How Do I Get Rid Of My Boss's Little Brother?

Kuba

Typical...

Everyone worried about everyone else and not themselves.... Note the coments about pay...

The fact is: You are paid an amount to do a skill set. Do you job, get paid, go home...

Stay out of the business, its not your place or your job nor your responcibility.

If his company flops be cause of some stupid family ****, then its on them not you...

Stay out of the business, i stress that much... its really nun yo business.. get it?

S Winklepleck

On the contrary, if the business flops, it IS my business cause now I'm out of work. I believe my attitude should reflect a desire to see the company do better, that I give a crap about the company's well being. In doing so, I'm looking out for myself as well.

I keep my eye out for other job opportunities just in case there's something better out there. The fact is, being so involved with this company, I'm learning a LOT about every aspect of running a company as well as new trade skills. The fact also remains, as Bill pointed out, that I'm lucky to be working at all. There's not much out there right now in the way of contractors hiring new guys. Especially guys with less than X number of years in one specific trade. I'm coming up on 8 years in construction in general, but the first 4 1/2 years were just installing windows. Most GCs are looking for guys with 10 years in one specific trade. Best I could do is start off as an apprentice at $12.50 an hour, and I can't live on that. So again, the fact of the matter is that looking out for this company is my best bet for looking out for myself.

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-Steve

"I need the skilsaw." ... "Why did you bring me the drill box?" "It says S.A.W. on it." "Those are my initials."

strathd

I agree with Kuba. Accept the fact that babysitting is part of the job. Your paid by the hour right ? EVERYONE IS REPLACEABLE. When I have two guys on a crew that don't get along one of them is going. And I have had to do that. A happy crew is a productive crew.

Your trying to get in between family. What your employer says and does could very well be two different things. Be thankful you have a job, roll with it and when the time is right move on. Running a biz is stressfull enough without the added stress of employee BS.

Tread lightly.

mics_54

Help him be a better asset to your boss.

PA woodbutcher

Where there you go...All in a nutshell. My guess is get back to work and quit your b!tchin.

I feel for you, I really do, but if your working for me, what someone else makes or doesn't make is up to me, not you. What you make is between me and you. If you want more money, come see me. If I can afford it, you may get more. If not, sorry, what my brother makes has nothing to do with it

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'The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.' - Ronald Reagan

S Winklepleck

I just said it sucks to make the same as a hack, never have I suggested that it be changed. This really isn't about the money, that was just me venting. It's about him giving the company I represent a bad name.

I've tried to teach him the right ways of doing things, but his knowledge isn't really the issue. He knows the right ways, he just doesn't give a crap and he's lazy.

He's a cool guy otherwise and I get along with him well enough for the most part. I'd be very happy to have him around if it wasn't for the fact that sometimes he just does what he feels like whether it's right or wrong and doesn't care. Sometimes it's when it counts, he screws up on jobs where we're trying to get more work out of the HO. That's where I flip my lid

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-Steve

"I need the skilsaw." ... "Why did you bring me the drill box?" "It says S.A.W. on it." "Those are my initials."

BCConstruction

I went through the same thing with a guy my boss was trying to do a favour for. He would never be on time and made me late to the job as i would have to pick him up every morning. He wouldnt listen to a thing you told him and he would just stare at you with a stupid look on his face and he wouldnt do nothing all day. But the worst thing of all was he would talk about all the cool things him and his mates would do like poor milk on the floor and say a cow had left it there and his mates were hip hop dancers and danced everywhere they went even when going to the shops . He said he could also ride a mountain bike upside down in a tunnel . He used to come out with some strange stuff. I just sat down one day and did nothing and wathed him try and do all the stuff that he was asked and he messed up every job. Boss then come back and said what have i done and i told him i aint done nothing all day and told him to take a look at the work he had done and the guy was gone the next day lol

mics_54

Well yes it sucks that he isn't as ethical or as motivated as you would prefer. You will probably have to work harder because he is there. His brother probably knows his shortcomings so it isnt wise to point them out continually. You'll need to try to teach him by example rather than by edict. Hopefully your boss is wise enough to help you change him rather than reward his behavior. Unfortunately they may have the same character faults. This may or may not be an advantage to you.

S Winklepleck

The differences here are that 1: he's the boss's bro, not a friend, and 2: he's been around and doing jobs on his own (and screwing them up) for years, and the boss knows about it, but does nothing.

I suppose I'm wasting my time and effort trying to rectify the situation. I just wish my boss would put me "in charge" of him. He'd quit in a week if he had to follow MY orders

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-Steve

"I need the skilsaw." ... "Why did you bring me the drill box?" "It says S.A.W. on it." "Those are my initials."

S Winklepleck

By pointing out his shortcomings, I mean telling him he needs to learn such and such a method. For example, the latest was casing out the interior doors of the house we were working on. He'd cut the legs for one door at a time, take them in, nail them, then the head pieces, etc. I told him "You're taking forever, you should have been done hours ago. Why don't you measure everything and write it all down, cut it at once, give each door a number and label each piece with the cooresponding number, and take it all in and nail it all up?" His response was "because I messed up last time I tried that". So I tell him "Then figure out what you did wrong and fix your method. We have a deadline and this is taking too long". He responds with "this is how I roll" and that's his argument. Boss is there during the conversation, but isn't taking charge of the job, so I do. Brother looks to boss for backup, boss agrees with me.

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-Steve

"I need the skilsaw." ... "Why did you bring me the drill box?" "It says S.A.W. on it." "Those are my initials."

Tom Struble

most boss's will put you in charge of the job,He will be in charge of the men,and that's the way it is

you seem like a sharp young guy,always understand it will always be your boss's business,not yours, no matter how consciences or what an awesome carpenter you are

forget this guy,develop your skills mechanically and business wise
hang up your own shingle when the time is right

you will know when that is

good luck

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Tom

Winchester

If he knows and does nothing, it's charity for his brother. He doesn't care about the quality of work he does then you know how successful you are going to be in changing that?

If you are concerned about a quality job and your boss isn't, I'd either be looking for a new job with someone who cares about what you care about, or starting my own business.

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Ryan

Kuba

My only advise...

Take a back seat and learn as much as you can; not the business side, the working side of things.

Trying to gen more work from clients isnt a workers job. Leave that up to the owner.

I have subs bounce in here and there, I know my customers go to them about things, its their responcibility to redirect them to me. If they dont or do worse things like sell themselves on the side.. Well, they just bit the hand that feeds them and they wont ever get work from me again..

Case and point is.. Be thankful you are making money and working.. Learn what you can. Put this guys drama at arms length and focus on your job, you WILL be a happer person.

If you want to take on more responcibility and lead a crew, first thing you need to learn is some self control. Guys like him are a dime a dosenx2 man.

I honestly believe you cannot take a ****ty worker and turn him/her into an allstar. Its a 2 way street, either you want to work or you dont, theres no fence walking in construction.. i dont care what phase of business it is. SO, in summation.. DONT make his problems yours, take the back seat and work!

S Winklepleck

Thanks guys This has, for the most part, been pretty helpful. I know it's not my place to try to fix this.... weak link, it's just frustrating to have my boss tell me this grand plan, and then when I try to help to realise the chain isn't going to get any stronger because that weak link is precious to the owner

Anyone got about a thousand bucks I can bum so I can go get my license?

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-Steve

"I need the skilsaw." ... "Why did you bring me the drill box?" "It says S.A.W. on it." "Those are my initials."

Kuba

dude, i started my outfit on 200 bucks and a credit card....When you want something bad enough you will find ways to make things work

S Winklepleck

lol... I just got done settling 2 credit card debts and have a third I'm still working on. I'll actually have the money pretty soon, I was just bein' silly. Credit will get me nowhere right now though, I'm not in good shape in that area . Workin on building it back up, but that's a pretty slow process

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-Steve

"I need the skilsaw." ... "Why did you bring me the drill box?" "It says S.A.W. on it." "Those are my initials."

finaltouchfloor

I hired my little brother, taught him a trade, bought him a truck and he acted the same way.After 6 monthes he would pull the no call/show, late/hungover, i'm overworked routine. I taught him how to prep/lay floor , trim 1/4 round & paint. He quit to pursue a career as a rapper. Now he sells peanuts at a stand in the mall.

S Winklepleck

lmao

I don't see this kid going that route. He knows he's got a good thing, but he'll test his limits. Unfortunately, those limits are like an elastic band. the more pressure he applies, the more the limits stretch. He pushes till he knows he's getting very near the snapping point, then behaves for a few days. He's smart for a dumb guy

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-Steve

"I need the skilsaw." ... "Why did you bring me the drill box?" "It says S.A.W. on it." "Those are my initials."

WESTWARD Renov.

Good things come in time my man, keep your nose clean, distance yourself from his mistakes and don't try to get inbetween the 2 brothers.....all the advice here was stellar from the different guys other there...except for the clown writing about the inflatable sheep...oops, that was me.

Good luck getting your own gig started because it seems 2 me that may be the only way you'd be content....learn what you can now, put yo pennies away, or maybe even try to finance the 1,000 bucks...
then when stuff turns around a little, (I hope) you can start your own stuff small and slow on the weekends, then go part time at your current gig, part time at yours, then move to full time when the work load and client base justifies it.

But remember, ....there's always my options!

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J F

That about says it all...don't expect things to change, because they won't.

Learn to live with it or move on.