I’m seeking feedback in particular from people who may have traded their labor for free accommodation, not payment in grams or free nookies etc.
If you have exchanged labor for rent, how did you work out the calculation, and did you have any problems negotiating this with either your landlord/employer or your tenant/employee? Were there problems fulfilling the expectations on either side? Were there grandiose expectations that could not be fulfilled?
I stopped being homeless in NYC by getting an off the books job in a small gift shop during the holidays. I was paid $20 a day and had a room in the back with a cot and a small bathroom. At the time, it was heaven. I worked three days a week and managed to save enough to rent a real room after four months.
My husband has gotten quite a lot of perks from his job over the years. His salary isn’t great, but he gets his lunch paid for every day, gas for his car, football and basketball season tickets, and so on. The major one was the land our house is built on. That one was calculated as a bonus over a period of 5 years, and if he had left the company in advance of that we would have had to pay what was left over. Of course, the “bonus” was taxable.
The rest of them were never formally negotiated. It’s a small company, and he and the owner just worked it out between them. He’s been with the company for about 30 years, so I guess they’re happy with the arrangements.
