[simon spencer]

I need some advise on staff.

How do you pay them? do you pay them on a set weekly wage or give them a percentage of what they clean.

I currently employ 1 guy at the moment, Im going to employ 1 other guy and send them on there own, but Im confused with which method of payment. Set wage or performance related.

What do you do about paying them on bad weather days.

I know theres pros and cons of both methods.

What do you other guys do.

Lots of advise greatly appreciated.

Regards

Simon

[Ian Rochester]

Pay %age of turnover, if it's bad weather they get nothing.

Works well for us.

[rs_cleancare]

I think the only problem with percentages is they will tend to miss windows out to get more jobs done.

[NWH]

Be prepared for lots of hassle i`ve employed for years and have been fair but still got loads of greive,headaches,colds,overslept,or the best one was i can`t come in today i have the flu but i`ll be in tomorrow.Good employees in this job are as rare as rocking horse s***,so if you discover the secret let me know,being mainly WFP now i don`t need anyone full time so i have someone a couple of days a week just to get me through the good paying trad jobs,to be honest if your WFP and have good work you don`t need anyone working for you,you`ll find at the end of the week working on your own if you take wages out that you have to pay and all the other expenses your in fact worse off,don`t forget it actually costs you more money in nat ins and tax just for the sake of having someone that`s without sick pay hloiday pay.Before you pay wages and vehicle bills just keep in mind that it will cost you at least £2500 a year before you`ve cleaned a window.

[simon spencer]

Thanks guys for replys.

Is there anybody else out there who can give me advise?

[Helen]

tried both set rate and %. It's down to the attitude of the employee though at the end of the day. We now pay a "low" hourly rate, with a daily attendance bonus and then a further quality bonus once all payments are in and with no complaints from customers. Attendance bonus has worked well as it HAS stopped those "sicky" days when you just can't be bothered! Quality bonus will not be paid for substandard work. works with the guys we have now, but may not work with others!

[NWH]

I find that by having help all it allows you to do is to keep on top of your work,it dosen`t most of the time allow you to earn more money.I would say that overall you earn more or less the same amount of money but on certain days you find your not having to run around quiet so much,but if your business is scaled down slightly so you have the better paying work working on your own will allow you to earn the same if not more than 2 of you.Paying someone 365 days a year is a big commitment,i get self employed guys to help me out on certain jobs over an 8 week period it makes life much easier,but the full time thing is to much hassle not enough reliable people out there,employing staff looks so simple on paper but as most of us no it`s far from simple.

[Rob.Hall]

Hellens idea is good.
You only get serious minded people who will not mess around i would asume

[Ian Rochester]

NWH,

Totally disagree, if you are not earning more employing staff then you are doing something seriously wrong, an employee earns me 40-42% BOP before tax, after wages and overheads have come off.

[Spursboy1972]

There are pros and cons whichever way you do it. I think it is all down to the person you employ. Be careful the employment law is very jheavily loaded in favour of the employee so be 100% sure you have dotted the i's and crossed the t's before you venture along this route. It is littered with pitfalls. However get the right one and you will not look back. It help[s if you have had experience in employing people before even in a different environment. You do learn from mistakes and it becomes easier to find the very very few good ones that are out there.

[NWH]

Have you taken into account all the days your not able to work,in an ideal world having someone that comes in everyday never has time off sick and dosen`t want to jack it in and go on there own cos they see what can be earned,then yes it is worth it.You might be one of the lucky ones and have one of these employees,i had one once and it worked.Like i said before these workers in reality are hard to find,i don`t know what work you have but 40% sounds quiet a claim in my experience,like i said now i`m mainly WFP i can do the same if not more than 2 of us used to do off of ladders and we were quick when working trad.I`m simply saying that by having good work and working WFP the extra help is not needed all of the time,have a serious thought to how much he`s making you in reality.

[Spursboy1972]

There is also a golden rule to remember. NOONE will work like you do. You have to bear that in mind at all times. There motivation in working are probably not the same as yours

[NWH]

Tony your exactly right there mate,that`s why i don`t want those kind of t****** slowing me down,it`s my name on every pane of glass cleaned but these guys don`t give a moneys about that,they just want to come in every now and again earn a bit and go home.The type of work i do demands more commitment than that,if i lose a house it`s not 10-20 quid it`s normally a lot more so it`s just not worth the aggro.If i come across the right type of person again i`ll know.

[Spursboy1972]

Its more than just their quality of work it is that you work to a certain speed and standard and hours in a given week yourself. What you have to bear in mind is just because you do it you cant expect someone else to because 99% of the time they wont.

There is a friend of my dads who runs his own plumbing business. He actually gave him a 25% share in the business (he had been with him 15 years). Since then he has had no problems not that he had many with him before. What I am getting at if you find the right one give them a big incentive. Sell them the future! and if they are the right person then they will work well but prob still not as well as you! I meant to add that he also offered him the carrot that he may get a share in his business which is probably what helped to keep him loyal.

[qcs cleaning]

I have tried both % cleans and a daily rate.  I found that the best is daily rate because I just set a daily rate and that it is what they have to work for, if they do a good job say in 3 months time I will increase their money.

% I found causes allot of confusion and arguments with staff as although it seems straight forward to you it is not always crystal clear with the employee.

You will have to go through allot of employees to find the right one I have been through 6 before I found the right guy to takeover a part of my round, but when you do find them just be straight with them at the start and you should be fine.

[Ian Rochester]

NWH

I have 9 of those employees!

Some of them are earning £20K+ pa, at the end of the day you get what you pay for.

[niceandclean]

We use WFP systems and clean in all weathers. I pay £55 per day flat, £10 per day attendance allowance and £15 per day if they complete the whole work schedule. So thats £80 per day. If we have a complaint from the customer, ie bad clean or a missed window, we take the £15 away for the day. We also pay a 3 monthly bonus, where as if we have had a good quarter, we pay a bonus. It works very well and had no problems at all. Not had a problem with sick days!!

[simon spencer]

Thanks guys for all your opinions, its help alot.

Regards

Simon

[Central Window Cleaners]

Hi niceandclean,
do you still pay the flat rate on days when they do not work for rain etc or is that 5 days a week?

[simon spencer]

Central Window Cleaners,

I notice you are in Nuneaton, I started my first round in Earl Shilton and Barwell.
Got rid of it now got sick of driving all that way to collect.
Do you do any work in Leicester?