New Employees How to compensate

[GRT]

I wanted to find out from the folks that have other techs working for them, how much do you compensate them? Hourly plus commission, salary, commission only (if so at what percent). Also, do you set them up as employees or as contractors. What is the best way to find new hires? Thanks for your input.

[ProView WR]

Bump to the top.

Surprised no responses to this. Anyone?

[ChipperFixer]

This could be a difficult question to answer. There are so many factors to consider. But I think the most important thing to consider is the employ. If they have incentive and will carry their weight correctly, then maybe hourly plus commission. If an employ has no incentive maybe straight commission. Like I say its hard to answer this question. What works well for one company might not work for another. I have Two employees, me and my daughter. When she works she gets it ALL. When I work I get it ALL. But one thing to remember for sure, your employees can and will MAKE YOU OR BREAK YOU.

[screenman]

Treat them mean and keep them keen. I have tried it all ways and I cannot make it worth my while employing staff. For me to get £100 per week profit the tech would have to do about £800 per week if we were supplying vehicle etc. Holiday pay, sick pay, duvet too heavy days. I prefer to sub work out and then get the subcontrator to invoice me and then I invoice the customer, with my percentage on top.

[SGT]

Before you decide on employment status (employee or independant contractor), I strongly recommend you check with the IRS as there are strict guidelines to help you determine this. Certainly not a decision to be made from our responses.

I pay 50% of all work plus supplementals, supply all hard goods and expendibles ect.. they use there own vehicle and get there own work. I handle all the administrative duties.

[jayjacque]

I've always been a small outfit, so you have to take that into consideration too. The last time I had someone working for me, they worked for 5 yrs, made 50% commission as a sub-contractor, supplied their own vehicle and paid their own vehicle expenses and gas. I supplied all the supplies including some other services we offered besides windshield repair. Sub-contractor over employee is preferred from the business owner standpoint, since you don't have to pay the worker's social security tax.

As I understood it then, in order to legally be a sub-contractor and not have to pay my worker's social security, they needed to do other work besides just my jobs, so I encouraged my worker to do the occasional job on the weekend or after hours to keep for himself, just pay me if it dipped into my supplies. That's a dangerous move if you can't trust the person, as many would take advantage, but he didn't. That was 5-10 years ago in the US, so not sure if the laws have changed or not.

I'm contemplating a son-in-law starting to work for me, and may pay him more like 60% once he's trained, but that's because he's family and I may eventually want him to take over the business.

I don't think you can pay someone peanuts and hope to get caviar results. But on the other hand, I never pay someone a whole lot to start with, because the first 4 to 6 months is a trial period to see what pans out.

Also you have to take into consideration what are your expenses. I've always been mobile, so did not pay for a shop and all the big expenses associated with that. If you are paying huge bills to do business, then not as much left over to pay the commissions.

[SGT]

One thing to consider, especially if you are a sole proprietor(not sure on other business setups), part time with a full time career such as myself, is that your part time earnings are an extension of your full time income. That said, you will pay taxes on your total yearly income and it may bump you into a higher tax bracket which means you will pay even higher taxes on your part time earnings. For us that is a very large chunk. So you might want consider this when creating a compensation scale. If you have an accountant you may want to have them help you determine your bottom line so you will have true idea of what is actually left over.

Just some food for thought for those that like to dot all your I's and cross your T's....

[GlassStarz]

I have a couple part timers who I pay 50 % I spend time with them building the accounts and training them while doing so after several stops at the same account I set em out on thier own they pay gas I pay supplies my theory is if the person is making good $ they will keep working I hired two new people in Calif last week will spend jan training them and building the area
My people do WR /Paint Repair / Headlight and Plastic Trim Refinishing I start them training in one thing then when competent at it add the next

[S&W Glass Repair]

I have one part-timer who I pay $100 per day, he's been with me for 2 1/2 years and is very good. He is a friend and he is part time, I agree wholeheartedly about the trust issues brought up. If hiring from the outside or a friend I suggest a No competition clause which my employee signed or couldn't work for me, remember it's business and if you approach it from that standpoint you'll have less trouble in dealing with potential problems, when it's personal it's always more difficult. My competition clause was designed by my attorney and it covers a 50 mile radius from my home which engulfs 90% of my business. When he started working for me I paid him $8 while learning, after 6 months he went to $10 per hour and after 1 year to $12 per hour and then I gave him the option of hourly or salary. Some of my big days he's worked 12 hours during the summer and hourly would've been better but for the most part he's extremely happy and I'm happy with his work. He also has the option of making bonus money which starts when he reaches $500 for the day, he gets an additional $50 bonus and if he hits $600 plus he gets a $100 bonus. He has hit $500 several times and I was off or on vacation so it was a win win for me. I made money and so did he.