I searched employee wages and couldn’t believe the question hasn’t been asked here.
I infiltrated the window cleaners forum and @Jordie asked a question there I wish I knew the answer to.
How do you pay your employees? Hourly? Commission? Both?
What are the pros and cons of all of the above?
My pilot guys get salary each day they are on the road. $135 and I pay all expenses but food. They get that if they work a 13 hour day or a 1/2 hour day!
Commission is great if they work alone or as a team. If you are pulling guys from one job to the next, or full crews for a day then splitting crews up the next day you will never keep it straight. Window Gang uses commission. I currently have 3 of their former employees because they got tired of starving in the winter. I do hourly
I started with commission. The thing i didn’t like is when you raise your prices, the employee comes along for the ride.
Low hourly wage with incentives is a very intriguing option. This is a great video. Start at 7:18
man, sounds like they complicate their lives with the calendar, estimate, file stuff, they just need The Customer Factor, you can upload pics, and even send a “big proposal” which includes your insurance, testimonials, photos, etc.
The holding the bonus thing sounds interesting.
We pay our employees hourly, 14 dollars, but on the night shift; since it’s always the same work (commercial janitorial) we pay for a set x hour shift, if they work faster or slower they still get paid the same.
I think I’m paying too high so I will lower the hourly wages on new employees to 12/hr, but may try the bonus thing to use as leverage.
Also, I’m interested in trying out a daily set pay, based on estimated hours for the day, kinda how we do nights.
I’m located in east-central Florida.
I’m no human resources guru, but if they work 5 hours on a 4 hour gig, you gotta pay them 5 hours, unless it’s a commission thing.
the only reason they were to work past the scheduled hours is if they started later or wasted time chit-chatting, they’ve gotten done in half the time, but I’m not going to pay them less because they’ve gotten better/faster at their job. But yes, legally you must pay them for all hours they work for you, 
bummer, I know…
Thanks for the responses. And the video @Jordie. I’m looking forward to watching it, but I’m beat tonight
Really great info my dudes! Been wondering what a new tech wage should be.
