Builder counteracts costs of government legislation by employing subcontractors.Builder counteracts costs of government legislation by employing subcontractors Like any industry, the bottom line for construction companies is often adversely affected by government initiatives. Recently, government has been active with legislation such as the Employers' Health Tax and Workers' Compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. Act reform. However, while some companies may take the attitude that taxes are inevitable, others do something about it. Ed Gilbert Ed Gilbert (born Edmund F. Giesbert on June 29, 1931- May 8, 1999) was an American actor, with extensive credits in both live action roles and voice work in animation, although he was better known for the latter. , president of Quality Homes Inc. in Thunder Bay Thunder Bay, city (1991 pop. 113,946), SW Ont., Canada, on Thunder Bay inlet of Lake Superior. The city was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur and two adjoining townships. , says changes in things such as workers' compensation have a drastic effect on his company. Gilbert believes the way workers' compensation is assessed doesn't accurately reflect the risk element in some workplaces. "They (the board) don't differentiate between office personnel, who are not subject to risk on the job, and the fellows we have working for us who are climbing ladders and putting on shingles shingles: see herpes zoster. shingles or herpes zoster Acute viral skin and nerve infection. Groups of small blisters appear along certain nerve segments, most often on the back, sometimes after a dull ache at the site; pain becomes , etc.," he explains. Partly because of that, Quality Homes has changed its method of operation. "We reduced our field workforce because employees in the field became too expensive with the Employers' Health Tax and increases in workers' compensation rates - all those types of employee overhead items," says Gilbert. "We have eliminated most of our field personnel." The actual building for Quality Homes is now done by subcontractors, who pay the workers' compensation and other such expenses. The changes will result in fairly substantial savings, Gilbert notes. "Our risk level drops when we subcontract sub·con·tract n. A contract that assigns some of the obligations of a prior contract to another party. intr. & tr.v. sub·con·tract·ed, sub·con·tract·ing, sub·con·tracts and work out a firm price, as opposed to using our own employees. So we save $14,000 a year in that particular area." In addition, Gilbert notes that the firm will save about $6,000 per year in health tax payments by going to contract labor. The legislation made operational changes necessary, says Gilbert. "We had to change because our profit margin was such that we can't absorb all those costs. We had to take some steps to eliminate those costs, or find some other way of recapturing it." Quality Homes has now taken on more of a management function than that of a general contractor A general contractor is an organization or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction of a building, road or any other execution of work or facility. . The bulk of the company's salaries go to office personnel, not those working in the field. As for pay equity, another recent government initiative, Gilbert said it hasn't affected his company yet. Even if it does, he believes pay equity won't be relevant to his company because the industry determines pay by job function, regardless of who is doing the work. Andre Vigneault, president of Grand Homes Inc. in Sudbury, agrees. "Pay equity has not been a major issue from the construction company standpoint The Standpoint is a newspaper published in the British Virgin Islands. It was originally published under the name Pennysaver, largely as a shopping-coupon promotional newspaper, but since emerged as one of the most influential sources of journalism in the because the trades are pretty well delineated de·lin·e·ate tr.v. de·lin·e·at·ed, de·lin·e·at·ing, de·lin·e·ates 1. To draw or trace the outline of; sketch out. 2. To represent pictorially; depict. 3. ," he says. "If you're hiring someone as a carpenter's helper, you're paying them that wage rate." PAUL BICKFORD Staff Writer |
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