Fired someone today

[Keith M]

I co-own a shop with my brother specializing in restoring pre 1945 European cars. The guy I hired was tasked with doing prep work: ie paint stripping, bead blasting, cleaning of parts, etc. I work crazy hours, usually 5am-6pm and i don't set hours for him, he could come and go as he pleases. I caught him using a disk grinder to paint strip an aluminum Alfa fender (a big no-no) and asked him to use paint stripper like I asked. He got all pissed and said that it wasn't worth it for what I was paying him. Fired him right then.
So, is $15 an hour not enough for this kind of work?

[e30e]

Depends on what other duties he had. Sounds like he had another job lined up or is going to try to hit you up or unemployment

[10Toes]

I wouldn't do that work for $15 an hour but I'm sure alot of people will.

[Kershaw]

I wouldn't do that work for $15 an hour but I'm sure alot of people will.

how skilled of a job is it and how old was he? $15/hour is first job wages. if he was over 25, that's not a wage i'd work for. that said, $30k/year is really hard to do in the dc area. if your in some rural area of buttfucknowhere, $30k/year is sitting pretty sweet. lol.

tbh, using paint stripper seems easier than grinding. i've tried to strip paint off a rim using a grinder (i was a teen, gimme a break) and it took forever. and it ruined the rim. paint stripper was a lot less labor intensive.

[Mlarsen]

Maybe if he would of listened in the first place, you wouldn't have tell him twice. Guy sounds like he had stick up his ass and wanted to do things his own way. 15 bucks an hour is about right I'd say for prep work at a normal body shop around here.

[Keith M]

It's basically an unskilled job. He is 22 and single. Very mellow work environment, shop even has ac. The only thing I require is being careful with what you are working on since almost all of it is handmade and not easily replaceable.

[Keith M]

Maybe if he would of listened in the first place, you wouldn't have tell him twice. Guy sounds like he had stick up his ass and wanted to do things his own way. 15 bucks an hour is about right I'd say for prep work at a normal body shop around here.

Not a body shop, just big buck cars in for restorations and mechanical work. We don't turn cars quick but the work needs to be first rate.

[Mlarsen]

Yeah, smart choice firing him. I think for that type of work environment restoring cars, you can find some who genuinely wants to be there.

[StereoInstaller1]

$15 an hour seems pretty decent for that kind of work. $32K/yr is pretty decent for a 22 year old single guy in Canby. I bet there are dozens of guys on R3V that would love that deal.

Finding people to work for you is easily the hardest part of owning a business...like you didn't already know that.

[Kershaw]

It's basically an unskilled job. He is 22 and single. Very mellow work environment, shop even has ac. The only thing I require is being careful with what you are working on since almost all of it is handmade and not easily replaceable.

good riddance.

[TurboJake]

I'll come work for ya.
Except I can do a lot more than just prep working and parts cleaning.
A LOT more....
(Not for 15 an hour though...)


That said. He was getting a fair wage. Unskilled with nothing to back himself up with. Sounds more than fair to me. He was just being a cock knuckle.
Plus, he had the added huge benefit of the most flexible hours someone could ever ask for.

Lack of respect for authority.
Lack of respect for vintage parts.
Lack of respect for doing things the right way.
Etc. I can make this another 4 or 5 things wrong. But you get the idea. Sound decision in my eyes.

[PNWDan]

$15/hr for an opportunity to learn a skilled trade sounds good to me. Too many people want to start out being the CEO and not work their way up and earn their place. As a machinist, I see this all too often..

[z31maniac]

$15/hr for an opportunity to learn a skilled trade sounds good to me. Too many people want to start out being the CEO and not work their way up and earn their place. As a machinist, I see this all too often..

Precisely.

[F34R]

I took a detailing AND prepping for paint among other things for 12hr 3 years ago to make up for winter down time. I left from that job because my attention to detail was not liked. They wanted a fast sloppy repair, and shitty detailing. I did not like that they were doing that and charging out the ass for half assed work.


FUCK Tri-county collision

And on the topic of firing someone I did fire someone last year from the Co I co-own with my father. The guy was a moron and made huge mistakes when I showed him what to do 3-4 times(cost us money). Then he would bitch about climbing a ladder in the hot sun. Funny thing is I hired one of my friends this summer that is a woman. She out worked him for the same pay. Never bitched about hauling shingles up the roof and in the hot ass sun. But 15hr you are offering for that simple work was a great start and he was dumb for throwing it away. He could have learned alot in time.

[Keith M]

Ok, I don't feel so bad about it now. I told him that I was going to start him doing other things that required a lot of time and patience to learn (wood repair and some mechanical work) and would increase his pay accordingly.