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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Workmen been sat outside in their vans since 8.30am

37 replies

Lovemusic33 · 12/03/2019 15:52

Yesterday I arranged to be at home (today) so work men could have acccess to me property, I live in a housing association house and my house is due some work/maitanace on the outside. I went to the gym early, come back and there are 3 vans parked outside, 2 work men in each, the weather is awful so obviously they can’t be up ladders due to strong winds. They have literally been sat outside all day doing nothing (waiting for the rain and wind to stop), finally the rain stops and they are now fucking off because it’s almost 4pm.

I have felt like I’m being watched all day (vans right outside facing my house). AIBU to wonder why they have just sat there all day knowing the weather forecast was shit? Surely they could have gone home or found another job to do?

OP posts:
ILoveMaxiBondi · 12/03/2019 15:57

Standard for those type of contracts I’m afraid. They get paid whether they do any work or not. In fact, this way they’ll get more money because they’ll have to come back another day to do it and get paid for that as well. If they’d gone to do another job they’d have to actually do work for their money. They can’t go home, they have to at least pretend to be waiting for the rain to go off.

SciFiRules · 12/03/2019 15:57

Surely they go where they are directed or don't get paid.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 12/03/2019 16:00

My dad was working for a contractor who did HA contracts for about 6 months a few years ago. He hated it. He said he never came across a lazier more work shy set up in all his working years. He would get told to go to a site to measure a door and make sure he takes all morning at it so they can charge well for it. Spent most of his time sitting in a van at jobs because whoever was driving said they were staying 3 hours even if the job only took 20 minutes.

SciFiRules · 12/03/2019 16:04

They don't make more money on rain off days. How would you take it if your office closed and sent you home without pay due to the weather? It's hardly unreasonable to pay someone else when they present themseles to work.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 12/03/2019 16:09

They don't make more money on rain off days.

No I meant they’ll get more money for the one job because they’ll have to come back a second day to do it.

How would you take it if your office closed and sent you home without pay due to the weather?

I’m self employed. If I don’t do the work I don’t get paid.

Original poster
Lovemusic33 · 12/03/2019 16:18

I know they should get paid as the weather isn’t their fault but there are people (including me) waiting for other work to be done that could be done on a rainy day?

I feel sorry for them in a way, must be boring sat in a van all day doing fuck all. Yesterday they spent several hours painting my front door even though my door is being replaced in a week or 2 ( I have been waiting for my new door for 6 months).

OP posts:
BrendasUmbrella · 12/03/2019 16:22

Maybe their vans have trackers.

Original poster
Lovemusic33 · 12/03/2019 16:24

2 of them are still sat outside, one gone home, the suns out and the wind has dropped but they are still sat in their vans 😐

OP posts:
Cocobean30 · 12/03/2019 16:24

If it’s a housing association they will have their own staff of tradesmen, and won’t employ separate contractors that will get paid more to come back another day. They will be booked in for the time to do the specific repair by the planners and unless an emergency repair comes in there is nowhere else for them to go, especially if the weather is bad. Their vans will also be tracked to make sure they are at the right property and to account for their time (if it is anything like the association I work for :) )

Bananasinpyjamas11 · 12/03/2019 16:32

I’ve had workmen with their vans for the last two months turn up, sit, go around the corner. Do some work in a hole. Stop. Move again. Go away. Come back. Dig another hole. Put a pipe in. Get lunch. Come back. Get out of van. Scratch head. Talk. Measure. Get in. Go around another corner.

I need to get a life!

I still wouldn’t want to do their work. Sat in a cold van. Having to listen to my mates awful taste in radio.

Original poster
Lovemusic33 · 12/03/2019 16:44

Banana at least they are doing something, these ones must have had such a boring day doing nothing. Seems a bit silly for the company not to just send them home when the forecast was for rain all day.

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 12/03/2019 17:00

I see this sort of thing quite a bit in my street in rotten weather. My lovely neighbour across the road normally makes them all a cup of coffee and offers the use of his toilet.

I agree, it must be boring as hell for them but I suppose if they're given the rest of the day off, the weather could take a turn for the better and probably would!

Puzzledandpissedoff · 12/03/2019 17:12

there are people ... waiting for other work to be done that could be done on a rainy day?

You're in danger of bringing common sense into it, OP - not always a wise move with LAs Wink

At least they've not had chance to leave behind an "extra fault" involving a return trip, which was the usual technique of subcontractors our LA used ... you should have seen how fast the boss turned up when I made clear they'd been rumbled!!

qwertyskirty · 12/03/2019 17:20

I used to work from home and noticed this a lot. I tried not to judge the constant tea breaks figuring that a slightly physical job would warrant rest time but honestly the highways blokes on the road outside were quite unbelievable.
It's not all its cracked up to be.
I used to work for a MASSIVE company. But about 6 months before I was made redundant there was just no work to do. At first a few of us tried stuff like online training, updating our CVs and useful things. That progressed to sneaking a newspaper in. Then the newspaper reading just became blatant. We actually ended up bickering a bit and everyone felt depressed and annoyed and couldn't wait to leave. Being paid to do nothing sounds amazing but it felt a bit like a prison and was so wasteful.

YellowFish123 · 12/03/2019 17:27

The managers and directors at that company must be absolutely barking. I'm a senior manager and director of a company and myself and the rest of the senior management team wouldn't tolerate any of this laziness at our place.

We regularly check that all staff are working and on task through cameras in the office and regular patrols, especially at peak skiving times like just before lunch and home time. It's utter madness to pay staff to do nothing.

Katinkka · 12/03/2019 17:29

Hope they brought their knitting.. 🧶

ThreeBagsFullofWool · 12/03/2019 17:32

It's just the way some companies work even if it seems ridiculous. We regularly have problems at my job which can mean hours and hours of sitting around getting paid to do nothing. If I go home I don't get paid so I'm not going to do that just because some randomer might get their knickers in a twist over it. Get over yourself.

7Pip · 12/03/2019 17:36

It may be that they were waiting on materials to arrive or something as well as the weather element.
What work were they supposed to be doing?

ILoveMaxiBondi · 12/03/2019 17:41

We regularly check that all staff are working and on task through cameras in the office and regular patrols, especially at peak skiving times like just before lunch and home time. It's utter madness to pay staff to do nothing.

Well come on, they can’t exactly be up ladders in rain and strong winds.

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2019 17:42

I'm a senior manager and director of a company and myself and the rest of the senior management team wouldn't tolerate any of this laziness at our place.

How is it laziness if they can't climb ladders due to strong winds?

ILoveMaxiBondi · 12/03/2019 17:42

Oh sand some of those workers will live really far away so it’s not so simple just to go home. They don’t always have a “base” either where they can go and wait for the rain to stop.

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2019 17:42

X posted ILoveMaxiBondi

Puzzledandpissedoff · 12/03/2019 18:14

We regularly check that all staff are working and on task ... especially at peak skiving times like just before lunch and home time. It's utter madness to pay staff to do nothing

I take it that's within a private company though, where there's an expectation of accountability for what's being done?

Nobody's suggesting staff should be put at risk with ladders in high winds, but surely any manager with sense swaps them onto another job if possible ...

WorraLiberty · 12/03/2019 18:17

What other job though?

They can't just randomly turn up out of the blue at the homes of people who need inside work done.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 12/03/2019 19:09

Depends on who the employer is, Worra

In the case of the LA I mentioned we're constantly told about their "huge backlog" of jobs, so I'd be very surprised if there wasn't something else they could be doing amongst that little lot - even leaving out private properties with their problems around access