Staffing a grounds keeping crew.

Green1 · December 2003

In the past few years of economic downsizing, my company has gone from a grounds crew staffed by full-time employees, to the use of contractors. An idea has been proposed to look at purchasing equipment and hiring a temporary staff as a means of further cost reduction. We have a very long growing season for grass down here and I was wondering if these type positions could be classified as "temporary". What guidelines apply?

Peyton Irby MS · December 2003

"temporary" is generally used to denote persons hired for a specified period of time or a specific task with an expected end date. it is also used to delineate which employees are eligible for certain benefits. some handbooks give definitions of temporaries. depending on your language and benefit plan, there is no legal impediment to advising an applicant he/she is temporary, ie., employment will end on XX date.
Peyton Irby
Editor, Mississippi Employment Law Letter
Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A.
(601) 949-4810
[email]pirby@watkinsludlam.com[/email]

Green1 · December 2003

Thanks for the prompt reply. I believe I posted in the wrong area as far as topics are concerned. It's a wonder you found the message at all.

System · December 2003

I moved your message here from the "How to Use Employers Forum" section. Don't worry, this happens a lot.

When you click on the Post icon, your new message shows up in whatever section you're in at the time.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com

Don D · December 2003

Most of the lawn maintenance and 'groundskeeping' firms I see in the Metro area nowadays, including your area, are composed of Mexican labor. I wonder about the legitimacy of their work authorizations, if they have them. Most of these crews downsize drastically beginning in October and try to staff back up starting in March. Mostly they restaff with new employees since the old ones don't sit around and wait for them to ramp back up. It's rare that these crews draw unemployment insurance, I'm told, since they have questionable work documents in the first place. Unless you're one of the few regular staff, perhaps assigned a truck and crew, with the option of 'overwintering' with the owner, I would chunk the job and look for something that's not seasonal. These service owners are notorious for laying everybody off and heading to the house like a farmer counting cash. Maybe you are even one of them and I'm not clear about your question.

Green1 · December 2003

Don, with all the I-9 fallout from the Wal-Mart situation, I certainly am sensitive to your point on immigrant workers. I work in H.R.(about 2 yrs.) at a manufacturing site and am indirectly involved in making the decision (or at least advising) on how we might staff such a crew. One idea is to use employee's children during the summer months. Sorry for being so vague, we are in the planning stage.

MS HR · December 2003

THE PROblem with employee's children could be child labor laws if too young, employee liability problems on the job, and do you have enough jobs available for all employees' children?
i would go ahead and recruit at the local high school for seniors or go ahead and do regular temporary employment and just be sure to document the i-9's. i wouldn't worry about illegal alien labor that much if you do your documentation.
The job sounds ideal for between semester college kids or high school seniors, both of which would be on the lower end of the payment schedule.

also, the local employment security office of the state may be of tremendous assistance.

Pork · December 2003

Green1: The term is part-time employee, and you can staff these positions with temporary workers in a part-time roll. Part-time should limit the working hours to 31 hours or less. Should it be that the individual works greater than 32 hours for a total of 16 straight weeks, then their legal status is automatically seen by the WAGE AND HOUR folks as full time and entitled to all rights and benefits of all other full time employees, a right which is never taken away even though the individual hours return to less than 32 hours per week. Should it be that on any week this individual works over 40 hours in that work week, then the individual is entitled to OVERTIME PAY.

The benefit issue and keeping track of who has worked when is why I recommend you stay with the contractor for the lawn service activity. We have looked at it both ways and choose the contractor every time.

The exception to this rule is when the owner is also interested in having this employee also work at his resident or hunting and fishing lodge. Now you have a full time employee that is paid by the company and the time recorded for working on personal property of the owner is charged back to the income earned by the owner.

Green1 · December 2003

Thanks for your observations. I appreciate the ideas.

Staffing a grounds keeping crew.

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