Do you hire casual labor? if so, how?

[JBR]

About 2 acres in a mountain-valley here. In our 70s now, we still do the bulk of the work. But we hire some people for things like tree surgery (occasionally), help cleaning a sizable pond, washing the exterior of second-floor windows, etc.. The team we hire for chimney sweeping have Work-Safe insurance, in the event of injury. But several other people, who work with us more frequently, are casual labor & not insured.

Everyone in my Canadian province has the safety net of BC-Medical insurance. (Yes, an ambulance would come for the individual, who would then be taken to hospital, with costs for that part fully covered by BC-Med.) But never having been faced with a claim for someone injured while working here, we're not sure how, in some respects, such a situation would go.

A couple decades ago, Canada was not a particularly litigious country. But now our society seems to be sort of going the U.S. route.

How do you handle casual labor? What are your thoughts about someone getting injured?

 

[hollydolly]

That's a very good question. I'm not in Canada, but the UK is suffering the same as Canada in that the US penchant for suing has taken hold here too...

I think if I was to employ someone on a regular basis to work on my home I'd check if they had their own Insurance.. if not then I'd probably get some Public liability Insurance..

 

[Jules]

@JBR, About 30 years ago, my mother in Ontario hired a handyman through the seniors centre to do some minimal work on her roof. He didn’t bring his own ladder and insisted her old one was good enough to climb onto the one story roof. She wanted to borrow a ladder from the neighbour and he refused. When he fell and hurt himself, he sued her. Her insurance company refused to fight. It was so much easier for them to just revise her premiums.

We won’t hire anyone to work on our home unless they have Workman’s comp insurance.

 

[seadoug]

All the time. And it's frequently at the recommendation of neighbors who have undergone similar projects. Our landscaper does it as a side job and he is excellent. I've posted this before, but here is our courtyard after his touch of magic.



For the rest, we mostly hire contractors that have also worked with our neighbors. The company that remodeled some of the rooms in our house was recommended my neighbors.

 

[horseless carriage]

That's a very good question. I'm not in Canada, but the UK is suffering the same as Canada in that the US penchant for suing has taken hold here too...

I think if I was to employ someone on a regular basis to work on my home I'd check if they had their own Insurance.. if not then I'd probably get some Public liability Insurance..

I've never really thought about insurance or litigation. We have, over the years, had all sorts of tradespeople do various work and we have also had a weekly gardener, a husband & wife team. Our other indulgence is to have an ironing fairy.

 

[Been There]

I do handyman work when someone asks me. Most people around her know I do odds and ends of jobs and also some spread my name around. I don’t have any special insurance or would I sue anyone if I was careless and made a mistake. I think the worse thing I ever did was to fall off the top of a shed about 8 feet high that I was putting a new roof on. I didn’t break anything, but I was sore for a few weeks. The owner wanted to pay me extra, but I only took what we agreed on. I told him not to worry. Accidents happen.

 

[JBR]

I do handyman work when someone asks me. Most people around her know I do odds and ends of jobs and also some spread my name around. I don’t have any special insurance or would I sue anyone if I was careless and made a mistake. I think the worse thing I ever did was to fall off the top of a shed about 8 feet high that I was putting a new roof on. I didn’t break anything, but I was sore for a few weeks. The owner wanted to pay me extra, but I only took what we agreed on. I told him not to worry. Accidents happen.

Admirable attitude & credo.