hiring 1st employee questions

[huggytree]

im days/weeks away from making the decision on whether to hire this spring...im leaning towards the conservative approach and will most likely hire an 2nd or 3rd year apprentice....this way I will be with him to help train him MY way....and he will have enough experience that He can do things on his own to some degree....i can most likely send him on his own to do some minor repair type jobs too...by hiring an apprentice i wont need to get him a $35,000 van or $10,000 in rolling stock or $8,000 in power tools....its a $0 investment and will help me with the grunt work

it wont free up any of my time to find more business...thats the big negative here....it will most likely cost me MORE time at first....if my company is going to grow i need to take a step forward.....

do i need to make an employee handbook? anyone know of any on the web i can get for free and modify to fit my business?

i am planning on getting a non-competition agreement made up by a lawyer(going to call my lawyer next week and get it drawn up)

my work start and stop time varies....some days i start at 7am, sometimes at 8:30am....some times i stop at 2pm...sometimes 7pm...i need to find someone willing to work varied hours....i dont want to pay overtime until it goes over 40 hours..i assume i can ask this question at the interview?

im most likely going to try to find someone with military experience...the trades are full of these guys right now and from my experience they handle criticism best and follow orders well..its not a make or break, but its desirable

most likely i wont be able to provide more than 1,500 hours a year...ive never worked more than 1,500 in the field since ive been in business...yea i easily work 500+ more in the office....last year i only worked 1,200 in the field..........is it too much to expect an employee to accept not getting 2000 hours?????????? should i explain it to him in the interview process or let him find out?(right now i assume they are happy just to have a job and who knows maybe ill get 2,000 this year)

ive discussed my getting an employee with several customers now....all are worried about it...its unknown what could happen....they trust me not to damage 100 year old plaster ceilings or flood a house...hiring some one is scary

i just took a vacation and hired a friend to do a bath/kitchen finish for me with a new customer...it was easy....3 hour job....he took 7 hours, charged me $200 more than i had in the bid and had (2) leaks..........i may or may not lose the customer over this.....this was a plumber friend i trusted...someone who actually trained me 14 years ago....hiring is scary....an employee can ruin your reputation, but at some point you have to roll the dice and hire someone

i always take the conservative approach and by hiring someone i can keep my eye on i feel it will not make me as much money, but in the long run it will be a winner and keep my quality/service the way I deliver it now...by training him as a newbie

[dshaddock]

Hi: Please see my responses below in bold.


im days/weeks away from making the decision on whether to hire this spring...im leaning towards the conservative approach and will most likely hire an 2nd or 3rd year apprentice....this way I will be with him to help train him MY way....and he will have enough experience that He can do things on his own to some degree....i can most likely send him on his own to do some minor repair type jobs too...by hiring an apprentice i wont need to get him a $35,000 van or $10,000 in rolling stock or $8,000 in power tools....its a $0 investment and will help me with the grunt work

it wont free up any of my time to find more business...thats the big negative here....it will most likely cost me MORE time at first....if my company is going to grow i need to take a step forward.....

do i need to make an employee handbook? anyone know of any on the web i can get for free and modify to fit my business?
It's helpful to have some standards or guidelines similar to an employee handbook, but it doesn't have to be as formal as a handbook unless you are planning on hiring more staff down the line. You should write a list of policies and procedures, (really just a list of expectations as it relates to the work and performance), on your company letterhead such as
Work hours
Overtime, (whether it's available, does the employee need permission first, etc).
Standards of behavior, (especially when working with clients).
Time off, (does he or she need permission from you? How much notice is required? Will it be paid or unpaid)?
Pay/Benefits, (When will the employee be paid? Are there exceptions? Are benefits part of the job)?

This is just a short list. Your list may look different based on what is important for your employee to know as it relates to the work. Don't put anything in writing that is not worked related or that is questionable, or that can be perceived as discriminatory. Stick to work related expectations.

i am planning on getting a non-competition agreement made up by a lawyer(going to call my lawyer next week and get it drawn up) Good idea!

my work start and stop time varies....some days i start at 7am, sometimes at 8:30am....some times i stop at 2pm...sometimes 7pm...i need to find someone willing to work varied hours....i dont want to pay overtime until it goes over 40 hours..i assume i can ask this question at the interview?
Let the person know that the hours vary as you described and ask the person can they work varied hours. (Don't ask or say anything like, "These are the hours so if you have kids or a personal life, this job may not be for you). My point being, just let the person know what the hours are and ask if they can work the schedule, period. I'd suggest adding the work schedule on the sheet of paper referenced above , (informal "employee handbook).

im most likely going to try to find someone with military experience...the trades are full of these guys right now and from my experience they handle criticism best and follow orders well..its not a make or break, but its desirable

most likely i wont be able to provide more than 1,500 hours a year...ive never worked more than 1,500 in the field since ive been in business...yea i easily work 500+ more in the office....last year i only worked 1,200 in the field..........is it too much to expect an employee to accept not getting 2000 hours?????????? should i explain it to him in the interview process or let him find out?(right now i assume they are happy just to have a job and who knows maybe ill get 2,000 this year)
Not familiar with this particular field of work, but my recommendation is to be transparent; no surprises. It' s a quick way to encourage your newly hired employee to walk if they feel like you are withholding information. Let the interviewees self select out during the interview if this is not acceptable. This is something else to add to the "employee handbook" sheet.

ive discussed my getting an employee with several customers now....all are worried about it...its unknown what could happen....they trust me not to damage 100 year old plaster ceilings or flood a house...hiring some one is scary


i just took a vacation and hired a friend to do a bath/kitchen finish for me with a new customer...it was easy....3 hour job....he took 7 hours, charged me $200 more than i had in the bid and had (2) leaks..........i may or may not lose the customer over this.....this was a plumber friend i trusted...someone who actually trained me 14 years ago....hiring is scary....an employee can ruin your reputation, but at some point you have to roll the dice and hire someone

I agree, with the caveat that you should take a thoughtful approach when hiring. Don't base hiring decisions on your "feeling" that the employee will work well or solely based on a friends recommendation. Take the time to really construct questions that will get at whether the person as the skill set and the personality needed to be successful and be sure to check references. Here are two articles that I wrote which can help with this:
1. Developing Your Interview Questions:Developing Your Interview Questions (http://easysmallbusinesshr.com/2010/09/developing-your-interview-questions-the-behavioral-interview-style-of-questioning/)

2. Checking references: The Top 11 Reference Questions To Find The Best Candidate | Easy Small Business HR (http://easysmallbusinesshr.com/2011/07/best-reference-questions/)

i always take the conservative approach and by hiring someone i can keep my eye on i feel it will not make me as much money, but in the long run it will be a winner and keep my quality/service the way I deliver it now...by training him as a newbie

[Steve B]

I think your conservative approach is the right one. The most important thing you have is your reputation and as a business that is growing it will come down to the way you train your employees and if you will consistently verify that they are following the standards you have set.

I can send you the non-compete that I use. It was something I got from my corporate life and it is easy enough to modify.

I think a handbook is overkill for your business.

[huggytree]

yes Steve, send me the non-compete...the union dictates most rules anyways....i can lay some one off for any reason with 2 hours notice...they can also quit w/ 2 hours notice...

ive heard non-compete's can be difficult to take to court, but i feel its all about the attitude and scare tactic..90% of employee's wont risk it if they sign and if they are reminded of the agreement on their way out the door.

my accountant recommends employee handbook software...some program that will write it for me in my particular State. Im going to most likely make some rules and put it down on 1 sheet of paper...maybe 10-15 bullet points regarding 'basic' policy on showing up late and side jobbing

i have too much work starting mid March.....if no more work comes in ill be fine(but busy)...if more work comes in i will be working 12 hour days/7 days a week for 2-4 weeks.....i have (2) $50,000 jobs one right after the other....

im now thinking a 4th year apprentice may be my goal.....an apprentice can work alone starting in his 5th year...this will give me 1 year to work 1 on 1 and also avoid the $50,000 investment in equipment for a year or 2........there are so many laid off plumbers right now i should be able to pick and choose in detail who im looking for...im sure there are 20+ 3rd-4th year apprentices...maybe even 50 since its mid winter

this winter my work load is 2-3x normal.....i can only see the spring getting better.....and if the work load increases further i can always hire a journeyman in a few months....i have enough in personal savings to get the equipment if needed......the big problem is when it slows down(if it does)...where do i store a 2nd van? or do i sell it immediately and take the loss

union rules dictate overtime after 8 hours, but many companies ignore this....and even in good times most employees let it go if they are happy....if i had only new construction 8 hour days are easy....there's no homeowner's to worry about...but because i do almost all remodeling and most remodels are 6-12 hours its hard to get a normal day...some homeowners dont allow you to start until 8:30......i may offer the employee's $1 over union scale to accept the odd hours.....its possible right now that many apprentices are happy just to get some hours in towards their apprenticeship.......i know i would be......

[lucas.bowser]

Do most plumbing companies in your area use a non-compete agreement in some shape or form? If so, what do you plan on limiting them from doing? Your limits on their future ability to earn a living will likely affect the quality of employee you can get. If you want someone that is ambitious, motivated, takes pride in their work, etc... they are also the ones that are likely to want to start their own business one day. In that case, they may not be willing to work for you unless the agreement protects their future right to strike out on their own.

My entire professional career, I have usually refused to sign a broad non-compete agreement. It has cost me a job opportunity or two along the way, but I refuse to be restricted in what I can do going forward. I have and will sign a limited non-compete that protects my employer from me actively stealing their customers or protects them in a limited geography.

[huggytree]

im looking to protect my customer base for 2 years.........as long as they dont take my customers i dont care if they start their own or not...i agree many go-getters will start their own eventually.......i was one of them

i will not hire anyone who will not sign....all im asking for is to leave my customers alone



can i ask about the driving history??? drunk drivings??

what about physical problems? back problems?

im looking for someone to handle the heavy work that im getting too old for...if their back is worse than mine it does me no good

[Steve B]

You can ask them if they can perform the physical requirements of the job with or without reasonable accomodation. For instance, you can ask them if they can lift x amount of pounds and carry it up the stairs, x times in a day (of course you have to be picking a realistic situation they will actually need to do). Don't forget to ask about the reasonable accomodation. For instance, they might be able to do it if you provide a handtruck to help them move the part (that would be considered reasonable).

The non-compete agreements must be reasonable in order for them to be enforceable. If you do it correctly - they WILL hold up in court. For instance, you will not be able to limit someone from performing any plumbing work in the state of Wisconsin for 5 years. But, you would likely be able to restrict them from becoming a principle business owner of a business that does plumbing work in 1 or 2 different counties for a period of one (or maybe two) years.

I'll forward you my non-compete in a minute.

I was an HR guy in my previous life - PM me if you have other questions about hiring that you don't want to ask publicly.

[Steve B]

It's O.K. to ask about their driving record and it would be a good idea to do a background check. I require a clean driving record. In your industry, I bet this will weed out a lot of problems.

[huggytree]

lots of drinking issues in the trades...drugs too

showing up on time will be one of the hardest things to find from my experience

[Haup9]

Huggy - You may want to run their names through this website Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl) it provides access to certain public records of the circuit courts of Wisconsin. Of course it doesn't give you the full story if what ever is in there but if you see a ton of stuff for the person your looking up that can throw up red flags for you.

[huggytree]

i already use it for checking out my builders....i had one a few years ago that had 3 pages full

ill pay for a background check...i have to background check myself for the insurance work ive done...so its not a big deal...i also advertise that im background checked

[billbenson]

I typed my name into google yesterday to see what came up.For $30 I could get a police report, net worth, income level etc. Even a copy of my birth certificate! You never know if this information is accurate.

Quick story on the accuracy of whats out there. I know someone who has never been able to hold down a job. Comes from a dysfunctional family. Years ago, his brother took a Corvette for a test drive from a car dealership, steals the car and then totals it. His brother used my friends drivers license. His mother testified in court that it was my friend, not his brother. When it finally went to court the cop realized that my friend wasn't the guy he arrested and charges were dropped. The thing is, databases across the country showed him as having been arrested for vehicle theft. He has never been able to get his name cleared. That's an example of why its difficult to rely on the accuracy of online databases.

As far as drinking and drugs on the job. That should become apparent during a 3 month probation period.

[huggytree]

pretty much 100% of people with drink/drug problems wont show up on time....i will weed it out the 1st week