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Dear YouDig? Archives

5.8.20

To mask or not to mask

Dear YouDig?,

Ok… this is getting ridiculous. We are a subcontractor working on a project for an “essential business.” We have emphasized the safety and government guidelines to our team members in light of COVID-19. To a person, our employees appreciate the effort and understand their role in keeping everyone safe. Unfortunately, we are not the only contractors on the job. A group of laborers working near us share certain facilities but refuse to wear masks. Look, we appreciate their right to a political stance, but we can’t afford to be knocked out of our work due to a COVID issue caused by a contractor that won’t observe the guidelines. Our employees are irate and threatening to walk. How do we handle this?

-Damn Good Apple

3.17.20

BREAKING NEWS- URGENT STEPS FOR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

 

3.9.20

Cyber Security Isn’t Fake News

Dear YouDig?,
We are an old school company. We admit that we have not adopted technology as fast as we should. Our president believed that a lot of the “fake news” reports out there were made to scare us into stupid purchases. He feels things cost too much. Well, guess what? We just got hacked. Yes, someone somewhere (in a basement?) hacked into our server and gained access to our database including everything from our clients’ financial information, profit and loss statement and the names of our employees’ kids. The victims are furious. Our CTO just got broomed, our shareholders are not whistlin’ dixie and the president is AWOL. I am next in line. Now what?
-Captain Backfire

1.25.20

Credit Practices 101 – Don’t Slip Up: Perfect Your Lien Rights

Guess what?  There is a beautiful new ice arena at a major university in Ohio. We know because we supplied the materials, labor and installation services of the entire ice rink including the sub floor heave protection, the piping systems, the boards and the glass. Guess what else?  They refuse to pay us citing everything from “the ice melts too fast” to the “funds aren’t yet available.”  Tired of excuses, we want to be paid. What should we do?

-On Skates

1.8.20

Unfair retainage

Dear YouDig?,

We are finishing up a contract to start a piece of a big project. The owner is pushing for a 10 percent retainer of all of our payments. It does not seem fair as most of our costs are front loaded and most of our work will be done in the early months of the project. We tried to eliminate the retainage but the Owner is holding the line. Is it a case of “What’s theirs is theirs” “What’s ours is theirs?”

It doesn’t seem right that we should be used as a financier and carry a big chunk of the cost for completed work. What can we do?

-Ours is Ours!