[red star]

im taking on another lad to do my cleans for me at the end of the month ive known him for years honest and reliable and worked for me on / off for the last 8 years doing allsorts so his honesty and reliability doesnt come into the equation
im just to busy to run both my garden works and window cleaning so it should work out splitting the work im supplying everything van water equipment etc and him just his time
whats the best way to pay him by the job or a day rate
his not a slacker but i reckon he would still achieve a bit more if a money incentive was there and would probably put in more hours if was on a price per job
if i went down the price per job what percentage split or if day rate whats the going rate at the moment

any views appreciated

[Ian101]

If it was me I would pay him a percentage of van turnover.

You just need to decide what level.

Do you "pay" him 50% of turnover or 50% of turnover less running costs, 35% or 25% or 60% .. only you would be able to decide.

I dont want to work too many more Saturdays but growing business this year and my son wants to work a Saturday as does my part time helper so if van did £xxx would I split it 3 ways or 50/50 with them sharing the half .. not worked it out yet myself.

[AS Window Cleaning]

this is an interesting one, I'm in similar position, taking him on 1 day a week. was going to pay him around 80 quid, but thought about paying percentage as incentive too,

was thinking around about 30 percent of total income, or just over, not too sure how much would do together but guessing upwards of 260, which would put him around the 80 a day or better if you pushed on.

guess u need to work out how much likely to do a day, how much he wants/u want to pay, and work out percentage based on that?

[red star]

 i was thinking 20% running costs
then 40-40 split

say 20 jobs a day at tenners
200 notes
40 running costs
then 160 split 2 ways
that gives 80 quid

i know when he labours thro the agencies he works for around the 50 quid mark a day so he would be better off

[Richard iSparkle]

I pay them 8 hrs plus incentives to turn up to work and to sign up custies.

they dont work 8 hrs tho, usually off in 6.5.

always pay them monthly tho as it gives you a bit of leverage if they walk out.  theyll always come back for their wages!

[red star]

i would have to pay weekly as he lives hand to mouth
he would be dead of starvation he he got nothing for 4 weeks
plus its not a big concern only 1 lad

[Richard iSparkle]

i;d strongly recommend paying him monthly.  when he leaves he may well have some of your equipment or uniform, or keys!!!  when staff leave some of them, or possibly even a lot of them will not do their best to make it easy for you.  they may leave with the hump and then it makes all the difference if they re owed £400 for a couple of weeks work!

you can give him a sub at the start anyhow so he doesnt starve!

[AS Window Cleaning]

depends on how well u know the lad I guess, I'm happy paying mine weekly or daily or whatever, he's also a friend so no probs for me on that part, tho if you had no history that's prob a good idea Richard.

[Window Washers]

i;d strongly recommend paying him monthly.  when he leaves he may well have some of your equipment or uniform, or keys!!!  when staff leave some of them, or possibly even a lot of them will not do their best to make it easy for you.  they may leave with the hump and then it makes all the difference if they re owed £400 for a couple of weeks work!

you can give him a sub at the start anyhow so he doesnt starve!

I agree with Richard in as far as paying monthly.

I can understand the part about if they leave but in all honesty if they are going to leave paying monthly is not going to stop them, personally I pay monthly for cash flow it also cuts done on admin costs and payroll which is done via an accountant.

so cash flow and less hassle would be my reasons cashflow being the main one.
I offer a fixed wage plus benifits

[William McCafferty]

I pay monthly but have changed the date from the 15th to the end of the month.

I also pay a 30% bonus on all work compleated providing they have reach the monthly turnover figure.

They also recieve the monthly charge of any new customers they get me, if they sign up any customers on a 6 weekly or longer clean, then the yearly charge is pro rated down to the monthly average.

On bad weather, quite days or their days off and they go leafletling, then i pay them £15 per thousand plus the customer charge (this works out on average at £30 per thousand)

and as a final bonus, after 3 years service and they want too, I will give them a franchise with no upfront fee. (new idea)

[Richard iSparkle]

depends on how well u know the lad I guess, I'm happy paying mine weekly or daily or whatever, he's also a friend so no probs for me on that part, tho if you had no history that's prob a good idea Richard.

i dont think it makes a lot of difference how well you know them.  i employed a lad who had worked for me for 3 years previously, and was the LT boyfriend of my manager.  He was still a lot of hassle when he left.  nothing seriously bad, but a lot of hassle for me trying to run a business.  makes all the difference if you can let them know they get their final wages when theyve handed back their keys etc.

as soon as you start to pay people to do a job it changes your relationship.  when money is involved people can have very strong emotions attached to their behaviour.

[AS Window Cleaning]

Richard, guess it depends how good a friend, and kind of person they are

had mine work on and off a few times....no probs so far anyway. maybe I just got lucky.

[bobby p]

i was thinking 20% running costs
then 40-40 split

say 20 jobs a day at tenners
200 notes
40 running costs
then 160 split 2 ways
that gives 80 quid

i know when he labours thro the agencies he works for around the 50 quid mark a day so he would be better off

that sounds complicated ,especially running costs arent fixed so could be sky high if something breaks . i just pay an hourly rate .

[supernova77]

I have a guy who works for me 3 days a week.

When he's out in the van on his own I pay him 55% of the days turnover... When he works a day WITH me then I pay him a day rate.

Andy

[NJWindowCleaning]

You pay him on a self employment basis for example £8.00 per hour @ 40 hours a week = £320.
Pay on the 28th of each Month unless its a Bank Holidays then pay ona earlier date.
And you could pay a bonus for any new customers and turn up each day etc.... 

[red star]

Settled on a week in hand and 40 percent of days takings 5 quid for every new custy paid after 1st clean and his dropping 1000 business cards a week for 25 quid not a bad deal me thinks

[Richard iSparkle]

You pay him on a self employment basis for example £8.00 per hour @ 40 hours a week = £320.
Pay on the 28th of each Month unless its a Bank Holidays then pay ona earlier date.
And you could pay a bonus for any new customers and turn up each day etc.... 

exactly what i do except i employ.  i'm sure tho that the WCs would think £8 self employed was better than £6.09 employed.  tho the real cost to me is the same.

[Richard iSparkle]

I have a guy who works for me 3 days a week.

When he's out in the van on his own I pay him 55% of the days turnover... When he works a day WITH me then I pay him a day rate.

Andy

i;m shocked you pay anyone that much as a WC?  55% of turnover is huge. especially for an unskilled job.  after your costs you must end up with something like 30% of turnover or less.

my guys earn a wage which is below 20% of my turnover at £50 a day.

[mgba_78]

We pay £300 per week regardless of hours worked. As long as at month end hes done no more than 150 hours.
So if we are stacked, like last week, he did over 45 hours, same with this week, then the other 2 weeks are an easy ride and he'll probably end up leafleting,
We find it easier knowing how much we need to pay out, likewise he knows how much hes gonna earn.

So basically like when it snowed and he worked one day he still earnt £300, but the weeks that followed he did more than his 37.5 hours but still earnt £300. Works for us and employee.

[Window Washers]

Settled on a week in hand and 40 percent of days takings 5 quid for every new custy paid after 1st clean and his dropping 1000 business cards a week for 25 quid not a bad deal me thinks

Means he will earn more than you from your business unless that on profit your paying and not what he turns over