Have a neighbor up the street who has been growing his Landscape business since he moved in a couple of years ago. He now has 2 Landscape trucks, a brand new porsche, Mercedes and his employees show up every morning, drop off their cars for the day and hop in the trucks. The kicker to this is they do not park any of their trucks at their house and they have the space!
I really don't pay too much attention, but when he started parking one of his Landscape trucks overnight in front of my home, I took a closer look. His business and Ca. Landscape License is right there on his trucks, so I went to the CSLB and checked it out. This guy apparently has no employees! Doesn't have Workers Comp and puts every household they work at, at risk by doing so.
I have blogged before about the importance of checking Contractors before hiring to make sure they are Licensed and have Workers Comp. The reason behind it is your Homeowner, Landlord or Commercial Property Liability Insurance will not cover legal expenses. You can not only be held liable for any injury's to anyone working on your property, but and you also can be held responsible to pay for the Workers Comp for other peoples employees!
The employees working for this guy more than likely have families to support and Landscape Companies have a very high risk for Injury. Loss of hands to wood-chippers, falling, etc. We all pay very high Workers Comp for employees in Ca. A main reason for this is for people who scape the laws that the rest of us have to pay for.
This is such a blatant disregard for Life, Laws and how others can be affected. I was told by the Contractors license board to turn it in to the Dept. of Insurance for WC Fraud. The DOI has a strong stance of employees being used and no security if they are injured to be able to take care of their families.
This is how all insurance works. We all pay for all the uninsured on the roads, loss of Property and in business.
Realtors often help buyers and sellers hire contractors. I would always add a disclaimer for your own E&O to be sure the Owner checks licensing and Workers Comp for anyone working on their property.
* check for Licenses and Workers Comp on anyone who is hired to work on your property.
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