One of the (few) perks of being a subcontractor or working for somebody else is not really having to deal with the homeowner. You get to answer every question with "hey that's a great question you should call my boss and ask him".
Owners take on the risk of providing a stable paycheck for their employees, and far far more beyond that. In the vast majority of small businesses, the owner is the last one to take a paycheck.
There is plenty of work to running a roofing company that's beyond just the physical act of putting the roof on a house.
Who does the marketing to find the projects? Who handles the billing (and inevitable disputes)? Who places the orders for supplies? Who cuts the paychecks? Who handles OSHA requirements?
Or get paid cash and still claim the $600.
On the other hand, a very simple/easy system meant that the process wasn't overly onerous at a time where other contractors were legitimately missing a lot of business due to pandemic restrictions.
We asked a number of people for cleaner recommendations and many had a similar story of struggling to find someone, their cleaner taking leave from work, etc.
I'm not fighting against stimulus. It was critical for many businesses forced to close or copping follow-on impacts of that. My business took significant hits as lockdowns started and I received stimulus payments (and kept working on what work was coming in).