[Jan K]

Hi guys

Just wondered how you smaller business peeps apprach this problem with your Clients. As my business only consistsof 2 of us at present (with a nother starting Monday) and we all have regular Clients, there will be occasions when, if a cleaner lets me down at short notice due to sickness or any other unforseen circumstance, that I may not be able to find a replacement cleaner as we are already committed elsewhere. I feel very lucky to still have my Clients, as over the last month there have been many situations like this.....mainly cos one of my cleaners just decided out of the blue to pack it all in, and she had only been with me 3 weeks, and now my other cleaner is off sick. I am already covering jobs that the last woman left me with till my new lady starts, then I will be with her till she settles in.

As a newbie at being a boss and having no control over whether employees will turn up or not (as ultimately happens to us all), and then having to let the Clients down gently without me feeling real bad about it, I am finding it quite tricky. I don't have that many Clients that I can afford to lose them at present, so I am trying to find a way to placate them without feeling like I am grovelling, if you know what I mean. I have absolutely no problems with running the business, as I have done so quite successfully in the past and only gave it up when my eldest daughter was born, but controlling employees and keeping their Clients happy is a different ball game altogether......stressful at times, but rewarding when it all works smoothly for us all..........would appreciate any tips on Client management in these situations 

ta dearies

Jan

[Tim Downer]

Hi Jan,
I would hope that as you have kept the lines of communication open with your clients, that they should not mind you calling to say that their cleaner has gone sick.....as long as you either say to them that another cleaner or yourself will call later that day (if that is possible) to do the cleaning, or offer them a slot the next day if poss.

With the staff, they can't help it if they are sick of course. However, the problem is when they take advantage of their boss and call in sick when they want a day off. Am I supposing correctly that you do not pay them on sick days? If you do, then maybe it would be worth while starting up some sort of scheme where if they have not been sick or late for say 3 months or so, they are rewarded i.e extra few hours on their wages.....or whatever. This may give them an incentive to come in!!

Might be worth a go?

You should also have in your contract with the staff that they have to give at least 1 or 2 weeks notice before they go....to give you a fighting chance to get a replacement.

Also, a few postings ago, one of the chaps always had 1 member of staff extra to what he needed, as someone was always off sick or on holiday. As you get bigger, may be worth looking into.

All the best

Tim

[Jan K]

Hi Tim!

Good info thanks. No my staff don't get paid if they are off sick, unless it is longer than 3 days and then they are entitled to SSP anyway aren't they? It is very difficult to accommodate my Clients at short notice with there only being myself and 2 ladies cleaning. My new lady started today and first impressions are very good. She turned up nearly half an hour early to start and did an excellent job alongside me. She is open to more hours as and when which is good too. I have a few people in the pipeline, but these things take time, I am getting there tho'. I think I will take into consideration your suggestion about the 2 weeks notice thing......don't wanna be left in the lurch again.

[dustycorner]

Hi Jan
i may be wrong but i dont think ssp is payable to anyone earning less than £75 per week you can check that put with acas 08457 474747.
Cheers Mark.

[Jan K]

hmmm didn't know that, thanx for the info.......that's what I like about this forum, learning something new every day

[BeeClean]

hi jan. its a problem we all have unfortunately. tims idea is a very good one make sure that when you work out staff salaries that there is some sort of attendance bonus in it. it doesnt stop those that take days on end off (and you'll just have to let those go) but it should stop those that tend to have occasional days off. 5 to 10 per cent of all my staff salaries are bonus related in one form or another.

[Jan K]

Cheers Bee!

Will take that on board

[blacksheep]

hi all , i read on one post someone, when wages were 4.00 per hour that they gave a 50p bonues  per hour so if the cleaner did not feel like turning in to work, because they were taking advantage , they would not just lose 8 pound they lost 28 pound just for not coming inthat one day, i think this is the best idea yet

[julieg]

I think this is a very common problem. I am fortunate that I have 2 fantastic teams as well as some casual staff that bend over backwards to help me run things smoothly.

I try to keep one step ahead and take on a member of staff before I can actually fulfill the hours that I agree to take them on for. I guarantee their hours say 15-20 hours when they may only initially clean for 10, and then do a heavy stint of marekting for new business and use them to do leaflet drops when they are not cleaning.

I pay them reasonably well and pay them bonuses at Christmas. Wouldn't it be good if small companies who worked in nearby areas could look at sharing their their staff and help each other out?   

Julie G

[Jan K]

Hi Julie!

The staff sharing idea is a good idea!

I contacted a company that cleaned bars and restuarants as theiar staff only worked mornings, to see if any of the girls would be prepared to work for me in the afternoons. But then the subject of Tax and National Insurance came into play and who was liable for what, so in the end it was easier to take on girls who weren't already working!

And also their first loyalty would be to their original employers, so if extra work came up from them I would have expected them to leave the work they were doing for me!

You seem to have a good balance of permanent and casual staff tho!

Cheers!

Jan

[Fox]

the subject of Tax and National Insurance came into play and who was liable for what, so in the end it was easier to take on girls who weren't already working!

In the cleaning business (especially commercial) you will find that many people you employ will come to you for work that already have a job elsewhere.  When the person starts you will need to determine if the work they have with you will be their 'main' employment (more hours than their other job). 

If it is their main employment they will need to sign a P46 stating this and you put them on the standard tax rate.  If it is a 'second' job you put them on a tax code of BR 1.  They will pay a higher tax rate, but if the other job is not many hours either then the tax office will send you a code and the employees tax rate will be adjusted accordingly.

You do not need to speak with their other employer about tax codes just follow the simple rules and the tax office will adjust things as they should already have the details from the other employment.

Hope this makes sense!
Fox

[Jan K]

Cheers Fox!

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