Why You Should Give Me A Raise

A supplementary guide and report for you to explore when considering my value to the cemetery prior to our meeting

My Value

While all legal, financial, and business aspects of the cemetery have a team of trustee’s, an executive board, and a 40 hour per week employee managing them – The 30+ acre grounds operations, equipment maintenance, all burial services, and grounds crew have been primarily managed by one person. All work done outside of the office is managed by me.

Burial Facilitation & Direction

All set up and burial preparations, maintenance of burial equipment, lowering of caskets, directing cremation burials, and coordination with families and funeral directors upon arrival

Tractor / Backhoe Operator

Grave digging, liner setting, backfilling, landscape refuse disposal, brush hog, aerator, etc.

Landscaping & Mowing

Mowing, weed wacking, pruning, blowing roads, clearing downed branches, placing rock borders on planters, planting / removal of trees, etc. all done by myself and a few part time employees which I primarily manage and train.

Headstone Setting

Placement of headstones varying from small to large uprights and benches have been done entirely by one person.

Fast Learner, Highly Adaptable, & Efficient

When first hired I was given 90 days and very little training on how to run the cemetery, yet I did a casket burial within the first 30 days. Still there has been no incidents or problems that I have not been able to solve without escalating, keeping your plates clear to focus on other things. Also, I do not shy away from undertaking improvement projects that realistically make more work for me (trash cans, tree removal, rock borders, aeration, tree & shrub planting, trail making, etc.)

Respectful & Improvement Oriented

For the time that I have been here I have not received one complaint and in fact regularly get compliments on the state of the grounds, my attitude, and my commitment to serving people who visit our cemetery. I have great relationships with the regulars here including Ron, Glen, Linda and many more. I regularly take visitors requests as first priorities and make sure they are happy. I put myself in their shoes and undertake projects designed to make their experience better (cleaning stations, vase distribution points around cemetery for ease of access. etc.) During funeral services I try to go above and beyond to ensure the best experience possible, regularly customizing internments based on their desires, and always making sure they know that if they need anything I am here for them. This is very important to me as I know what it is like to lose someone very close to you, and how confusing this process can be while mourning.

Clean, Quiet & Organized

When I began my career at the GAR Cemetery the shop and grounds were a mess. The areas directly surrounding the shop were a literal junk yard. I have since cleaned up the shop and grounds, making them all easily accessible and organized for use. I live on site, and have attempted to keep as low a profile as possible as to not disturb mourners and visitors. I built a fence for separation, wait until evening when the gates are locked to empty my RV tanks, never have loud parties or cause a nuisance, and have not (nor will I) ever start filling this place up with my own personal junk.

Skilled In Multiple Domains

Although my primary function is to be the outside manager, and working outside is what I love to do, I am skilled in multiple other domains as well. For instance this website. There was a time in my life where I thought I wanted to be a digital marketer, and was even offered a partner position in a marketing agency called localview.link, where I would have run my own branch out of Lynnwood. I have sales, marketing, web design, copywriting, PPC/funnel creation, social media, etc. skills that today I use only for hobby purposes and personal projects, however; they are available for use here if need be. These are things I am already proficient in, and would need little training to implement.

The Truth Is – Every Dollar Made By The Cemetery Is A Direct Result Of My Work

  • Plot Sales – You could spend thousands on marketing, but if people are not pleased with the state of the grounds they will not get buried here.
  • Burial Service Sales – Without the ability to proficiently dig, set up, and backfill burials no services would occur, unless contracting with Wilbert Vault which per burial costs the cemetery nearly my entire monthly salary.
  • Headstones – For the same reasons as stated above. Without beautiful grounds or anyone to place them, revenue from this source would also dry up.

Comparable Pay Rates For What I Do

** Images are Linked to source**

Heavy Equipment Operator

Landscape Lead / Managerial Position

  • I have also heard on good authority from a funeral director that Hollyrood Cemetery in Shoreline Starts groundskeepers at $32 per hour, average $38 per hour, and leads make even more.
  • Early on working here I was also solicited to come and work for Wilbert Vault, which I turned down. Daryl was a witness to this.

In Conclusion

  1. I am asking for a salaried position of $5,500 per month ($2,750 per pay period) This amounts to roughly $34.37 per hour. I am asking for a salary position because:
  • The truth is that the majority of money is made in only a few days of work per month. That plus landscaping and groundskeeping keeps me busy most days, however; there are occasionally days where the grass is mowed, there are no burials, it is raining, and coming in just to “be here” is wasting your money within the hourly framework. I subscribe to a results achieved philosophy over an hours worked one.
  • I live on site and regularly spend my off time walking around cleaning and picking up garbage, maintaining a presence for security purposes, and am available on site anytime. The overtime I have seen is negligible and I would be happy to trade the OT for consistent pay and freedom to be efficient in my work rather than just being “on the clock”

2. I am asking for backpay from the time of February 15th commensurate with whatever my new pay is after our meeting. This is the date of my 1 year mark, and review period when I was supposed to have had this meeting.

  • From February 15th to April 10th (potential date of our meeting) totals 40 work days, or 320 hours worked. The difference between my current pay of $27 p/h and my proposed increase of $34.37 p/h is $7.37. Taking the 320 hours I am asking for backpay for, and the rate difference of $7.37, it totals $2,358.40

3. Lastly, I am asking for a fair distribution of commissions between all employees. If the structuring of operations is going to remain so that office duties and grounds duties stay separated, then there needs to be a fair restructuring of how headstone commissions are paid out. I can tell you from personal experience, that having the opportunity to see some of the profits and make some commissions would greatly help in employee retention and drastically increase moral. I would recommend a profit sharing model over individual commission payouts for setting and selling of stones as it would be easier to track, would provide an incentive when hiring/retaining employees, and maintain a balanced value hierarchy (not giving the impression that any one position is valued more than any other position)

    Thank You for your time in reviewing this website, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and discussing the details more in person.