To think that tradesmen take the piss with their rates?

Seriously?

You are getting a hard time here OP but YANBU in your specific example. This was your friend who asked for cash in hand so hasn’t paid tax or NI on the money and you also provided tools and materials. Your friend has taken the piss here. £475 cash for 7 hours work! I’m in the wrong job too.

Teachers aren't underpaid.

It's been known for years that you earn more as a tradie than you do as an office worker. I don't know why so many people push their children through uni to get mediocre office jobs when they could learn a trade, have no debt, and earn good money within a few short years!

Tradies need to charge what they can while their bodies are still able to do the work. Physical labour is very taxing and the risk of injury high. My BIL is a builder but at 50yo his body is giving out and he's in quite a bit of pain. He won't be able to do a lot of work when that gets worse and will live with it for the rest of his life.

I think the real issue here is that teachers are underpaid and undervalued compared to a tradesman. Both very important job roles for society.

I think you paid what 79 per hour on average? How much do you want him to charge? That's offensive what you said about you going to uni, alot of trades have to study as well,.if you're a plumber or working on gas or electric, you train, these training costs for gas for example carry on every few years, or the cost of public liability ins, tools, fuel, parking, tax, van costs , if you run a legitimate business in this day and age then you got over heads which as a teacher you probably don't. Honestly you're a teacher but you clearly don't understand how life is do you. If you had an issus with the man's costs you should have taken it up with him.

Absolutely this.

Skilled trades do very well.

You're majorly backtracking. It's obvious what you meant.

But most people ignore things like screws, fixing, silicone sealant, replacement drill bits etc in calculating this. And ignore the time it takes to order materials, collect materials, invoice for those etc..

The OP is having a go at tradesmen but doesn't actually sound like she paid a tradesman. More a handyman doing a bit on the side.

Much like tutoring there will be those doing it properly and paying tax and those not declaring anything (there's a thread about one just now). But it would be unfair to say all teachers have this extra income stream and therefore don't need higher wages.

When you factor in pension and holidays and sick leave you are paid far more.
As a follow teacher I'm embarrassed for you that you can't see that.
To all the other posters .... we're not all as daft as this and we're ok with paying self employed people a decent wage

No, they're usually paid a fair rate for what they do. If you'd chosen a career other than teaching, you'd have had the opportunity to potentially earn far more than any tradeperson.

I am not saying that teachers should be paid more, but I don’t think they should be paid less. It’s quite an assumption you make about my views on tradesmen.

@Pomegranatecarnage

Why shouldn't you be paid less? Do you have the same outgoings in teaching as being a self-employed tradesmen?

Haha at least you’re living up to the stereotype we all have of teachers: that you believe you were handpicked from the heavens and sent to levitate amongst us 😆

I mean, I assume nobody forced you to hire those people or pay those prices 🤷‍♀️

You are part of the reason why teachers get a bad name. My dad was a tradesman, I’m a teacher. Often tradespeople retire early as thier knees/back make them unable to work. During their working years they have to earn enough to put away a decent pension. I know I won’t teach until retirement age but at least I’ll be able to pick up another job without my body being knackered.

It’s almost like when people think teachers are only working when they are standing in front of a class…. What about all the other bits- marking, planning lessons, dealing with behaviour issues, playground duty, report writing, training, meetings, communicating with parents, whatever else you do.
A bit worrying you can’t see how the tradesman has a similar situation.

DH was a Part P electrician for a number of years. Never made a lot of money as he was a one man band. This was his experience:

• lots of quotes which came to nothing because the client's neighbour's cousin's cat said they would do a full rewire, for the price of a tin of whiskers.
• slow payers who thought that DH should have to wait a month or two to be paid
• clients who wanted to pay cash so as to avoid paying VAT (DH's turnover wasn't high enough to register for VAT)
• clients who expected a small, quick job and didn't want to know about the additional jobs needed for DH's work to be compliant with building regulations.

DH gave up being an electrician because of the clients. He now works in a supermarket.

Being a tradesman is not a licence to print money. Especially if you start when you are too old for an apprenticeship.

Excellent points 👌

The hardest 12 years of my life was being self-employed in a trade, I now have a degree and use it. Both have very different skill sets and are not comparable at all.
Being self-employed was by far the hardest. All the responsibility is carried on your shoulders, you need knowledge of running a business, People management as well as the trade you're working in. You learn on the job, if you mess it up you lose your money, no employment rights, little backup from government for sick pay etc. Employ someone? no one teaches you or does it for you, you learn on your own, put them before you etc. Then there is the best bit....... ignorant people who have no experience of what being self-employed entails as they have never done it passing judgment like they know better.

I was pleased to get out of it and go back to being employed it's easy in comparison.

On another note, yes, cash in hand can mean they might be dodging taxes, it might not. Unless you know how they manage their books you don't know. I was very cash-heavy in my business - cash was an expensive burden sometimes at other times by just using cash, taking it and then using it to pay suppliers simply cut out trips to the bank and admin which kept costs down - taxes were still paid thought. This again often showed a high degree of ignorance in running a business, methods of payments and how tax avoidance can work or how books and taxes can be legit even when the business is run on a cash basis.

OP your degree qualifies you to teach - not to be educated in the running of a self-employed business, This is no disrespect to you but you have no knowledge of running a trade nor being self-employed, If you think you can do better leave teaching and crack on, then come back and tell if you feel the same.

If you had the tools, why didn't you do the jobs yourself or couldn't you be arsed.

It’s like complaining that you’ve spent £35 on a steak in a restaurant when you could buy one in Aldi for a fiver.

Trades also don’t get sick pay, holidays or massive employer pension contributions.

You provided all the tools for the job?