Employee wages?

[Rick]

My wife and I need to hire someone to clean a few of our contracts for us, but we do not know what to pay.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Than You

[Kevin]

Average roing rate for a paid cleaner is $7-$9 hr.

[Linda]

Average is $7.00 - $9.00 like Kevin said, but I pay those who help me $10.00 Wish I could pay more, but at this time I can not.

Linda

[Rick]

Is there a high turn over rate for employees?

[Grizzly]

Rick:
Largely depends on your hiring procedures. We have one lady that has been with us 19 years, another 7 years, another 4 years. However, we have also made mistakes and have had turnover after the second night. We have decided to be very negative about the job when hiring people, there will be crappy toilets, crappy people and horrendous hours. It generally takes us longer to find someone, but when we do, and they become involved in team and systematic cleaning, they see that it's not near as bad as we made it out to be. This seems to give us much longer retention of the employee.

Bill

[snydertech]

Bill,
Good idea about starting out negative. I will have to try that when I got o hire people on. I currently have 4 people on staff, and they are related or close to the family... so they knew what they were getting into when they signed up!

David

[btcleaning]

Some of the jobs I pay by the job and then some jobs I pay by the hour ($10.00). Like my apartments, and some of my construction homes I pay by the job. All my residentials I pay by the hour. Hope this helps.

[evetsclean]

I'm repeating myself by saying this, but I'll say it again...low wages = high turnover. Plain and simple. You might get a great worker and be able to pay them $7-$9/hr for a while, but when they get some experience, and realize that some of the bigger companies pay more, they're gone. btcleaning has a good idea - paying by the job. An experienced worker can get the job done quickly, and come away with a little more per hour, and that keeps them happy. I personally have been in the janitorial industry for just shy of 20 years, and if I take on a job for someone else, I will not work for less than $12/hr. Now I'm in Canada, and from what I understand wages are slightly higher here. The min. wage here in Ontario is just over $8/hr, and in another year and half it will be $10. Some of you may think $12/hr is too much, but my employers know that they can leave me to the work, and it will get done...properly. I always show up, I never get complaints, I clean, strip, wax, fix equipment (I do grocery stores), whatever needs to be done. Most of my employers pay me by the job, and often times it works out to around $18/hr for me. But I've been with my current employer for over 3 years, and only left the last one because I moved too far away from the job. My point is, like I said...low wages = high turnover. Low wages looks like more money in your pocket on paper, but how much time are you investing by training someone new every 3 or 4 months, or doing the job yourself until you find a replacement, or visiting the jobsite to deal with complaints? Time is money. I've always lived by the thinking that a little extra pay makes employees happy, and a happy employee means less time, energy and stress for me.

[Grizzly]

I don't agree with evetsclean entirely. I just had someone apply for a job . We went through the hiring process, she showed up for the first day of training which involves the prospective staff member following me around and taking notes on the flow of the building the best way to approach it and our detailed procedures. The agree upon rate was $30.00 flat for 2 hours work. $15.00 per hour plus employers expenses in Ontario means this employee costs around $18.50 per hour. She didn't show up for the second day of training. MONEY CANNOT BUY A GOOD EMPLOYEE. If they don't have the work ethic, if they don't appreciate that you want a good job and consistent work, no amount of money will get you a good job. As well, from an employer's point of view, the market dictates how much you can pay your employees and still remain competitive. It would be nice if I could pay employees $25.00 per hour but I am positive that my proposals wouldn't get a second glance. You need to pay your employees fairly compared to market standards , treat them right, appreciate their concerns , provide extra perks like time off if they require it and let them know you appreciate their efforts. AGAIN, MONEY DOES NOT BUY A GOOD EMPLOYEE, YOU CAN PAY SOME PEOPLE HIGH WAGES AND THEY WILL STILL DO A CRAP JOB.

Bill

[evetsclean]

I agree with some of what you've said Bill, there are some people, like the girl you talked about, who just can't handle cleaning. Like you said earlier, it's usually not a nice job, and for some people, all the money in the world couldn't get them to do the job. I also agree that the market plays a huge role, but this is where I have such a huge problem with some contractors. The reason customers won't pay contractors enough for them to pay decent wages, is because there is always a contractor willing to pay peanuts, just so he can undercut someone else. The whole industry needs to recognize that, while cleaning is not exactly rocket science, it's not a nice job. Consider this: Last week, in one of the grocery stores I do, the day porter (a Loblaw's thing...a contractor-provided day cleaner to take care of spills, clean bathrooms, etc.) was called to the pharmacy to clean up after an elderly man who suddenly had explosive diarrhea right there in the aisle. It was everywhere. The man walked as fast as he could to the public washroom, which was on the other side of the store, leaving a trail behind him. Customers walked, and pushed buggies through, the trail, spreading it even more. Then there was the mess he left in the washroom. I know that's disgusting, but this is my point. Why should anyone have to do work like that, for $7, $8 even $10/hr.? It's not right. It's time wages came up through the whole industry, and the slimy under-cutters need to be eliminated. That would solve the market problem.

I agree, that money does not buy a good employee. They have to be a good employee to begin with. But I will always believe that low wages mean lower skill level, and higher turnover, and higher wages mean happier employees. Not everytime, but the majority of the time.