By: John Cameron, Cameron Landscaping Ltd.
Landscape Ontario’s (LO) Grounds Management Commodity Group recently allowed its membership to move a significant step forward with their recent introduction of the new Standard Winter Services (snow removal) Contract. Continued use by the industry of a standard contract that is fair to both the property owner as well as the contractor can only help the industry in their collective fight to reduce their exposure to frivolous slip and fall claims. However, the design and implementation of the standard snow contract is only a first step.
The contract agreement by itself still leaves contractors vulnerable to claims unless they have in place a system that can be used by a defense lawyer or insurance representative to verify they have fulfilled their obligation in accordance with the agreement. Regrettably, too many companies in the industry are not able to supply this data in the event of a slip and fall claim as they do not have adequate record-keeping systems in place, nor do they stress to their employees the necessity of accurate and completed forms.
While a standard snow contract will fit the needs of most contractors, it is not as easy to develop a standard record-keeping system because of the variety of ways in which contractors operate and execute their work. In our own case, plowing units do nothing but plow. Separate trucks are assigned to and are responsible for the clearance of walkways. Similarly, we operate dedicated salt trucks, and loaders can be assigned to plowing, as well as stacking or removal after the initial clearance is complete. However, smaller contractors frequently use the same unit to plow and salt as well as carry out walkway clearance, with all operations occurring simultaneously.
Because of the differences from company to company, it must be the responsibility of each company to develop a system that best suits their needs. A standard checklist of those components that make up a good record-keeping sheet, or in other words, a system that will adequately answer the questions of an insurance claims adjustor, are included in the sidebar.
Just as a good snow contract can be rendered useless in the absence of good record-keeping forms, the best-designed forms are also useless if not properly completed by the employee. Within our own company, experience taught us the key to their proper completion required an attitude adjustment on the part of most employees. As a company, we adopted the position whereby the primary purpose of record-keeping sheets was to provide a means by which the employee or subcontractor could justify why they should be paid. That justification required that they not only indicate their daily in and out times, but also the complete details of what they had accomplished in that time. Simply put, the message to our employees was: “If you cannot justify the time for which you are expecting to be paid, we are not legally obligated to pay you.” Suddenly, employees and subcontractors had a vested interest in ensuring the accurate completion and submission of the required forms.
Additionally, we require all employees and subcontractors to account for all of their time, not just the time spent on the job site. Time is recorded under the classifications of shop, load, travel, equipment repair, refueling and service, etc. The net result to all this record-keeping is having the necessary information on hand that allows us to evaluate and fine-tune our snow operations and facilitate a more accurate estimating system.
In short, knowing they need to supply this information is an incentive to the employee, and knowing the added benefits they will reap, over and above the obvious insurance compliance, should be incentive to the owners to develop and enforce a good record-keeping system.
At the end of the day, a standard snow contract is only as good as the accompanying record-keeping systems, and record-keeping systems are valid only if they are properly completed and submitted. In retrospect, however, it seems obvious that a primary reason for the industry to be reacting to this current crisis has been largely precipitated by an overall lack of professionalism in the snow contracting industry. The development and implementation of good records will be a small but very important step towards developing a professionalism that will be recognized by customers at all levels.
- Components of good record-keeping forms
Record-keeping forms do not have to be complicated. Here is a list of variables to consider when implementing your own record-keeping practices.
