Recruitment issues......or is it nightmare

[Katymac]

OK long saga but I think I need an admin/childcare person

It would be between 8 and 11 hrs a week regularly

But could I offer to pay 15 hrs a week and hold the 'spare' hours they do and use them to cover annual leave (which would mean working F/T for about 12 weeks a year - but perhaps odd days here & there iyswim)

I think it could be a recruiting nightmare - but would it work do you think?

If they needed to do extra to cover sick leave etc I would just pay overtime

I'm not sure anyone would apply

Hi Katymac. Depending on when you actually need the person, it might actually be quite attractive to some people. Earlier in the year I applied for (but didn't get) a 7 hour a week job, simply because it appealed to me and would have fitted around dd.

I'm very confused as to why you would pay more hours than the person works, and then pay overtime. You have to pay annual pro-rata the hours worked anyway, so if you pay more hours, you have to pay more annual leave.

I have 3 staff - each have 4 weeks A/L - I would need this person to cover for their A/L as part of their job - but was hoping by paying the same every month it would be easier to budget

The O/T would be for any extra for sickenss of my 3 existing staff?

It's not going to work; is it?

our nanny works different hours in term time and holidays. her contract specifies this and, for the purposes of working out her pay the contract gives an annual total number of hours. this is then divided by 52 to work out her weekly pay. in principle I think this amounts to what you are suggesting, but imo, it's a simpler way of doing it. it's definitely easier - both for me and her - to work out a weekly wage that stays the same. As the hours are so short I would have thought you might find someone prepared to do this. I think that if you are asking for flexibility though you need to offer it a bit too. we are very conscious that we're lucky to have a nanny who's flexible like this

that's a good suggestion, hatwoman: I can see the logic when you put it that way

The admin hours could be done anytime (even at home)

But the cover needs to be when the others are on holiday so someweeks she might have to cover for 2 or 3 people on different shifts; some cover 1 person for a whole week; some only do the admin

I wonder if it's too confusing

Provided it's clear in your head and you can explain it to prospective candidates, then it's worth a try. You never know until you advertise. What's the maximum number of hours the person would be required to work per week covering for other folks' annual leave, and when would those weeks fall? If you annualise the hours, then you wouldn't have to pay overtime in the weeks when the person would be working full time, because they would be paid more in the weeks they work less. But be ware of someone agreeing to this, working happily for the quiet weeks, and then leaving when the busy weeks start: you won't be able to claim any money back from them because you have in effect 'overpaid' them in the quiet weeks.

Most of my staff (with the exception of the chefs) work different numbers of hours each week, but are paid hourly, so each week they are paid for what they worked.

Covering - max about 35 but it isn't fixed when (which is the down side) & it could be an odd day here or there or a run of F/t weeks

Would pay monthly so that should be slightly limit them doing a runner (as would adjust for final months salary I guess)- would need a clause in the contract about adjusting the final salary

How much notice would you be able to give them of the full time weeks? Most people need to be able to plan their lives to some degree.

I've asked the staff to give me 3 weeks notice of any leave more than 2 days

That sounds reasonable. Can you arrange not to have more than say 2 people on leave at any one time? For example, I won't let 2 chefs or 2 senior housekeepers take holiday at the same time, because it's a nightmare to cover.

Only one person off at a time - already agreed

Currently I cover all absences but it's getting me down - I already work 50 hrs a week

Sorry I disappeared last night - dd woke up howling.

I know what you mean about impossible hours and covering for everyone - I used to do it myself. The big laugh was when the Office for National Statistics picked on us, and I was the random employee whose working hours they wanted: at that time the answer was however many hours there are in a week, less the ones I actually sleep . A system that works for my business, is instead of one full time person for most positions, I am now aiming for 2 part time people, with the proviso that each person covers the annual leave of their job sharer. That is turning into a reasonable system for us.

I think I would have to have 3 for each position as it is a 11 hr day (maybe) 11 hrs is too long for anyone to work

that is really too long. If you split it into 2 shifts, and then split the total number of shifts that 2 people currently work between 3 people, would that lead to an unacceptable drop of hours for anyone, if there is the prospect of overtime when a colleague is on leave?

Sorry Roskva - I'll have to think about that - but it might work

Sort of 10 shifts each doing maybe 3 plus an extra every 3 weeks?

Or maybe being overstaffed?

Hmm

I don't know what would be the right level of staffing for your business. In mine, for example, I need front of house cover from 8am to 11pm, 7 days a week, which works out at 105 hours per week. So each day there are 2 shifts: 8am to 3 or 4pm, and 3 or 4pm to 11pm. I've currently got 5 people doing approx 25 hours each per week. There is some overlap, because one of them does accounts, which you can't do while answering the phone etc, one deals with say staff issues/training etc and so on. If one person is off, the others will work extra shifts, depending on availability, or swap shifts. It takes people who are by nature flexible and it doesn't appeal to people who like to know what they are doing every Friday for the foreseeable future, but it is a system that works for us. I used to do it with one person full time, one doing 25hours, one doing 12 hours and me doing the rest, and that was tough going.

I get so confused sometimes

I must get a handle on this