Hiring an Employee: What do You consider a Fair Wage?

I know rate of pay varies from region to region. I'm just looking for some general guidance or new ideas on this . Any and all comments are welcomed.

Here's the deal. At the present time I have around 200 T.V.'s and 100 microwaves just waiting to be broken down and separated. I need to get someone started on this and they must be able to work with little to no supervision. I have other projects that just won't allow me to be around for the majority of this work

This person will have no set hours or days. They will be able to work any day or days of the week Mon.-Fri. of their choosing. No weekend work. So basically it is part time work. I can be very flexible to their schedule as I am not in huge rush, but I do need to get this done.

Now to my problem. I'm not sure how or what to pay this person. An hourly rate is out of the question. Too easy for them to take advantage and I could end up loosing a lot of money this way. I'm leaning towards either paying them a percentage of the total (to be paid when I get paid since I have to wait a week for all copper/insulated wire checks myself) or a set amount per unit they break down/separate. Idk, maybe one dollar per unit? If I go per unit I could pay them at the end of the day or the end of the week.

Would you choose either of these two ways or something entirely different? I'm looking for any and all input/ideas here so please feel free to give your opinion. Thank you! :)

A % would probably be best if hourly won't work, as every tv will have a different yield. it will also encourage them to sort better, because the more you make the more he does. You have to figure into it what it cost you to transport the tvs to your location, and what it will cost to drive to the scrap yard, and get rid of the plastic and tubes.

We pay our workers $8.50 per hour.
They are high school/ college kids and i work around their schedule.
Just set a average per hour amount of tv/ microwave that they should be able to do.
Hope this helps.

If you pay a buck a set then you have a fixed cost to work with. If you pay a percentage, then you're showing your hand as far as how much you're grossing. That could come back to bite you some day.

how many tvs should a college kid be able to strip and sort in an hour? and what about microwaves?

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Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

A % would probably be best if hourly won't work, as every tv will have a different yield. it will also encourage them to sort better, because the more you make the more he does. You have to figure into it what it cost you to transport the tvs to your location, and what it will cost to drive to the scrap yard, and get rid of the plastic and tubes.

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All of the T.V.'s are here on site. The majority are brought to me. And the scrap yard is only 5 miles down the road. Disposal costs are minimal.

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Originally Posted by ResourcefulRecycling

We pay our workers $8.50 per hour.
They are high school/ college kids and i work around their schedule.
Just set a average per hour amount of tv/ microwave that they should be able to do.
Hope this helps.

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I wish I could pay hourly. I just see it as being too easy to loose out on. Also I was looking for a high school/ college kid. But the job is probably going to go a 30 y/o ex convict. I know, I know. But I'm a firm believer in second chances.

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Originally Posted by freonjoe

If you pay a buck a set then you have a fixed cost to work with. If you pay a percentage, then you're showing your hand as far as how much you're grossing. That could come back to bite you some day.

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Forgot to mention I also have about 200 monitors in the lot. So at a buck per someone stands to make $500 on just what I have in stock now. If it works out I can always get more. Way more. Now what you said about showing my hand on the gross. That's exactly what I'm looking for here. I didn't even think of that! That part is no one's business. That buck a piece is starting to look better n better.

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Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

how many tvs should a college kid be able to strip and sort in an hour? and what about microwaves?

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I'm hoping to get 4 to 5 T.V's per hour. Microwaves? Idk.

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Originally Posted by skylinejack

I'm hoping to get 4 to 5 T.V's per hour. Microwaves? Idk.

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that $4-5 an hour. most people wont stay long unless they are stealing or have other income. hopefully it goes faster than that.

what are they expected to do to the tvs and monitors?
have you thought about getting a wire stripper?

My guys can do 8 TVs per hour. That includes cleaning the plastic for scrap also. Microwaves? If I have the flow we can do 30 per hour. But we normally only do 2-3 at a time.

What would you consider fair if you were doing this for someone? There's your answer.

hmm flexible hours, id say even at federal minimum wage theres alot of people that would take that job, the issue is not the pay. Its finding somone with a head on there shoulders. Also if this is your first employee, you need to make sure you have insurance setup and provisions for payroll taxes. They get hurt doing work for you, you are ultimately responsible. Plus the flexible hour issue might nail you because if the get hurt not during there working hours they can just say they were working for you at that time. So you need a to have a business setup and all of the paper work done. Its not as simple as just hiring somone and paying cash, if you go that route you will get in trouble in the long run. Do as you wish, im just offering my 2 cents.

kinda reminds me of swamp man shelby stanga down your way, he always has some noob working with him that always gets hurt

$1 per unit may workout for both if hiring someone that has experience breaking down TV's. if your expecting a constant flow of TV's, monitors, microwaves and need a permanent employee then just hire someone you trust that is self motivated. the learning curve is small with those appliances. i do see a problem with theft and not certain how to prevent with little to no supervision.
i wish i lived closer. i'd <3 to break down an endless supply of TV's for a buck a set.

edit: meh, i'd be more excited at $1.50... perhaps offer bonus if he completes X amount per week.

I subcontract mine out at 1.00 per unit. I can keep them honest by counting yokes and degaussing cable. If they ever decided to steal then they could only take a few before anyone could catch on.

I'd think getting an average of the yields of metal from all of the tvs and monitors would be a good check on theft. Every brand/model is different, but if you use a large sample for the average, you would basically know roughly what to expect out of a certain number of units.

This would also help in pricing out how much per unit to pay.

Subing out is the way to go. I don't currently sub my recycling but I do other work. There is a lot of additional expense with an employee (tax, insurance, unemployment,....). if you have that much stuff it might be worth investing in a cheap camera that records to your computer to keep an eye on your sub and your stuff. (just make sure they know about it to avoid possible legal problems)

All of my employees are independant contractors. They use all of my tools, in my shop, and i do tell them what i need done. So i dont have to pay insurance, taxes..etc.
I do not plan on doing this forever but it is great for smaller new buisnesses.

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Originally Posted by ResourcefulRecycling

All of my employees are independant contractors. They use all of my tools, in my shop, and i do tell them what i need done. So i dont have to pay insurance, taxes..etc.
I do not plan on doing this forever but it is great for smaller new buisnesses.

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You might want to check the IRS website for what constitutes an "employee". Also an "employee" and "contractor" are mutually exclusive terms. One person cannot be both at the same time.

Correct, They are all independent contractors.

Mick is 100 percent correct under IRS guidelines if u tell a person when to show up and what hours to work, how to do the work, what needs done, etc. You technically have an employee and not a sub contractor.

To completely clear this up read southern scrap vs us government sorry its so long but very informative.

Copy and paste this

OSHRC Docket No. 94-3393

correct me if im wrong which i am 90% of the time, but in order to be independent wouldn't they have to process everything off site and deliver the processed goods back to you

i still think that any work done on your property is ultimately your responsibility regardless of contractual deals