CLM Jobs

[GramaofAAAA]

We are looking at camp host jobs listed with CLM Services next summer. Anyone have information about this company that would be helpful if we are offered a campground with them. This would be our first Camp Host placement and don't know much about it. thanks 🙂

[Community Alumni]

To the OP I am not sure about California Land Management, CLM, They are a fairly big outfit with services in California, Colorado and Oregon and maybe others. In Oregon they call themselves Mt Hood Recreation because, I assume and IMO, that no one in Oregon likes anything from California.
Since they are fairly large they will have rules and regulations regarding hours and work ethics and job duties.The folks that worked fro CLM that I talked to in Oregon seemed to enjoy the job and everything was new to them at the time as they had just taken over some of the Thousand Trails campgrounds and sites. Sometimes they would drive through our campground where we worked.

There is talk here about the hours required to run a campground we were paid for X number of hours to get all things done. Fire pits, toilets, renting sites checking reservations and checking for the proper discount documents for the annual passes and so on and so forth. On some weeks in the beginning we could get everything done in less time than we were paid for but we were still on site and would answer questions and sell firewood and dress up the host site. Then there were some times when you get hammered with cars backed up the drive and no sites left and those days you will go past your hours paid. That said I believe it all will equal out to an average of the hours you are paid for.

Then there are those times when pay does not matter when just helping out is the only answer.
i.e.
The knock at the door at 1 am the guy says "my nephew is having a hard time breathing I need help"
The knock at the door at midnight "my mom was drinking and fell into the fire pit"
The knock at the door at 11 pm "a friend of mine went out for a bike ride at 5 pm and has not come back"

just FYI

jimR

[doxiemom11]

We did leave.

[westernrvparkow]

doxiemom11 wrote:
A riding lawn mower only goes so fast. When there are acres to mow and a mile or more of split rail fence to trim, it sure isn't dragging along when those are only 2 of the tasks to be done in 25 hours for the entire week of work. Hosting, cleaning sites, cleaning 5 vault toilets, sometimes several times a day to keep them clean, selling & delivering ice/ wood, etc. etc. etc. 2 campgrounds - 25 hours total for both.

Guess you should have investigated the job a bit more before you accepted it. If it was mis-represented, or changed, leave. Rigs have wheels, use them.

[doxiemom11]

A riding lawn mower only goes so fast. When there are acres to mow and a mile or more of split rail fence to trim, it sure isn't dragging along when those are only 2 of the tasks to be done in 25 hours for the entire week of work. Hosting, cleaning sites, cleaning 5 vault toilets, sometimes several times a day to keep them clean, selling & delivering ice/ wood, etc. etc. etc. 2 campgrounds - 25 hours total for both.

[westernrvparkow]

Ozlander wrote:
If they gave me 40 hours work and 25 hours pay, they would get 25 hours of work and I would choose which work I thought was the most important.

Hence the problems with hourly pay that is basically unsupervised. What takes some people 20 hours can be stretched into 60 by others. We have a workamper who is a great employee who efficiently handles a variety of tasks. Two tasks he never gets are cleaning restrooms and cleaning cabins because he cannot do it in a reasonable amount of time. I can clean either in about 30 minutes. He takes hours, plural. They end up clean, but that is his top gear. He can mow an acre of grass, gather up the trash, repair a fence or change a golf cart tire as fast or faster than anyone So, we make sure his tasks do not include things he cannot do in a reasonable length of time.
Those things people are proficient at will differ with each person. I would bet a reasonably motivated, reasonably skilled person could do the assigned tasks mentioned about in 25 hours. If they don't have the motivation or the skills to get at it and get it done it might take 40 hours, but that is not the fault of the employer and they shouldn't be short changed because who they chose to hire couldn't or wouldn't work at the pace necessary to complete the tasks. The employer views it as piecework. Yes, it normally takes 25 hours, but you are being paid to complete the tasks, be it in 15 hours or 40.

[doxiemom11]

pier 5 - There are more people with the type of experience we had, than the one you had. Hopefully if you work for a concessionaire again you will keep having positive experiences.

[prier5]

I'm on the other side of the fence. My DW and I have worked for a concessionaire for the past two years and it has been great. We were paid 30 hours a week each and the camp ground was ours to run and manage. The hours were yours to use as you deemed appropriate. All that was required was to keep the bathrooms clean and tidy up the camp grounds. In addition, you clean out the iron rangers and drive your cart around and check that everyone has paid for their site. You can stop and start any time you choose. Our managers were great and supplied us with everything we asked for. In addition, we only spent the money we were paid and still had some of that money in the bank at the end of the season. ALL of our retirement went into savings and we have a chunk to enjoy the rest of the year. We will now be taking over as district managers in another area and hope to treat our hosts as well as we were treated.

[GramaofAAAA]

Thanks for the info everyone. Gives us much to think about. We have our home about 45 minutes away, so we drove up to check it out a few days ago. Small campground (26 spaces). Very rustic forest setting, which is what we want. We'll wait and see what/if they offer us anything. 🙂

[doxiemom11]

Not only the hours, the company we worked for also required us to use our personal cell phone to conduct their business with no reimbursement of any kind towards the cost of the cell service. They then complained when the service we had wasn't good like they expected us to go get a different plan that would work better (not) and after arriving we found out they expected us to use our vehicle to haul their trailer and riding mower to our 2nd campground with no reimbursement other than mileage, which we were to get just for going over there to service the campground. No mention of hauling their equipment , use of cell phone and many other things until after we arrived. We drove 1,000 miles for the job and were so sorry we had taken it. We will never work for any of these concessionaire companies again.

[donn0128]

I did talk to the hosts at a FS camp ground run by Thousand Trails a few years ago and that was one of their complaints. 30 hours pay but usually 40+ hours work. They do give a bonus at the end of the season, but still.....
Personally we like the volunteer host positions. At least if you get a site where the ranger is pushy it is easy to move on after a month.

[Ozlander]

If they gave me 40 hours work and 25 hours pay, they would get 25 hours of work and I would choose which work I thought was the most important.

[GramaofAAAA]

Yes, it's a paid job and for the summer season, which is ok. Thank you for the comments on # of hours and how much they want done, I will check into that. It is a small campground, no ice or wood and only a couple of potty's. 🙂

[doxiemom11]

I have not worked for this company, but did work for another that operates in the same way. Ask about the hours. They typically tell you they will pay for example 25 hrs per week, but assign lawn mowing, trimming, cleaning bath houses, cleaning sites, checking in campers, selling wood, ice, collection of fees the paperwork required etc and it's up to you to try to get it all done in the allotted number of hours. If it takes you more hours, they don't usually pay you for anything over the number of hours they decided it would take. So, if you really worked 35 hours, you will be paid for the 25 only. We decided we did not like this arrangement as these are companies that are out to make a profit, and they are profiting from their employees extra labor hours with no return to the employee. This company may be different, but from talking to many people, they all operate in somewhat the same way. It's all in the wording of the work agreement - read it carefully.

[donn0128]

Arw you looking for paid positions? They probably require a whole season. Personally we are hosting with Oregon State Parks and love it. Only require a one month stay, so if there are problems for what ever reason you can leave pretty fast.