Most Hispanics working in the roofing trade are hourly employees. Just don’t tell them that. Contractors say these workers prefer to be paid for their labor by the day or by the square, although few could explain exactly why. “They just don’t want to hear about any per-hour stuff,” says Steve Bark, president of Bark Roofing, which pays laborers $20 per square or between $100 and $200 per day, depending on the difficulty of the job.
Whether this arrangement is good for either the employer or employee depends on who you ask. Lyons Roofing in Phoenix typically pays its lowest-level laborers a daily rate “whether they work four hours or eight hours,” says Pat Lyons, company president. He notes, on the other hand, that Hispanic employees who have some tenure with the company “absolutely insist on piece-work,” for which this contractor is paying between $13 and $16 per square, depending on slope and other factors. Piecework, however, requires more supervision because, Lyons explains, “they’re working so fast that quality sometimes suffers.”
Lyons says his company’s pay scale is usually better than average in a market where homeowners typically seek three or four bids from roofers and where there’s an overabundance of workers available. “We have to keep our costs down to stay competitive.”
It’s hard to gauge, though, whether the influx of immigrants has allowed contractors to control their overhead, because pay scales are still all over the map. In Mystic, Conn., Clearwater Home Improvement pays its Ecuadorian subcontracting crews between $65 and $150 per square, according to president Randy Brown. Charlie Ackles, Clearwater Home Improvement co-owner, says the company pays $110 per square on a raised ranch, $125 per square on a cape, plus a $10 per square premium if the work is more complicated. Ackles says all of the roofing contractors in his market pay at least $80 per square, to ensure they can get quality workers. MR. Roofing in South San Francisco starts its laborers at $20 per hour, a wage, says managing partner Carlos Rodriguez, that is kept down by “outrageous workers’ comp rates in our state.”
MR. Roofing pays its field workers, who are mostly Spanish-speaking, for four hours if they end work by 1:15 p.m. When they knock off after 2:15 p.m., they get the full eight hours, Rodriguez says.