Re: hiring community members | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Lynn Nadeau (welcomeolympus.net) | |
Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 18:02:24 -0700 (PDT) |
RoseWind is about 15 years in and we have done a lot of the work ourselves. Hiring community members is VERY tricky. It can be done, but here are some factors to consider. Jealousy. In a situation where some people are volunteering and others are being paid, some volunteers will have no problem, and others may ask "why are they paid and I'm not?" The most complex version of this was a family-dynamic: "Why was [Joe] paid, when my HUSBAND was volunteering? My husband should have been paid." Said husband was glad to volunteer, but his wife wished he were doing things for her, or for money. There are some members here where when they say "Oh, I'll build that!" I (only half jokingly) now say "Do you need a note from your wife?" Mostly, it works OK, but even one member with a festering grudge can cause a lot of damage to community. Be sure you have clear consensus on any such deals. Liability. Whether volunteer or contract, L & I (state-administered labor and industry/workman's comp) needs to be paid. A licensed contractor will take care of it for themself; volunteers or amateurs need to have the paperwork and fees handled by the organization, or show that they are doing it themselves. It was a pain, when we built our common house with a lot of member-volunteer labor, but we did it. And wouldn't you know, the one time we cut corners, and assumed a cash-pay carpenter who did a last-minute job for us would cover his own medical insurance or liability, was the one time there was a construction accident and it consumed massive time and energy, and a fair amount of money, to get it all sorted out. It could have been catastrophic instead. Your general liability insurance probably does not cover anyone who is being paid for a job. Obviously, there is general volunteer work, like cleaning, mowing, work-party stuff that is not in this arena. But for hired work of any kind, be cautious about the liability coverage. Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature) http://www.rosewind.org http://www.ptguide.com http://www.ptforpeace.info (very active peace movement here- see our photo)
- Re: Hiring community members, (continued)
- Re: Hiring community members Fred H Olson, August 18 2003
-
Hiring community members Terri Hupfer, May 18 2004
- Re: Hiring community members Signe e, May 19 2004
- Re: Hiring community members Jim Snyder-Grant, May 19 2004
- Re: hiring community members Lynn Nadeau, May 19 2004
- Re: Hiring community members Becky Schaller, May 20 2004
- Re: Re: hiring community members Chknsoup1, May 20 2004
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