and efficiently, then they can make a living wage and the person hiring them can afford it as well.
Also, if the skilled folks hired apprentices then they would end up with a skill as well as get paid to learn it. Apprenticeships used to be something that folks paid to get so if they were valuable two hundred years ago, are they still valuable now?
There are huge legal - as well as moral - differences between hiring "project labor" and hiring an "employee". I think Dr. W & Pam were both looking for what would be considered "project labor" and they aren't looking for an official employee.
Frequently when folks are working as a "project hire" they have another job and the project work they are doing is side money and not the money they actually live on. If someone is willing to work for $10 an hour to help weed whack a back yard and their real job is rocket scientist then they can afford to eat and what they make as project labor doesn't really matter. If some high school kid wants to work for $10 an hour project labor, he's probably just trying to get cash for a skateboard or iPod and he's not starving no matter how little he makes as a yard worker. I don't see any guilt in hiring those sorts of folks since the person hiring the project labor usually doesn't have that much money to spend on the particular project. Hopefully, the workers will learn some sort of skill while working on the project (whatever it is) although some projects are just sweat work with no real skill involved.
I hired a "demolition crew" for a week and paid them one skateboard plus lunches for a weeks' worth of work. Of course, their parents weren't charged babysitting fees either or the skateboards would have just about been paid for by their parents at the end of the week. Picked the three kids up, let them destroy things, fed them, took them back to their parents when the parents got off work and even taught the kids how to lay ceramic tiles by the end of the week. Teenagers make great demolition crews should you need one. This arrangement worked well, the parents didn't have to pay for day care, the kids had a great time AND got their skateboards and the project got finished on time. These kids didn't need the money to live on, what they actually needed was adult supervision during the day for that week. Their parents couldn't afford summer camp or skateboards at least this way the kids got the skateboards.
Actually, what I would like to see is more self employed skilled folks out there creating things or doing services so they can create their own incomes. If they charge by the item produced or by the service instead of by the hour and if they work fast and efficiently, then they can make a living wage and the person hiring them can afford it as well.
Also, if the skilled folks hired apprentices then they would end up with a skill as well as get paid to learn it. Apprenticeships used to be something that folks paid to get so if they were valuable two hundred years ago, are they still valuable now?
Kurt Wilson