Apprentice

You become her employer ...

Geoff Whaling

and that potentially brings with it a raft of responsibilities, possibly insurance, tax, superannuation liabilities etc. Then there is the compatibility of personalities with living arrangements.

I would seek some advice before committing to such an arrangement. Lets say I'm cautious and a little suspicious. I have seen a very good friend dragged through the work injury legal system a couple of times with his small aluminium fabrication business, one was a setup bogus work injury claim. Very stressful for him and his wife.

Re: Apprentice

Dick Coers

First concern will be to meet all requirements for having an employee. Might not even be legal to employ someone with no pay, or you may have to report the value of the room and board. Second would be insurance in case she gets hurt. Don't know how you figure workman's comp in that case. Have a written contract on what both of you expect from this arrangement. A hand shake arrangement can go bad fast if someone cuts off a finger.

Re: Apprentice

Dale Bonertz

Will she have other employment? If so she may qualify as a independent contractor. Check with you local employment office. If she qualifies as a independent contractor then she can carry her own insurance. You will still want a written agreement. All locations vary on requirements so check it out.

Re: Apprentice

Barry Irby

I would not touch this with a 20' pole. (A 20' pole is for not touching something you would not touch with a 10' pole, twice.)

Sub-contractor status is very difficult to set up and maintain in Virginia. The state is very Pro "employee" status.

Also, my cousin hired a young lady who proceeded to wreck two of her work vehicles by hit several other of her work vehicles. When she was forbade to drive any of the work vehicles, she fabricated sex harassment charges. Cost a fortune all the way around.

Re: Apprentice

John K Jordan

The last time I hired help (two people for videography and editing 80 short technical videos) I had to spend so much time setting things up so they could stay productively busy, reviewing and correcting, and darn it, communicating, that I was worn out and stressed. And these were good people I knew, trustworthy, with good abilities and work ethic. It would have been a lot easier to do it all myself, although deadlines were too tight.

I don't think I could have handled an unknown person with unproven skills.

JKJ

Re: Apprentice

robo hippy

If she wants to turn, and set out on her own eventually, the way I did it with a guy who was selling fire wood, I spent a number of times with him in the shop. He would turn his own stuff. He does have his own lathe, and own tools. We do one show together, and he sells his stuff and I sell mine. That gets you out of the technical 'employee' situation. Our labor situation in this country is not set up for 'apprenticeship'.

robo hippy

Re: You become her employer ...

Jorge

Geoff,

you are right, it brings a lot of responsibility and the personality compatibility is what keeps me ruminating. One part of me wants to do it, to pass along what I know would make feel good specially if she is a good worker.

I've trained many people along the way, in boat building, in furniture making and mostly in building homes, but I was a worker training other workers, so the legal headaches were not mine.

Re: Apprentice

Jorge

Dick,

in my carpentry days, I did sub-contract a lot of the work, if they had their own insurance, concrete work, electrical and plumbing, insulation , sheet rock and paint were almost always subcontracted, sometimes even the roofing when the time was short, meeting deadlines on time was the main concern.

Having somebody coming to live with us is a completely different situation that is what makes me wonder.

Re: Apprentice

Jorge

Dale, a person in her thirties, putting herself through college must have had jobs to do that. Need to talk a lot more with her before setting this up. I have some time, to figure things out, she graduates in may.

Re: Apprentice

Jorge

John,

I have been in similar situations when being after the help eats most of your time. I need to talk more with her and get a better feeling. One thing she did in our first talk was to take my hands and examining them and asked me how long have you been a woodworker? when I told her half a century she commented: amazing, you still have all your fingers. That made a good impression on me.

Re: Apprentice

Jorge

Robo,

I got the impression that is exactly what she has in mind, create her own job. Your approach is good, and I'll try to do it likewise. But first I must figure out if we can work well together and the other thing that keeps me wondering is sharing our space.

If I decided to give it a go, I'll do it for one season, just the summer and fall.

Thanks

Re: Apprentice

Geoff Whaling

Jorge, there has to be a way to set this up so both of you are protected.

The idea of sharing a work space without a more formal master / apprentice relationship seems a good workable arrangement however I would be seeking advice and references.

We have a different labor system in Australia, but we still have all the headaches of employing others or engaging apprentices. Most apprentices here are now trained through a group apprenticeship system where a "labour hire" firm engages the apprentice then finds placements for them, with training subsidies, wage offsets etc.

Sub contractor status

Dick Coers

I'd say you need to look into the education side of this, instead of an apprenticeship status. If you sell and make money on work she makes, she'll have to set herself up as a business, and you will have to give her a 1099 form each year. You won't be able to set her hours. Using your tools is going to be a big hurdle, and will likely be a deal breaker to show her as independent. In East Peoria, Il, a strip club owner is being sued. They insist that all the girls are independant contractors. The girls charge that they are told how to work, what they can wear, and their hours are set by the owner. I'm betting the club owner looses a lot of money on this one!

Re: Apprentice

Dale Bonertz

Jorge,

Maybe I wasn't clear. It does not matter what she did in the past. It is what she is doing while working with you. Rules are different in every state. If she holds another job or two while working with you then she may qualify as an independent contractor.

Re: Apprentice

Jorge

Get it thanks Dale.

Re: You become her employer ...

Barry L Elder

Find an attorney who is qualified to give you good advice. Perhaps you could pay him/her with your art. He/She could provide you with a legal contract that will protect you and your assets before she walks through the door.