[BNM] sickies

[AndrewGill73@gmail.com]

It's worth pointing out that there is an alternative.... employ contractors
instead.

In my experience you usually pay a higher day rate for a contractor but...
you get more productivity, less office politics, very few sickies (off sick
= no pay), contractor pays for their own training/skills development, do not
pay for extras like pension etc.. And if the contractor is not good (for
whatever reason) then termination is a 5 minute job !!

Andy

On 1/29/07, Nick Wilsdon <n.wilsdon at e3internet.com> wrote:
>
> Simon wrote:
>
> >>I've stopped short of having their head impaled on a spike outside the
> >>office, but only cos of those pesky employment legislation laws. If only
> I
> >>lived in russia...
>
> Well they think I'm fairly progressive out here compared to the locals. In
> Russia you don't have to pay for sick days unless they bring in a signed
> doctors note - and if you want the doctor to write you a fake one it costs
> you money. Most Russian companies operate a black/white payment scheme
> though, were the employee has a very small official (white) salary. If
> they
> take sick days or want prolonged maternity leave then the employer can
> withhold the black part of the salary and there is nothing legally the
> employee can do about it.
>
> As for e3 - I pay well and we have a good atmosphere, so that keeps the
> sick
> days in check. I also operate a profit partnership scheme which works well
> (based on the John Lewis Partnership idea - http://tinyurl.com/yq78fn ).
> They all get a share of a set % of the month's profits, announced at the
> end
> of month meeting.
>
> At this meeting they also vote for 5 people they think have worked the
> hardest. As they work in groups they know better than me if people have
> slacked off and it comes through loud and clear here if they have. Those
> top
> 5 people get an extra %. I got this idea from the Art of Project
> Management
> book by Scott Burkun (http://tinyurl.com/22a4ak) - you ask a team to
> decide
> how to divide up any reward between themselves and it usually gets done
> pretty fairly, and gives you some very useful management feedback.
>
> This is backed up by regular performance reviews of all the staff -
> including myself! - this document lists the number of sick days and we can
> talk about it if it seems they were unwarranted.
>
> Everyone in the company gets free gym membership + trainer (we have a
> large
> complex on-site) - this helps reduce the real sick days. If they are
> taking
> the p**s though, then you have to look at firing them (we use the three
> warnings system). I've done that here on a couple of occasions now -
> sometimes you do just have someone who needs replacing.
>
> The profit partnership has helped me get tougher in that area as you
> realise
> quicker that keeping someone like that on the payroll is affecting
> everyone.
> I think it makes the other staff more supportive than they would be in the
> usual them/us relationship you have in companies between staff/management
> -
> it directly relates to money in their pocket at the end of the month.
>
> The job perks are very welcome though over here, local companies don't do
> that kind of thing and other CEO's think I'm fairly mad for spending money
> on them. I like a progressive work environment and think it pays itself
> back
> 10x over. I imagine it's harder though in the UK where some of these perks
> would be less valued.
>
> In the future I'd like us to be putting some money back into the local
> community as a company (as John Lewis does on a much smaller scale ;)).
> There is a very high level of poverty where I live (this is the 50th
> poorest
> state in Russia) and I've seen many projects now that would benefit hugely
> from a relatively small amount of cash.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Nick
>
> CEO
> e3internet
> http://www.e3internet.com
>
>
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-- 
_______________________________________
Andrew Gill
Binary Portfolio Ltd
Telephone: 01273 704412
The Sussex Innovation Centre, Science Park Square, Brighton, BN1 9SB. U.K
http://www.BinaryPortfolio.com