Work Camper Urges Caution

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Work Camper Urges Caution

by Wesley
(A Disgruntled Work Camper)

Caution is something to use on a frequent basis. Not all work camping jobs are as good as they sound. This is where caution should be used. As a work camping couple, we have had two episodes that we feel need to be shared.

1) We responded to an ad in one of the "WC" magazines and had an instant reply via phone. We were told by the owner that a full hook-up site with 50 amp service was waiting for us. In return we were to supply a total of 20 hours combined work for our site, and all other hours would be paid at the rate of $8.00. We verbally agreed, and then started our trip from Appomattox, Va. to Princeton, Ky.

When we arrived at the "RV park," we found it to be non-existent. We met the very unhappy work campers who were first to answer the ad, they told that we would be sorry, and they left. We met with the owner and found out that we were to help develop the park. It had no water, no electric, and no sewer. The proposed sites were anything but level; totally undeveloped. The owner said if we would stay, we would receive a $1,000.00 bonus when we had a total of five sites that were operable, and the extra hours would be paid out of camp receipts. After two-and-a-half weeks of 70 plus hours per week, the owner not present, and no pay, we decided we had to leave. We later found out the owner had gone to South America to perform missionary work. Needless to say we had been taken for a very expensive ride.

2) We answered an ad from a campground in Milledgeville, Ga., and were readily invited to come start work. The campground was well developed and had everything that we were told about. We started work three days later, and worked approximately 40 hours per week each. For this, we received our FHU site, plus $7.00 per hour wages. Not bad, so we thought. After three months we inquired about no check stubs and no taxes being withheld, and were promptly fired. When we filed our taxes, we found out that we owed more than $1,200.00 in taxes to the federal government because this employer refused to withhold any tax money.

A word to the wise: be very cautious.

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Work Camper Urges Caution

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Absent Owner - No Pay
by: Anonymous

Send him a 1099. Make him pay taxes. He benefited from your services. Not a CPA, but I have heard of this being done to employees who steal funds from employers. Maybe?

Contract Labor at Campgrounds
by: Anonymous

Many small "Mom and Pop" campgrounds do not have a payroll and only use contract labor. It is up to the worker to cover his taxes. This is not an unusual situation in the work camping world. If you are not OK with this, then only work at the big company owned camps.

Get your information up front before you start working. The last thing a camp owner wants is a dissatisfied worker giving his camp a bad rating.

Most work campers have a great time exploring and site seeing because they only work 12-20 hours a week. Some even get second jobs. It is all in what you expect and what you make out of it.

Independent Contractor
by: Anonymous

No Independent Contractor
by: Anonymous

"I don't think the independent contractor designation fits the work camping commitment. You are an employee, not an independent contractor."

My question with this line of statement is that if you are an employee, then one would think that the hours would have to be at minimum wage and taxes would have to be taken out if there is any payment to you for any hours over, as would unemployment if the employer has more than 15 workers or less in other states.

So one does work with no pay for a $400.00 a month full hookup for 20 hours a week or 10 hour per-person.

So then working 20 hours a week at $7.25 (Texas) = $145.00 a week that only goes to the full hook up. In a 4 week month that is $580.00 a month for a $400.00 site. But the employer keeps the $180.00. And at a 5 week month is $725.00 and the employer keeps $325.00.

Worker Suggestions from an Owner
by: Anonymous

A campground owner sent in a list of seven suggestions that work campers can do to help make sure they have a good work camping experience. Rather than leaving them here, that list has been given a separate page to make them easier for all working RVers to find.

You'll find them by
clicking here.

Taxes
by: Anonymous

Any time we have ever worked as workampers, the office took taxes out of our pay checks. It is the only way to go.

Learning the Hard Way
by: Anonymous

This is our first workamping experience and we know what to do and NOT to do next time. We should have asked more questions up front - instead of learning the wife's job was spending the majority of the time standing in a chuckwagon for 6 hours and the husband cleaning the restrooms and maintenace/mowing, etc.

The working couple is required to work 4 days/6.5 hours a day a week (1/2 hour break) or a total of 48 hours a week. For that time we get full hook-ups, a meal on the days we work, and $100 a week for misc. in the store (laundry money, propane, etc).

We have learned to ask a lot of questions on the front end - since I hate to cook for other people working 6 hours cooking hamburgers and burritos is AWFUL, besides being hard work. The owner watches and if there is slow time she requires all the cabinets to be washed down, the wall vents cleaned, etc. The entire chuckwagon is scrubbed, the floors cleaned and mopped on the late shift, as well as preparing for the next morning. If you sit down she asks you to get up and water the flowers. There is never a minute. The number of hours do NOT justify the "free" site....

We have learned to ask up front what is required and be sure it's what we want to do for an entire summer. I think the owners are taking advantage of the senior workamper hosts in this park - but once we got here we hate to pull out. Every day we count down until the end of the summer. It's sad since we love the area and the park campers are awesome.

good and bad campgrounds
by: Anonymous

We are entering our fourth year workamping and for the most part are loving it.We will return to Wyoming this summer for the third summer, great country and great owners to work for. Having family in Florida is why we return here every winter but knowing how popular it is makes it hard to find a job. The trade for site scheme is getting bad here, at current we are working the equivalent of $800 a month for a $385 site(figuring this at minimum wage)plus we have to pay an additional $30 a month to have a FHU . The owner is so cheap he washs and dries garbage bags to reuse them. We are on the Withlacoochee River in a beautiful oak hammock, but with all the leaves falling there is not a leaf blower in the entire place or any other tools to work with. Needless to say we are waiting to hear from a state W.M.A. for another place to go. Better a not for profit job than a greedy one.

Rules for Workamping
by: m and g miller

Well, some interesting bad experiences on here.

We have done workamping off and on several years.

Make it known right up front what is expected by you and the employer. Tell them what you will and will not do.

And we never sign any contracts. We want to be free to turn the key and leave if things are misrepresented to us. So far that has not been the course of action. We have had wonderful workamping jobs and nice folks to work for.

Research your jobs well before applying and traveling to the destination.

Contractor or Employee
by: Anonymous

The IRS is specific as to who can be considered a "small business" versus a "large business." Small businesses with a lower number of employees can and do hire "contractors."

This information should be up front. If not, ask.

There is tons of information at IRS.gov, just there for the asking. As always, when in doubt, look it up!

As work campers we always need to be prepared for the worse and hope for the best. Once it became obvious that taxes were not withheld, contingency plans to "save a little" for the end of the tax year should be in order.

Not All Work Experiences Are Good Ones
by: Coleen, the RVing editor

Obviously, this page doesn't have the typical worker profile or worker story on it. I'm leaving it here to show that not all work experiences are good ones.

There are good and not so good employers, just as there are good and not so good employees. Every story has two sides. I'm not making judgment here as to who is right or wrong. It is simply a fact of life that not all job situations work out as planned, or as either the employer or employee hoped they would.

Careful of a Will See Promise
by: Anonymous

We looked into a workcamper situation in the state of Michigan with a popular RV park. We were glad for our six year experience being outdoor workers, with showers, cleaning cabins, yard work hosting, etc., so we were looking forward to doing what we do best. Well, we get to the place, kicked back for couple days, go to have a little meeting, and were told to come to the office on Monday.

He informs us we will be on duty in store doing reservations and selling things in camp store. Got a one hour plus training course with puter! Sure was a shock to me everything done on computers. Wife can deal with this! Me, the husband, I am a wreck. I'm on drugs to sleep, drugs for distress, and my stomach turns sour when I go near the office. So, make darn sure you know what you are getting into before you say "I do!" We are stuck here till October 31, 2009.

No Independent Contractor
by: Anonymous

I don't think the independent contractor designation fits the work camping commitment. You are an employee, not an independent contractor.

Wondering Why
by: Cathy

I just finished reading your post and find your experiences quite disquieting. My husband and I have often considered work camping, and recently, more seriously.

After reading your notes I have some questions:

Why wait 3.5 weeks performing slave labor (especially without the owner around) before leaving? Why not be more suspicious when you met the very unhappy couple who were leaving?

In incident 2, did the owner not make it clear at the start of your work how often you would be paid and in what manner? Was he paying you "under the table"? Seems he has to give you a W-2 for you to file your taxes.

Of course, as I said, my knowledge of work camping is minimal, but it seems there has to be some sort of guidelines somewhere to prevent this kind of experience.

Thanks for sharing and opening our eyes to the unscrupulous side of this endeavor.

What I Would Have Done
by: Anonymous

For the first situation, I would have asked the couple who left WHY we would "be sorry" and based on their response, cut my loses and left then and there.

As to taxes not being withheld, this is common. It is your responsibility to account for taxes.

Since you were paid as an independent contractor in both situations, I would see if you could take a business loss on the first experience to try and reduce the taxes on the second.

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Work Camper Urges Caution

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Work Camper Urges Caution