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Happy Labor Day!


HeightsGuy

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With Fall finally arriving this weekend, I can now get to work on some outdoor projects that I have been putting off all summer. I will be needing some help. I drive by the day laborers every day on Shepherd and 11th, but don't know what the going rate is. Can anyone unravel the mystery?

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With Fall finally arriving this weekend, I can now get to work on some outdoor projects that I have been putting off all summer. I will be needing some help. I drive by the day laborers every day on Shepherd and 11th, but don't know what the going rate is. Can anyone unravel the mystery?

normally about $5/hr. if you just want to pick them up off the street. You could probably get away with $20 forthe whole day.

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I used two laborers from Shephard and 11th to help unload a moving truck during a very hot summer day. The agreed rate was $10 an hour for each worker.

When all was said and done, I paid them their hourly wage, and then gave them a $10 bonus (representing an extra hour of work), and free bottles of Gatorade. They seemed to be exceptionally appreciative of the small gesture.

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$5/hour for the labor, then about $10/month in increased auto insurance costs, $30/month in health insurance costs, $200/month in HISD costs, etc. These are the hidden costs of illigal immigrants. Hope you get your money's worth since we all pay for it.

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If you're not paying them at least $5.15/hr, then you're already doing something illegal.

Why? They're not his employees. He doesn't have to pay minimum wage unless he hires them to his company. In this case, he's simply hiring sub-contractors to do work for him. They can come to any agreement and they can charge whatever they feel appropriate. If for whatever reason they agree to $3.00 an hour plus 3 hot meals and cold gatorade all day - then that is completely legal.

The only illegal aspects to this would be if the sub-contractors are 1. illegal aliens, or 2. not reporting their wages to the federal government for taxation. In this situation I've got a feeling these "sub-contractors" could fall under the "double-whammy" catagory.

Either way - pay them what you want.

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5 years ago I was paying $6 per hour. I would think they are going to ask for $7 per hour now. Unless you speak fluent Spanish, you need to be sure at least 1 speaks very good English. Ask them questions like what color is your truck or something off the wall like that to make sure they do speak english. Some just know enough english to get the job.

It is customary that you feed them lunch, usually Hamburgers or Fried Chicken. Of course provide them plenty to drink. But be firm on how much time they take for lunch or they will want a the whole hour and you are expected to pay even when they are not working.

Give them simple jobs and be prepared to supervise closely. Trick is to be sure you have enough work and tools to keep them busy. If you need any masonry work done, this is your chance.

They do great work... Good Luck

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$5/hour for the labor, then about $10/month in increased auto insurance costs, $30/month in health insurance costs, $200/month in HISD costs, etc. These are the hidden costs of illigal immigrants. Hope you get your money's worth since we all pay for it.

nmainguy wonders where those figures come from.

B)

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Ha! Your gonna use the wetbacks! These characters are hilarius! The attire is the funniest man. Bret "the hitman" Hart sunglasses with the safety strap. Either a luberjack no matter how hot it is or a thrift store t-shirt from the eighties (I.e. "Care-fest 87", "beer whore", "85' Tenneco marathon", "Aids-walk 89" etc.) Baseball cap with either a weed plant, mexican flag, or mickey mouse on the marquis. Deviant smile with tongue hangin out at any female that passes by regardless of age, weight, or looks. Theres a lot of them that'll work for beer! You can easily spot these because they're already killin a bottle of bud light at 7' in da mornin'. Good luck!

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Ha! Your gonna use the wetbacks! These characters are hilarius! The attire is the funniest man. Bret "the hitman" Hart sunglasses with the safety strap. Either a luberjack no matter how hot it is or a thrift store t-shirt from the eighties (I.e. "Care-fest 87", "beer whore", "85' Tenneco marathon", "Aids-walk 89" etc.) Baseball cap with either a weed plant, mexican flag, or mickey mouse on the marquis. Deviant smile with tongue hangin out at any female that passes by regardless of age, weight, or looks. Theres a lot of them that'll work for beer! You can easily spot these because they're already killin a bottle of bud light at 7' in da mornin'. Good luck!

:blink:

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If you're not paying them at least $5.15/hr, then you're already doing something illegal.

HELLOOOOOOO ! The legality starts as soon as he puts 2 or 3 "illegals" in the back of his truck for the purpose of using their services. He is not going to claim them for tax purposes or claim them on his insurance, and they can't claim his insurance if something happens to them on his property because they weren't supposed to be here in the first place. Cheap labor is exactly what they know they are doing. I assure you that the "landscaping companies" that go by there everyday are paying less than $5/hr. Try about $3/hr. I think $5 is more than fair. If they don't want the job, I'm sure somebody at the corner will take it. B)

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The legality starts as soon as he puts 2 or 3 "illegals" in the back of his truck for the purpose of using their services. He is not going to claim them for tax purposes or claim them on his insurance, and they can't claim his insurance if something happens to them on his property because they weren't supposed to be here in the first place.

You're incorrect. There is no legality issues with any one over the age of 12 riding in the back of a pick-up truck. Almost all auto-insurance policies are written with coverage for occupants of the vehicle as well.

There is also no legality issue with hiring someone to perform a service (depending on the service of course). You've heard of the term "buyer-beware". This implies that the liability of honesty falls on the service provider - and not the customer.

Unless he himself is acting as an employer when he contracts these gentlemen for their services, why would he claim their expense on his taxes? Personal landscaping is not a tax deduction.

As for them not supposing to be here in the first place, I assume that you are as well assuming that these gentlemen are illegal aliens and should not be here in the United States. Until you ask for documentation, you just can't assume that they are here illegally. No habla ingles does not always equal illegal alien.

Even if they are breaking the law, at least they're not panhandling. I'll worry about working-illegals as soon as we take care of our non-working, homeless, welfare receiving, citizens.

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You're incorrect. There is no legality issues with any one over the age of 12 riding in the back of a pick-up truck. Almost all auto-insurance policies are written with coverage for occupants of the vehicle as well.

There is also no legality issue with hiring someone to perform a service (depending on the service of course). You've heard of the term "buyer-beware". This implies that the liability of honesty falls on the service provider - and not the customer.

Unless he himself is acting as an employer when he contracts these gentlemen for their services, why would he claim their expense on his taxes? Personal landscaping is not a tax deduction.

As for them not supposing to be here in the first place, I assume that you are as well assuming that these gentlemen are illegal aliens and should not be here in the United States. Until you ask for documentation, you just can't assume that they are here illegally. No habla ingles does not always equal illegal alien.

Even if they are breaking the law, at least they're not panhandling. I'll worry about working-illegals as soon as we take care of our non-working, homeless, welfare receiving, citizens.

Exactly correct, How many bums with a sign on the street would actually work if it was offered to them. Here are folk who are actually glad to have a job, any job.

We need to get rid of the bums.

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Jeebus, you misinterpreted my statement. The illegal part doesn't start with 3 or 4 people getting in the back of a truck. :lol: It starts the moment the illegal is hired. Unless you go up to the day-labor trailer and fill out the form for sub-contract work, you are probably knowingly picking up illegals when you drive up and hold up 3 fingers indicating 3 people jump in the back. Some people do more than just landscape the house. They are actually hiring some to do home improvement, which IS tax deductible. Nonetheless, it is probably a safe bet that neither party is going to "claim" a dime either way. I have no qualms about hiring a couple of illegals to do grunt work, that I know some "Bum" is not going to do, and these people will break their backs for you, for little money,and do a fantastic job. But ,I definately agree that a little extra cash after the job is done really means alot to them. :D

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Again, I know of no law that requires that you check documentation of a service & its workers before they provide service to the customer. So it's still not the fault of the customer.

A perfect example of this is if Timmy, who happens to be a blond-headed, blue-eyed, white kid knocks on your door and asks if he can cut your lawn. Are you going to ask for documentation? So why would you on a non-english speaking hispanic man? The only reason would be if you were profiling him.

As for tax-deductions, you can't claim anything legally without reciepts. So even if Fidel Castro himself re-shingles your roof and you claim it on your taxes - you've still not broken any law. This, unless of course you knew it was Fidel and didn't report it! :P

The breaking of the law starts when citizens of another country illegally cross the U.S. border - not when they hop in the back of pick-up trucks. ;)

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Again, I know of no law that requires that you check documentation of a service & its workers before they provide service to the customer. So it's still not the fault of the customer.

A perfect example of this is if Timmy, who happens to be a blond-headed, blue-eyed, white kid knocks on your door and asks if he can cut your lawn. Are you going to ask for documentation? So why would you on a non-english speaking hispanic man? The only reason would be if you were profiling him.

As for tax-deductions, you can't claim anything legally without reciepts. So even if Fidel Castro himself re-shingles your roof and you claim it on your taxes - you've still not broken any law. This, unless of course you knew it was Fidel and didn't report it! :P

The breaking of the law starts when citizens of another country illegally cross the U.S. border - not when they hop in the back of pick-up trucks. ;)

The example of Fidel, proves the point. Just because it's Fidel, doesn't mean he doesn't have a work visa. You just assumed that Fidel is here illegally, while you presume that all the men hanging out on Westpark are legal. If you knew it was Fidel how come you didn't ask for his documents ? Did you think it was a safe bet that he isn't supposed to be here. ;)

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I can't believe anyone is arguing semantics in regard to day laborers. That's pretty funny. :lol:

Hey Martha G, do you own a greyhound? I am picking up vibes over here.

No bus Parrothead.... I acted as the GC on a renovation of my home and used day laborers for demo work and some landscaping. And I would do it again if I needed them.

And I agree, if they do a nice job, a nice "tip" is in order...

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The example of Fidel, proves the point. Just because it's Fidel, doesn't mean he doesn't have a work visa. You just assumed that Fidel is here illegally, while you presume that all the men hanging out on Westpark are legal. If you knew it was Fidel how come you didn't ask for his documents ? Did you think it was a safe bet that he isn't supposed to be here. ;)
:huh: You're kidding right? Your reply is so scatter-brained and illogical it's hard for me to even repsond. Yes I assumed that Fidel would be condidered an illegal alien. That's about as obvious as concluding that smoking can kill you. As for assuming that all the men on Westpark are in fact legal holds no merit. When did I make that assumption? If anything you're the one making unfounded assumptions by making statements like:
you are probably knowingly picking up illegals when you drive up and hold up 3 fingers indicating 3 people jump in the back.

Also, asking me why I wouldn't ask for Fidel's documents makes no sense as I said that if would only be a crime if you knew and did nothing. If I didn't know it was Fidel, then why would I ask? If I did know it was Fidel, then why would I even hire him? I guess the problem is that I assumed that by making Fidel Castro an example, you would have understand my point. Next time I'll try to use a more obvious example like Suddam Hussein.. or perhaps Kim Jong Ill.

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I don't remember anyone asking about papers to go to work, as far as Timmy asking me for a job, no I wouldn't ask, I didn't ask the Hispanic gentleman that does my lawn now. He asked me for the job, and I gave it to him.The thought never even crossed my mind if he was legal or not. I think that you'll agree that if you go down to Westpark or N.Shepard to pick up day-laborers, that your sole purpose to go down there is to pick up illegals that you don't have to pay minimum wage too. That was the whole point. I don't recall anyone asking for papers on anybody.

Yes, I was being sarcastic about the whole Fidel thing. I just don't believe that people go down to Westpark and even worry about who's illegal and who isn't, but there is a certain amount of risk involved if the INS is on a round-up. :D

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, but there is a certain amount of risk involved if the INS is on a round-up. :D

Not so much the INS but HPD. They were doing round-ups a few weeks back posing as painting contractors and arrested those that got in the trucks. This was in response to neighborhood complaints in the W.11th/Shepherd area.

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I'm confussed.....

If HPD arrested the workers, what were the charges?

BTW...there is a police station on Durham@ 11th, just a few feet from the Apartment complex where the day labors gather in the morning. It is not a secret that they are there.

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