Start up employment

[annabeebalc]

Hi.

I'm opening my first hair salon in a couple of months and am just sorting out staff. I was thinking of employing self employed part time stylists on a 50/50 commission raising to 60 for the most senior.

I've been having trouble getting people to come and work for me under these conditions as i'm a new business and although i'm enthusiastic about my start up the stylists have no guarantee of income in the first few months till we get off the ground.

I'm now thinking of offering them a wage- £8 per hour. For the first 3 months, then switching to a commission basis when the business is hopefully busy.

Could they be self employed under these conditions?
What are the pitfalls of paying them an hourly rate?
I would obviously pay them holiday pay and statutory sick pay but if possible want to avoid having to actually employ them.

What are my options and what is the best way to entice them to stay????

Many thanks
x

 

[persianista]

If you can get people to work for you under those conditions, then I applaud you.
If you pay an hourly rate you should employ people properly. Firstly, you cannot exclude the bits of employment law that you don't like (holiday/maternity/sick) as you run the risk of being caught by HMRC. Secondly, most people, contrary to what you read on here, want the security of employment and a regular wage(as you have found).
Even if you did persuade someone to work for you "self employed" on an hourly rate, I can guarantee all hell would break loose as soon as they wanted a week off and realised there was no paid leave.
If you check the HMRC website it will outline the legal position on self employed contractors. The rules are extremely complex and easy to fall foul of, especially if your staff are not keen.
Personally I employ all my staff. Its a pain at holiday time but they are secure and happy and motivated. As a company we abide by all the rules

 

[annabeebalc]

Thanks. I think you're right. I would like the security of a regular wage and I can always reward them to bump their wages up when the going is good. Do you think £8 per hour is a fair wage or should I be offering more for a stylist of NVQ level 3 standard with 5 years experience? Perhaps I could start them on £8 per hour for the first 3 months then going up once we had a full client base?

 

[persianista]

That works out at 320 per week basic for 40 hours. A bit high for 5 years exp and not bringing a clientele. Why not do a lower weekly basic and pay commission on top as an incentive? That way the more they do, the more they earn.

 

[annabeebalc]

thanks, what sort of commission would you offer if I dropped it to £5.70 per hour? I think that would be beneficial to both of us.

 

[persianista]

Make them take their basic wage first, then everything after that 10% is the norm.