[TomCrowther]

Hi All,
I am going to employ in the near future and am keen to know how those who employ, pay their staff. I don't want to be too tight but neither do I want to pay over the odds. Thinking of offering a "trial" salary of basic pay £6.19 per hour plus bonus for a decent days work of maybe £30 so for eight hours they would get around £80. is this enough to get a decent worker or should I be looking to pay a bit more?
This is for a worker/WC not driving duties as well. When I need a driver would look to pay them basic wage again plus £50 a day for doing the targetted work level. I do a mix of domestic and large residential.
Any advice as always, really appreciated.

[richywilts]

i wish i knew the right answer i pay £7 per hour at min

[TomCrowther]

Hi Richy, don't you have two man teams? So you pay the same rate for both. Do they get any bonus?
Cheers, Tom.

[roundbuilder]

Tom work out 25% of whatthey do and work it out to an hourly rate. Or just simply pay 25% of what is done. Putting them on a price gets more done in the long run.

[richywilts]

gets more done but i found also work drops standards i find most are happy to earn approx 280-350 a week take home for window cleaning

ive basically got them all on same rate for simplicity, i wouldnt go in too high tho dont forget you have to pay there taxes etc and employer nat insurance on top

[Dave Garrett]

Tom
What area do you cover ?

[Ian Rochester]

We pay £7:50 per hour plus a bonus every three months based on the whole teams performances which is measured daily.  They generally end up with about. £400 every quarter

[TomCrowther]

Thanks for the advice so far. Dave, I cover South Manchester for domestics and the general Manchester area for blocks of flats/commercial.

[gewindows]

£10.00 an hour.

[gewindows]

Richy, how can they take home £350 a week if you only pay them £7.00 an hour?

[robertphil]

i pay £7 per hour  . i used to pay £8 when i first employed but i got messed about something rotten as they thought they were rich playboys!,

7 is about right

[richywilts]

Richy, how can they take home £350 a week if you only pay them £7.00 an hour?

just saying in general from previous employees the type of people who have worked for me are happy to earn in that bracket.

we do work on saturdays etc too or collecting and canvassing to up there wages not just 8-5 everyday but when they get paid less than 280 they begin to moan

[telfordwindowclnr]

So my lads should be happy at £70/day then? They are subs so pay their own tax and NI.

[Joe Martin]

£12.00 Per hour plus performance bonus, pay peanuts you get monkeys.

[g.brookes]

the staff in all restaurants and cafes and chain shops etc all get paid minimum wage.  minimum wage works for the majority of businesses.
i dont think paying above that will 'bribe' the staff into being good workers all the time.  i think the only difference a higher wage will make to an employee is if they are considering quitting the job.  if they are a bad worker/lazy/lying/stealing/always late etc then paying an extra pound an hour wont make any difference.
this is not a difficult job at all, so would only pay above minimum wage to reward my staff.  never to prompt them to work well.
(these are all opinions, i have not employed anyone yet)

[gewindows]

You use the word bribe and reward to describe the same thing, remuneration.

Most companies according to the last post pay minimum wage, most companies can't get the staff. Is there a link?

I pay the chap who I employ £10 an hour. He's worth that. He's worth more actually but we don't need to go there just yet. I pay reasonable I consider, I don't think £10 an hour is anything special. I like to think anyone I employ regards me as a fair employer. If they don't, that is their tough luck cos they'll probably talk themselves out of a job. Have you noticed people who pay low level wage are the ones who can't get the best staff. There's getting staff and there's getting staff.

I also pay him for his hours lunch, or whatever we have, 30 mins some days. We stopped yesterday for lunch I had sarnies he had a pie. After he finished his pie he cracked on whilst I finished my sarnies and had a coffee. Must be doing something right.

[DaveG]

My son has worked for me for 2 years and I pay him £10 an hour now. I think he's well worth paying him that, he's good with the customers and he knows exactly what to do when we turn up at jobs etc. He also knows what to do when we get problems with gear etc.

Like someone else said, pay peanuts get monkeys.

[g.brookes]

I really don't think that's necessarily the case. I'm not saying I think paying minimum wage is fair, or that I would like to work for it.
What I'm saying is that paying above minim wage has very little reflection in my opinion on the quality of the staff you are employing.
Whether you pay £6.19 or £10, most people that apply for the job consider it a stop gap until they find something better.
I'm just a strong advocate of raising wages to reflect the quality of work, not paying high wages to start with and expecting the quality of work to be great from the start, as that's where complacency becomes a big issue

[Joe Martin]

the staff in all restaurants and cafes and chain shops etc all get paid minimum wage.  minimum wage works for the majority of businesses.
i dont think paying above that will 'bribe' the staff into being good workers all the time.  i think the only difference a higher wage will make to an employee is if they are considering quitting the job.  if they are a bad worker/lazy/lying/stealing/always late etc then paying an extra pound an hour wont make any difference.
this is not a difficult job at all, so would only pay above minimum wage to reward my staff.  never to prompt them to work well.
(these are all opinions, i have not employed anyone yet)

Most are eastern Europeans or Asians and will work for a low wage. We have very good guys that work for us and we work alongside them, treat people how you wish to be treated and you find it will work in yours and your business favor.

[Joe Martin]

I really don't think that's necessarily the case. I'm not saying I think paying minimum wage is fair, or that I would like to work for it.
What I'm saying is that paying above minim wage has very little reflection in my opinion on the quality of the staff you are employing.
Whether you pay £6.19 or £10, most people that apply for the job consider it a stop gap until they find something better.
I'm just a strong advocate of raising wages to reflect the quality of work, not paying high wages to start with and expecting the quality of work to be great from the start, as that's where complacency becomes a big issue

Absolutely not the case our guys have only been window cleaners, it sounds like you have had a bad experience.