I got fired from a landscaping company for "being too slow" when i worked harder than some other people there.... then I started my own business and loving it

I have an HR degree. In my opinion, even in an at-will state, you should only terminate for just-cause. It is safest. You can still get sued if a pattern was found. Example, only employee to ever be fired and that employee had recently filed a harassment complaint. The judge would determine that they were fired for retaliation and at-will wouldn't help you, as discrimination/retaliation or any illegal wrongful termination supersedes at-will. What you should have done in my opinion, is have a zero tolerance policy for smoking cigarettes for example, and say due to violation of company policy, your employment with (company name) has been terminated. Employment lawyers/judges look for consistency when it comes to defense against a claim of illegal termination. In your no-smoking company policy (just an example) you should have it clearly written that even the suspicion of Tobacco use (in the opinion of the company owner) during work/on the job, is enough for disciplinary action up-to termination. That's a more strategic use of your at-will freedom. Final note: Signed policies "I have read and acknowledged" come in handy big time when it comes to winning unemployment battles/wrongful term claims. Sorry to nerd out. Hope this info helps someone out there :)

That guy was nothing more than a scammer. Sorry, you had to go through that mess.

This was the best video I’ve ever seen you make I’ve been dealing with this for years

Where I’m at, you can only give a yes no answer, and if you offer up any negative info you can be sued for defamation of character, and there are many instances of that happening.

Helium Mike! That Mike you used on Q&A the other day it’s Fired!

Great page! Love your videos. Lot of great information on each one.

You are a lot nicer person than me. The fact that you can have such a good attitude about this situation. I've been in the industry for 18 years, am currently a field manager for a larger company in NC. I've seen the worst of the worst come and go. Clock milkers, no call no show, lazy, late to work, and worst of all act as if they're doing the company a favor just by being there.

Breath of fresh air. I’ve grown up in toxic work environment with wrong info

Not all previous employers tell the truth though. Sometimes you get a salty manager that just wants the last laugh by giving a bad reference. In the retail world I have seen it many times, people quit because of bad management and those bad bosses try you get back at employees for leaving.

That happened to me and I'm living it up.Got my own landscape business starting up as we speak.

That's what your workmans compensation insurance is for. If an employee gets hurt, immediately take them to the hospital and file a claim with your workmans compensation insurance company. The workmans compensation insurance company will take over and run their own investigation. They make the payouts and or settlements. In California if you don't have workmans compensation insurance the state will suspend your contractors license until you get it. But, if you let it run out, then you get audited as well.

Work for my first lawn care 4 years ago an I am now trying to establish good clients for the lawn care company for myself I fell in love with it all over again love the videos your a huge help for me keep it up thanks for everything

Thanks Mike, keep up the good content - your the man

This makes me want to be solo more than anything right now lol....

When you call a previous employer...He must be careful about what he says about your new prospect. As an employer. I may hint at him/her being a bad fit for my company, and if you hire him/her...I wish you....both....good luck. You can be sued for disparaging a previous employee. (state laws vary)

This is really good information. Really good !

In my experience working with family is like finding a diamond in the rough you may find a great working relationship early but you can't always expand too far past that

Good vid.ive thought about requiring physicals before

Thanks for sharing! 👍

I work with these type and they're always getting hurt, slacking off, changing protocols or whining.

I need this right now. The one employee I had going into this year just put in their 2 weeks so they could be a track coach. So now we are going into the year with no employees: 3 trucks, 2 mowers, and a dump trailer. 🤯

I would discuss my company values/expectations before verifying a reference for a former employee. The new employer will get the message.

I worked for a "friend" when they were getting their business up and running for about a year. Then a very persuasive (manipulative) person entered the business by basically smooth talking his way in. All of a sudden, my "friend" was no longer calling the shots and this other guy was very "political" about everything, even though the business had absolutely nothing to do with politics. I tried to hold onto that job for awhile in the hopes that my friend would wake up, but eventually realized that this person was not only doing highly illegal things, but was also trying to pin some of those things on me. Why? Because I didn't fit in with his political views. I was there to work, not talk about Rush Limbaugh. After he threatened to sue me for embezzlement, I sent him an email copy of the "doctored" books that he tried changing to make it look like i stole thousands of dollars. In the end he didn't sue but I lost a friend and several acquaintances because this guy went around our small town and told everyone he could that I stole money. Long story short, I no longer work for small businesses because I've seen how quickly one bad seed can turn an entire community against you, even when you have proof you're innocent.

I had this happen to me but it was within the first 5 minutes of the guy working. He got $15,000.00 from insurance company. The guy is a total Scumbag

Always call references. Spot on!

Watch this video from the perspective of an honest employee repeatedly taken advantage of by employers with no recourse. Employers have all the leverage and sway over your ability to survive. And they can ruin you in your field by falsely giving you a bad reference. In places with no employee protections (Right to Work states), employers quickly learn this and exploit the workers. Unions, OSHA, and federal agencies in these states get in bed with large companies via local politicians and they rubber stamp everything. Personal Example UPS in Utah allows drivers to idle their diesel trucks indoors with no ventilation during winters months while package loaders labor intensely in the exhaust smoke. OSHA and the Union rat out any employee who complains, and then UPS puts them on double duty (loading oversize packages without assistance, adding trucks to their workload without increasing the time allotted to load). I even caught my supervisor sabotaging my loads after I left my shift for the day. When I brought this to his supervisor, they moved me to a different load line and told the manager there I was trouble. The saboteur rec'd no consequences. I eventually demonstrated my work ethic and won over my new supervisor, but by that time I was completing my degree and able to leave that toxic environment. Eventually left Utah after my significant other had repeatedly faced sexual discrimination/harassment from various employers in single practice settings. No recourse available other than stern warnings in the form of voicemails and letters from state agencies. In addition to abuses we had endured from landlords in the state. Pro Business means Anti Worker

Mikey, how did you come up with the company name? I love it. Augusta, iconic name for green, manicured lawns!

If I was sued under the same situation, I would ask for Discovery for all medical documentation on the day of and prior to alleged injury. I would also depose the previous employer and employees, immediate family and spouse to discovery any previous injury.

This is awesome advice

At my company we NEVER give references because they can sue you. We have people who didn’t show up for weeks on end so we terminated them and then another employer calls for a reference and we can only confirm employment and the start and end date.

Lol. Love this..” bye-bye go bye-bye” 👋 ✌️ 😘.. well said😁

Great video. 😁👍

I had a friend sue his landscaping boss/owner after he fired him. I worked there for a little while too, but quit (landscaping in July, In phoenix, is a nightmare) he was an okay boss, always had a white guy leading the crew, with a couple illegals working under them. He would schedule too many clients for one day (Phoenix is a huge metropolitan area and it would take 45min to drive between clients sometimes) , and underestimated the time (in 120F weather, things are going to go slower), and did not take care of the equipment. But what he got sued for was: He would have us arrive at the yard at 6am, have us load up all the equipment, then get gas, then drive to clients house, BUT he wouldn't start paying everyone until they arrived at the clients house (7-730am).. So after working there for several years, and getting fired on pretty bad terms. (they got in contentious disagreement about too much overtime or something (his bad scheduling) he sued him for all that unpaid work, and ended up settling for 20k~

Me and my wife own a 711 gas station and we get sued left and right by employees that we fire or have quit and 90 % of the time it people on drugs and food stamps that pull this sh#t .

I was a manager for a company from Ohio. I started the branch in Pennsylvania because I was hired here in Pennsylvania. I was allowed to hire people but I wasn't allowed to fire people only my District manager or higher ups could fire. My issue was when I was out running routes and not doing my own interviews or follow ups for people of their old companies my District manager was hiring unfit and bad work ethic people to my branch which effected my moral of my good guys and the reputation of myself and the company. But I wasn't allowed to fire anyone and I would have to battle my District manager in order to fire someone he hired. In the end I got fired because the company blamed me for all those issue's my District manager caused as well as my guys who fought the company for firing me because they knew the truth in the end all my former employees got fired because the defended me.

I'd also say have a system for writing people up and logging complaints.

12:07 goddamn that hits me in the feels. 10 years working alone when I could have been making so much more money with a team. First business partner crashed out, saying he would go do the estimates but never did. First independent employee paid in advance failed to clear snow, etc.. I just gave up on people being trustworthy workers.

Mike. What do you do if employee calls in Sick? No pay for the day?

Good luck with all your gardening.

The no smoking is crazy I understand not smoking on the job but nor hiring someone because they smoke isn't really right...

With regard to previous employee references... you have to be careful what you tell someone who is calling you and asking about someone's history. You can get into trouble if you say certain things. I don't give employee references unless it's something good. For example- if someone has asked me to write them a reference letter to college or for a new job that's about it. If someone has done something bad/wrong to get fired or when they quit or if they were a bad helper etc I will simply say I dont have anything to say about that and that's it- I wont hint to anything at all.

Am 15 years old and my dream is to open an landscaping business along with a fertilizer business

Great advice

I've been a painter for 30+ years. My first boss NEVER gave breaks, and some jobs we couldn't smoke. I would have to sneak away to a smoking area, and take a 5 min. break. Then my boss's son caught me, and when I had to talk to my boss about it I said it wasn't fair because they get to chew snoose. We were painting a mill where you could only chew, and smoke in the lunch room. It worked out fine. My boss's son let me take quick breaks after that! My last boss didn't like breaks either, but legally he had to give it to us. I liked it when I had a boss that smoked because we would get to smoke while working, and we got more done without taking a break. If the homeowner didn't want us smoking we would take breaks! I remember smoking in stores, and believe it or not you could smoke in schools if there was work being done to them!

I’m in Virginia. An “at will” state. 👍

you have a good business sir thank you but theres people who hate others all the time in these jobs

Your employee gets hurt and the first thing you do is fire them. I know people today that got hurt on the job during the economic downturn in 2008. Things were bad and the employer was acting like you, firing long term employees if they got hurt for any reason. So employees that got hurt on the job weren't telling the employer bc they needed the job. They paid for their treatments out of pocket and just dealt with it. I'll never forget that. You want to build a good team and attract good people? Don't act like those employers. When things improved in the economy and people could leave that place they did.

it is the way it is with mowing to slow this is crazy stuff

Thank you for this , keep up the good work man .

I saw a company with the same truck, same color, same font lettering in Columbia sc.

Very helpful

Just recently got fired from my job and wasn't notified about it. I worked for a restoration service company. We went 2 weeks without work and was told that we were waiting on paperwork for upcoming project, then was told that me along with some others have been terminated after 2 weeks of waiting. I feel like I've been stabbed in the back. Not sure how I should handle this. I was not given a reason or anything.

So now I have a question why don't you allow smoking? I'm assuming you mean cigarettes. I understand you don't want to be on a customers property smoking and have to worry about that stuff but the larger part of it are they not allowed to smoke say in transit or while setting up the equipment? As you said in another video always check the gas and and line of the equipment at the truck. Would that be acceptable or do you not want them smoking at all "on the clock"

Legally company’s can only tell you that they worked their can’t share any details right ?

If your in an at will state, dont give a reason. You dont need to so dont. Give them no room to retaliate. Its better to make sure your a complient company before you fire someone. My previous employer let me know how she was evading taxes, had multiple OSHA violations, Federal Employee rule violations and made it super easy to get her business tied up in legal issues and costing her far more then paying me my worth. Now I run my own company and my revenge is knowing I make as much money working half as much time.

Pretty sure that legally the only thing a previous employer cam say is yes i would rehire or no i would not. They really aren't allowed to expand on that. Be careful.

a fucking landscaping company you cant smoke at bro you better be paying $25+ get the hell out of here and i dont even smoke

While i 100% agree with most of what you said- be careful in "at will" states as at will does not override other federal labor laws like equal employment or whistle blowing or firing someone for medical reasons covered by the ADA for instance if someone has athsma and needs to take time off of work due to breathing problems (as long as they informed you with documentation that they are in fact diagnosed with set ADA covered illness like: Athsma) you cannot legally fire them for taking extra time off simply for their illnesss covered by the ADA. As far as equal oppotunity an example would be if someone got sick and took 3 days off in the span of 2 weeks and you want more realiablility, make sure no other workers- especially management havent taken time off similiarly, the reason does not matter in the courts eyes (such as someone taking time off due to a car accident and taking 3 days off in 2 weeks or less) as that would be considered illegal, federal laws trump local laws remember that.

When inquiring of prospective hires and their previous employment, I think that all the prior employers are only supposed to legally say date hired, date terminated and pay rate. Because an employer can decide to bad-mouth someone over the phone and you would of course develop a biased viewpoint. If the previous employee was doing something illegal, then the employer should have filed a police report and let the justice system work it out. And that would show up in your own background checks. I know there are terrible work ethics in some people and you can always hire them for a probationary period of 90 days. At which point you should be able to discern whether the individual will be productive in your business. A person that you're consistently noticing with questionable health issues, bad habits, smoking, etc, and possible disabilities or inability to work in hot sun outdoors all day would not be a good fit for landscaping work, which is labor intensive.

Ive already thought about this. Camera on top of truck and a trailer along with personal cams. This is the only thing I thought of but it would clarify anything in a lawsuit hopefully. Whats your opinion on it?

Good stuff.

I fired one. A gay guy. He had worked for me for 4 years and then went off the rails. The results of firing him? A 10,000.00 workman's comp claim, labor board audited time cards, health department called on me and had taxes audited. Big fun.😊

Yep I don't like hiring people that don't have an interest in myself or my business. People who don't care about you will harm your life without any regard.

previous employers walking on thin ice stating WHY someone was let go......

There are scamming scumbags everywhere.

Yeh, that guy scammed you. I would not be surprised if that was not his plan from the start.

Just watched your 2 videos about the complaining customer, and this title was next. I came to see if it was Caleb, lol.

With respect to calling references, how do you know that it is not the former employer that is just sour that someone left and is taking revenge by lying about the former employees behavior on the way out?

You do have to give a reason for firing someone in an at-will state. If you don't give a reasoning they can still claim unemployment.

I got fired from a job that I’ve been at for four years I loved the work but did not like that misfire owner complained that my truck was always dirty at a new job doing the same business no I’m driving a work truck nicer than the owner of my previous company We’re Much smaller company now everybody drives their own trucks so I don’t have to worry about other people trashing mine

U r one looking talker! Interesting story for sure!

wow thats messed up whats wrong with people

Cant prove he wasnt injured already? He would have a medical trail that showed his injury already if he knew he needed surgery. 2 put the reason for termination as violating company policy and then they cant prove you fired them over injury.

You got at will and right to work state backyards brotha. Right to work you can fire without reason

It is hard to not smoke all day

Hey Mike so what happenes if they they tell you the truth about there old job...how about know.maybe

thank you

Never hire people you know biggest mistake because they know you and they are the one's who will take advantage of the situation not stranger's, Strangers you can just fire and re-hire and always pay cash at first with the terms of them getting hired full time.

Why did you have to “settle out of court” ? It doesn’t seem that you did anything wrong.

Ever fire a client? That would be in interesting video.

We gave an excellent reference to an awful employee so someone else would hire her. If they come back on us we will just say: It must be you then.

Did he have nonslip shoes?

This guy knows what’s he’s talking about but at the same time he’s not some facts are true but some are not I’m saying this because I work for a week and In that week she did not called she did not meet with me she didn’t discuss how much I was gonna get paid how many days I was gonna work and she needed me because I was the only truck driver in her company making deliveries and she did not care the company wasn’t in the greatest place good people but really bad owner company

this is wrong i wont do this if i was mowing for you really is a yes you fall on when cutting grass anyway you got steep banks i just fell today i said nothing to my client

At will is a legal term in Australia it's not case as stated i ur video please correct video to states countries please in case Australia I'm missing something am I? so be aware but casual fire anytime just say no more hours simple.

References mean nothing. Ever seen the seinfeld episode. Itll turn out the number is their brother or friend. Its bogus. Vandeleigh industries? Lol. The only way you can see is try the person with a probationary period.

Why can he not smoke while at work that actually ridiculous its your business im just curious what the point of it is

you do mean smoking weed right?

7:55 that's illegal

Why didn’t you just put a workers comp claim in .

Learning a lot of how to team work here, though I'm in a total different industry, thanks guys!

you start getting age disclination at the age of 40, there's a reason for that

I just despise that style of person, always willing to play the system for its own good, very similar to drug addicts or alcoholics who only want their stuff and dont care about their kids or family. Why dont anyone have morals these days? Damn..

dude you would not have settled if you where not in the wrong lol.

Im wondering mabe the dude hert him self on purpose lol

wow trust the world ugh govt dishonest and people learn from their peers sadly i know what you say is rite although the industry like building land work lower pay jobs are all the same people mostly worn tired hard work is not easy buy robot mowers easy no lmi no issues

I like everything you do but when you said you cant smoke dude you lost me. You cant stop people from smoking on their break or lunch. Outside is free ground you dont own it. If a person only smokes on their break or lunch you cant stop it or fire them. I would sue you for that.

Reference is a bad idea. You will find most people are applying for a job because there employer is probably a piece of sh*t and they would throw you under the bus for leaving them.

Never hire someone that goes to church. They always want Sundays off.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣