pay rate????

[grasscutt]

I am getting ready to hire two people. one will be a college boy with no experience? What pay should I start him at? I will be hiring one more person who does have some experience but not much. I want to be fair to try to get someone to stick around for a while can someone suggest pay rate?

[shearbolt]

Start $7.50 Top out at $9-$10

[MuskTurfKing]

I'm sure you could find many college kids willing to work for $6.50 an hour, if they do good work bring em to about $9 or $10 an hour and they'll stay.

Hank

[Soupy]

How have you hired them without telling them what they'll make. If they took the job without even asking. Then that means they will work for cheap. start them out at $6 and see what happens. or ask them what they think is fair for starting pay.

Soupy

[Brickman]

I am going back to starting low. The last two years I hired a friend and trying to be nice to him paid him $10. He was totally ungrateful, and ended up walking out on me without any communication what so ever, right in the middle of a job. So now I am starting at $7 and will let the guy work up.
My advice would be don't do any favors, start every body at the bottom and let them prove themselves.

This is so interesting to me, because today while working I was thinking of putting the same post up tonight.

[2 man crew]

I wish i could find guys to work for $6.00 or $7.00 an hour. When Mc d's and Taco Bell are paying $8.00 per hour it raises everything. I have one crew leader I'm paying $15.00 per hour. I've got two new guys starting on the 15th. They are starting out at $11.50 to trim and blow.

[kris]

I would think that rates would vary greatly with location . What is your minimum wage there? Possibly a couple more bucks than that for no experience.

[Soupy]

I start at $8 for Cutting and $10 for landscaping. But I also have never hired a guy without descussing pay during the interview. Maybe next time I'll feel the guy out and if he doesn't mention pay by the end of the interview and still wants the job, Then I'll tell him starting is $6 and see what happends.

Soupy

[2 man crew]

The low pay scale has not touched our minimum wage in years. The only people around here that work for minimum wage is tipped employees

The last time I heard the minimum wage was $5.35 per hour.

[AK Lawn]

I am starting my field workers at $7-8 pending on experience, and my crew leaders get anywhere from 9 to 15$ with benefits, % of profits made by there crew and productivity, also pending on equip. and other conditions, this is only for one of my crew leaders and will see if it works, it is not a high percentage, and it is only net profits after all expenses are covered
AK Lawn

[The Lawn Choupique]

I don't know to many people the would even walk around the the block for $7 or $8. I know I would not. On the flip side, I don't think that I would want to hire someone who thought so little of himself that he would work for so little. Anyone who does not value himself-well shame on him.

[wojo23323]

I hired someone today who is in the Navy for part time work for $9.00 per hour. If he wasn't military I'd start him at $7.00.

[The Lawn Choupique]

Shame on him.

[scott's turf]

Just like anything, you get what you pay for.

[SIG]

I pay my main man 30 % of what he mows, might be a little low?
Others i pay $10.00/hr

[JML]

my maintenance crew leaders are making $14 an hour
my landscape installtion crew leader makes $15 an hour
laborers make anywhere from $9 to $12 and hour.

[swn]

$7 an hour starting out. I may be wrong, but I fee that the minimum wage is what drives all other prices up.

[T. Matthews]

My guys get two different rates. They get starting pay 8- 10 per hour for lawn mowing. If they are doing clean ups and construction they get 10-15 depending on experience.

T.

[Esby]

I pay $10 an hour. Its a high starting I think, so if after a week they aren't "earning" their $10/hr they are fired. I have found best results with this strategy.