Ok… the topic we’ve got today is kind of a doozy. The fact of the matter is, when you’re on a job, you need good reliable workers to get the work done. The issue that we’re addressing today, though, is who those workers are going to be.

See, the thing about finding workers for contracting jobs is that you’ve got options; you can either hire and stick with your reliable, permanent agreement or hire day laborers. As you might have guessed from the title, there is a difference between the two and we’re going to help you differentiate them from each other.

What Is A Day Laborer?

If you weren’t familiar with the term, a day laborer might sound like someone that just works during the day and clocks out at night. Well, in all honesty, this isn’t entirely wrong. Day laborers do their jobs one day at a time without the guarantee of more work.

In reality, though, day laborers are people that can be hired to do different kinds of jobs and have no specific skill sets. Although they have a less traditional work schedule, they do still have to be paid at least a minimum wage.

Should You Choose Day Laborers Over Permanent Crews?

This one really depends on what it is that you’re trying to do and if you’re able (or willing) to find workers with the skills you need. If you need people that really know their way around a construction site; people that can take entry-level and advanced positions that involve things like laying drywall, repair, and electrical work, then you almost certainly don’t want a day laborer doing the job.

A day laborer would likely have a lower skill level than that suited for those kinds of things; for example, if you need someone that can carry materials, clean the worksite, and provide tools for the more experienced workers, then this is probably more along the lines of what they can provide.

That’s not to say that you can’t get ahold of day workers that can perform actual construction work, but you’ve got to do some vetting to find them. You can go to a day laborer center to hire some through a system that can match their (the day laborer’s) skills to what you need.

So Are There Any Advantages to Hiring Day Laborers?

Having people who can help do some of the smaller tasks around the site like this can make jobs go much smoother and quicker. It means that your other workers won’t have to take time out from their work to worry about grabbing tools and getting materials.

Depending on how you feel on the matter, there’s also the fact that day laborers only work on a day by day basis. If you won’t be needing a crew for a long period of time, you can find workers (be they highly skilled or not) to work for you temporarily. That can be handy if you have a situation where you need some extra bodies for a few days, like when you need to demo a job for a rebuild.

After reading this, you’re probably feeling like the pros and cons of hiring day laborers are a little muddled. That’s probably because they are. If you find day laborers that can’t do the job you need, then yeah, the whole process is going to suck. If you find people that are good at what you need them to do, then you’re golden.

If any of you have any experience with day laborers, good or bad, let us know in the comments. Tell us about what you look for in someone you’ve hired on as a day laborer. Now that we’re at the end of our “Hiring Day laborers” guide, we’re out! Have a good one, folks!