Given the subreddit I'm posting this to, I probably preaching to the choir, but alas.
I was a senior in highschool in 2020, once lockdown hit, and everyone was stuck inside, i sat unemployed for.. about 5 months, when I decided “fuck this house fr” and started looking for a job.
Landed one with some reno company, was paid cash end of each day at 15$h which weren't bad for my first 'real' job, this lasted bout 2 weeks.
Enter local landscaping company stage left, scooped me up at 13.50, with full time employment, and set me up with a truck to take home as I had no personal vehicle.
I stuck with this company for 3 years, getting raises to 14, 15, then 16.50$/h with unspoken promotions alongside them. I was a crew lead by the end, and what pushed me out was the fact that the new hires I would train to do THE EXACT SAME MANUAL LABOUR I DO, ended up making 18, 19, and 21$/h per each of my guys specifically, meanwhile I'm in charge of their jobs, I'm managing where to send additional trucks, I'm handling client contact, at 16.50$/h.
All they had to do was what I told them to do.
I found it insulting, and left when ANOTHER landscaping company offered me a job at 19$/h.
The initial company I found out, had ripped me of over 2500$ in unpaid overtime, holiday, and STAT pay. There is a case ongoing about it, and I WILL get my money.
The second company ended up fucking me over in the end, by cutting hours like a motherfucker, and then firing me.
From there, I sat unemployed for 3 months. Bills built up, and I was at my breaking point when I finally got on with my local city's maintenance crews, who are unionized, and im making almost 25$/h here, which Is awesome, and it's more than both those other companies ever gave me, and they ain't ripping me off.
Moral here? Don't work for contractors, they'll fuck you around any chance they get.