Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Participation and Compensation Issues

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 8/2/03 11:37 AM, "Fred H Olson" <fholson [at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> Our accountant is of
> the opinion that a mandatory participation requirement cannot be
> supported unless there is a penalty for not participating. Otherwise,
> she wants us to treat all participation as a compensation issue.

I agree with this. You have to have a default if you want things to happen.
Otherwise you are in the position of "motivating" people to "volunteer".
While this may work for some people it also creates more work than it
produces. A simple default like the one below works much better and does not
create extra work.
> 
> Has anyone encountered this?  I have seen many discussions about play or
> pay on the list, but am not clear if anyone has actually ever
> established a system of play or pay.  I tried to search the archives,
> but was unsuccessful in finding any info on this.

EcoVillage of Loudoun County VA has a very simple system that works well,
apparently. They do not have a commonhouse and only a few houses are built
but they have a large participating group preparing to build. Their system:

1. A list of jobs is approved by the whole group each year.
2. A minimum is set for each adult (4 hours) and child over 16 (2 hours)
3. As the work is completed they turn in a workslip to the accountant.
4. At the end of the month the accountant bills anyone who had not turned in
a slip.
5. People may work hours for others.

They bill at the rate for unskilled labor in their area which is $12.50.

This is the rate those of us in our group have discussed as the most fair,
although in DC it is a higher rate. We have this option built into our
bylaws but have never implemented it. There is wide opinion about whether we
will ever do it. I think in fact it would be much easier and more "fair"
than what we do now. But I think we also have to separate the social
functions out as "volunteer". These really are optional and rarely involve
all members of our community -- meals, holiday celebrations, birthdays,
meals to the sick, etc.

So the tasks for us would be landscaping, commonhouse repairs and cleaning,
management of guest rooms, workshop, office, etc., accounting, special
projects management. The later takes enormous amounts of time -- researching
new washing machines and getting them installed takes mucho hours.

We need a vent changed in our dining room. Finding the right vent and the
person to install it and getting them out here is so daunting, I'm loath to
even start. This is the stuff that soaks up the time and is invisible for
those of you who do not have a commonhouse yet.

Work or pay incites people to riot on the list so I ask that no rotten
potatoes be thrown. We actually need money as much as we need work and some
people are so hard to pin down on jobs, everyone would feel better if they
knew they were getting the money. No one in  my community feels that people
who pay are anymore "privileged" than those who work.

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org

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