Employee vs Independent Contractor -ensure you are in compliance when hiring for your company

We have recently hired a young gal who previously worked for a local competitor. During her interview she mentioned that she was paid the same wage we were hiring her at, but that she was responsible for paying her own taxes. So I asked her if she had her own business license for cleaning and she said "no". Red flags instantly started going off in my head, as I was listening to her story, because I knew that this other business was doing thing illegally. Now I'm not an Human Resource professional, in the sense that I have a degree in HR, but I have been hiring people for twelve years and I know that hiring Independent Contractors can be risky business if you do not do it by the book.

Here is a list of questions to ask yourself, as a business, to ensure that you are actually hiring someone as an independent contractor and not as an employee.

*Information obtained from the State of Washington Department of Labor.

Is Your Subcontractor Really an Employee?

Take the "Six-Part Test" below

A “yes” answer to all six questions usually means the worker has a business of his/her own, and you are not responsible for workers’ comp premiums, unemployment tax or wage and hour requirements.

Supervision Do they perform the work free of your direction and control? Business office Do they maintain and pay for a place of business that is separate from yours? A cell phone and a truck is not enough. You need to visit his or her place of business and make sure.  Previously established business Do they have an established, independent business that existed before you hired them? Evidence may include other customers or advertising.  IRS taxes When you entered into the contract, was the contractor responsible for filing a business tax return with the IRS for his or her business?  Maintains books Do they maintain a set of books dedicated to the expenses and earnings of the business? You can ask to review them for your protection. Required registrations Are they up to date on all required registrations and accounts? UBI number? Check Washington State Department of Revenue tax registration account.  Contractor registration number (RCW 18.27), electrical contractor license (RCW 19.28.061) or elevator contractor license (RCW 70.87.240)? Check L&I's Look Up: Contractors or Tradespeople application. If they have employees, do they also have these required accounts? Unemployment insurance account with Washington State Employment Security Department? Call 360-902-9360.           Workers' Compensation account with Washington State Department of Labor & Industries? Check at Verify Workers' Comp Premium Status.

Note: If you plan to treat your worker/subcontractor as an independent, make sure you can prove it. You may always ask the person you are hiring to see the above documents.

Did you answer “yes” to ALL SIX questions on this page?

Then they are a contractor, and usually you will have:

• No workers’ compensation premiums due.
• No wage and hour requirements.
• No unemployment tax.

Did you answer “no” to ANY of the six questions on this page?

You usually DO have to do the following for the worker(s) you are hiring, since they are NOT independent contractors.

• Pay workers’ compensation.
• Meet wage and hour requirements.
• Pay unemployment tax.
• Always keep a safe workplace!

Many companies are tempted to hire independent contractors, and not employees, as it saves them time, money and headaches but most companies do not ensure they are doing things legally. The other business, my new employee worked for, was definitely not in compliance and, if she reports them, could get in serious trouble.

So, don't make the same mistake and ensure your "Independent Contractor" is truly an independent contractor and not an employee.  

Gathering and Filtering Your Applications

The Continuation of creating a comprehensive application process to filter the potentials from the qualified

Over the past 11 years of being an employer in the cleaning service industry, my partner and I have read thousands (if not tens of thousands) of applications and resumes, have hired hundreds of people and have parted ways with most. Through this journey we have learned what type of people work well within our organization and what type do not.

Unfortunately, finding the right employee is like finding a needle in a haystack. There is a huge population of unemployed persons that are all applying for the same jobs. So how do we find the right people within this mountain of applications and resumes? My partner and I have developed a hiring system that includes a series of steps, which we will discuss in a series of blog posts, that give us an insight as to which applicants are worth knowing more about.

This blog post is a continuation of a series of posts on how to find the "perfect" employees for your cleaning service business. If you haven't already, read the previous posts which are linked below.

How to hire the RIGHT people for your cleaning service business
How to write a job description that works!

Creating a Comprehensive Application Process to Filter Potentials from Qualified

The Continuation of creating a comprehensive application process to filter the potentials from the qualified

In our last issue we discussed what type of application you will use and where to post your employment advertisement. This issue, we are going to focus on collecting and filtering those applications so you can identify the qualified from the rest.

As mentioned in previous posts, Clean Right uses a fully electronic system for hiring staff. We find this very useful in collecting and filtering the hundreds of applications we receive during recruitment. This post will focus on the use of technology but, if your are less tech-savy, you will find helpful information regardless. 

Here's where we're at: We've created a list of requirements of employment and a list of attributes that we've found in our successful team members, we've written a job description that is informative and clear as to what the position requires and has to offer, we've written a draft of our application making sure to use our lists from the first step, and we've planned where we will advertise our position to get the most potential applicants interested, as possible. 

Now we need to gather and filter the flood of applications. 

Gathering:

Technology is very useful in gathering your applications, especially when you have a home office or do not have a space people can come to get and fill out your application. We use our website and an electronic form to gather our applications. First, we have a link that potential applicants click to read the job description. At the end of the description, there is another link that takes them to the online application. We use a third party's web software (Constant Contact) to create this online survey form and to also save the responses for us to view, print or delete. It's very useful for filtering responses as well.

If you choose a paper method, you must decide how to hand out and gather those applications. You could have the potential applicant print the form from your website than email or mail it in, or you could hand them out and have them fill the application out on the spot. It all depends on what works best for you and your company.

Filtering:

Filtering your applications will dwindle the hundreds of potential applicants to your top 10-20 prospects. Your filters are the "required criteria" that you decided on in earlier steps. If an applicant does not have any one of these "required criteria", cut em! (Not literally mind you I just mean they're cut from the potential list.) Do Not Falter from this. Don't say "well maybe just this once" or "let's bend the rules this time". Trust me, I'm trying to save you some pain here! Every time you do, you'll have to learn all over again why you made that a "requirement" in the first place. 

Whether you filter your applicants using technology or by hand, the process will be the same. The point is to "cut" the unqualified applicants down to the potential candidates and finally leaving you with the top prospects.

Cut the unqualified

1. Step one is to make sure the application is complete and legible. If they didn't answer each required question then don't look at it any further. If someone can't take the time to completely fill out your application, then they aren't going to take the time to help your business succeed. With paper applications, you will have hand writing that must be deciphered. This could be a great "filter". If you can't read it easily, then cut em! If they won't take the time to write clearly and legibly so they can get the job, then they won't put the time and effort into the job either. The legible problem can be avoided using the online form.
2. Again, if they answer any of the required criteria wrong, cut em! These are requirements for a reason and you will be tempted to make exceptions now and again but please, please, please, DON'T!!! When you begin to think about making an exception I want you to take a deep breath kick yourself in the shin. This will be far less painful than learning not to make exceptions by being let down when you do. Again, these are requirements for very good reasons, stick to em!

Potential Candidates vs Top Prospects

1. Now you left with a much smaller pile/list of applications. Each of them fulfill your company's requirements for employment but there are still a great many applicants that would not make a good fit for your team. This is where the questions relating to the attributes of your successful staff members come in. When reading the applicant's answers, your looking for:
1. Similarities - to your successful staff is a good thing, to your past problem staff -not a good thing. If they have similarities to problem staff members, then it's best to learn from your mistakes the first time. Pass on these potential applicants. 
2. Schedule conflicts -if they go to school during the hours you'd need them to work, then they obviously don't fit your needs so pass. We pass on anyone that can't conform to our scheduling needs. 
3. Anything that doesn't look or sound right -if you just don't feel it, then move on. You need to find the candidates that will bring the most to your company.

Now what?

So we have our top 10-20 (or more depending on how large of a response you got) prospects. Now it's time to interview. Don't forget the old saying, "Quick to Fire, Slow to Hire". Sometimes it's difficult but you need to take your time so you make good choices in your hiring. Your team will work best when it is full of people that work well together. "One bad apple spoils the bunch" is another old saying that is very true in team environments. You must foster a fun, comfortable and rewarding work environment or you will never build a team that you can depend on to help your business succeed. 

"Wow, It's hard to believe that we've actually come to the end of this series. I truly hope it has helped you in your hiring process. It's taken many years and many, many sleepless nights to realize what we were doing wrong with our hiring and what to do to fix them. Though our system is not perfect, when we stick to it (yes even we sometimes "make exception" and yes, it has never paid off),  it works. Happy Hiring!" Erica Jensen -President, Clean Right Co.

The Continuation of creating a comprehensive application process to filter the potentials from the qualified

Over the past 11 years of being an employer in the cleaning service industry, my partner and I have read thousands (if not tens of thousands) of applications and resumes, have hired hundreds of people and have parted ways with most. Through this journey we have learned what type of people work well within our organization and what type do not.

Unfortunately, finding the right employee is like finding a needle in a haystack. There is a huge population of unemployed persons that are all applying for the same jobs. So how do we find the right people within this mountain of applications and resumes? My partner and I have developed a hiring system that includes a series of steps, which we will discuss in a series of blog posts, that give us an insight as to which applicants are worth knowing more about.

This blog post is a continuation of a series of posts on how to find the "perfect" employees for your cleaning service business. If you haven't already, read the previous posts which are linked below.

How to hire the RIGHT people for your cleaning service business
How to write a job description that works!Creating a Comprehensive Application Process


In our last issue we discussed how to put together an application and the information you should obtain. This issue, we are going to focus on what type of application you will use and where to post your employment advertisement.

Paper or Electronic?

Meaning, how do you want to gather your applications? Do you want to gather paper applications or do you want them sent to you electronically or perhaps both? This is a question only you can answer. If you are comfortable with technology I would suggest taking advantage of that which will save some trees and yourself some time! Clean Right Co ONLY takes applications electronically and it is a very specific process. We DO NOT accept resumes that are emailed or faxed or resumes period for that matter. We ONLY accept the application, that we have put together, and is submitted through our website. I advise choosing one application style and sticking to it so you can quickly, easily and efficiently read through applications to find your "perfect" hire. Because we use the electronic application the rest of this post will focus on using technology but I will touch on the use of paper applications and resumes. Plus, you can adapt our electronic version to fit your needs. 

Where to post your employment advertisement.

There are a multitude of ways you can do this, some are free and some are not. We use free options as, to this point, it works for us. Regardless, listed are some options to choose from and how they work.

1. Craigslist -We use Craigslist to post our employment ad. Many potential applicants will use this site to search for jobs and you can refresh your ad every couple days so that it is on the top of their listings. 
2. Work Source -This is a state run program, in our state, that people have free access to search for jobs from. It is also free for the employer to post employment ads to their website. 
3. Various Other Free Listing Sites -There are a multitude of websites that you can post your employment ad on for free so you'll need to do some research to see what sites are known in your area and that will attract local talent. I would stick to sites that you can submit a listing to in your local area. An example is Craigslist where you can narrow down the area your listing shows up by using your "local" Craigslist page. I would stay away from sites that post your ad nationwide. This may sound like a good idea, as your listing will get seen by more people, but why would you want to waste your time reading a hundred applications from people that live in another city or state?
4. Paid Listing Sites -There are also a plethora of sites that you can pay to post your employment ad on such as Monster or HelpWanted.com. We stay away from these because we have not had the need to use them. I would use them as a last resort because you want to keep the cost of obtaining a new employee as low as possible. As well, the majority of the people searching for a job on these types of sites are not going to be looking for a cleaning position. They are going to be people with degrees looking for a job related to their field of interest. 
5. Local Temp & Job Placement Agencies -This is a great way to have another company aid in your hiring process. They can be the "front line" of your defenses against unwanted applicants. However, they charge a premium for this service. A Temp-To-Hire set up will cost you an inflated hourly wage and sometimes a lump sum fee if you choose to hire the person on. However, this may be beneficial to you as you can 'try' people out for any length of time and, if they don't cut the mustard, you simply have the agency send you someone else. They also take care of paying and filling all employment taxes (though you are paying for it in your bill to them along with a bit extra for their business). Job placements agencies are different as they usually aren't focused on finding people "temp" jobs. They are also different as some charge the applicant a fee, not the employer, to have access to the jobs listed with them. 
6. Newspaper Advertisement -This is old hat. We do not use the newspaper as it is not widely used in our area but, if it is still a hot commodity in your neck of the woods, then you should run an employment ad in it. 

It all boils down to what works in your area and for your company. Are you technologically acute or are you behind in the electronics realm? We use technology in our hiring process so we use the web as our go to for our employment listings. 

In our next post, we will talk about Gathering and Filtering your applications. We use a complete electronic hiring process so I will be focusing on using technology more than the "old Fashioned" paper process. However, the same principals apply to either process so you can still find very useful tips and information that you can customize for your processes.

Until then, I hope this post and it's predecessors have been informative and useful. Please don't hesitate to discuss and comment. Thank you for reading, Erica Jensen -President Clean Right Co 

Creating a comprehensive application process to filter the potentials from the qualified

Over the past 11 years of being an employer in the cleaning service industry, my partner and I have read thousands (if not tens of thousands) of applications and resumes, have hired hundreds of people and have parted ways with most. Through this journey we have learned what type of people work well within our organization and what type do not.

Unfortunately, finding the right employee is like finding a needle in a haystack. There is a huge population of unemployed persons that are all applying for the same jobs. So how do we find the right people within this mountain of applications and resumes? My partner and I have developed a hiring system that includes a series of steps, which we will discuss in a series of blog posts, that give us an insight as to which applicants are worth knowing more about.

This blog post is a continuation of a series of posts on how to find the "perfect" employees for your cleaning service business. If you haven't already, read the previous posts which are linked below.

How to hire the RIGHT people for your cleaning service business.

How to write a job description that works!

As promised, in my previous post, this week's post is going to focus on developing a comprehensive application process that will filter all the potential candidates, that have applied for you position, so all that you are left with are the qualified ones. 

Even though you have put together a detailed job description, listing the requirements needed for the job, you will receive hundreds of applicants that do not have these requirements. Why? They didn't read the job description. More than half of your applicants are simply applying to every job posted hoping to land one. They are trying to fish, for a job, with a huge net hoping at least one fish stays in the net as they pull it tight. So instead of reading hundreds of resumes and applications from people that aren't qualified, or are not even looking for the actual job you're hiring for (e.g. they want a full time receptionist position with medical and dental insurance), you will want to develop an application process that will weed the unwanted applicants out so you can focus your limited time and energy, on contacting the applicants that you are most interested in and that are interested in your position.

One of the best ways to do this is to have every applicant apply the same way. Each person, wanting to apply for your position, should fill out an application and submit it the same way as everyone else so that you are not pulling your hair out looking at different forms and reading through an entire resume to find out the person is not a fit for your company.

To start, you will need to grab your list of attributes. We will use these to develop our application starting with the "required" attributes. There are many template applications you can use, for your cleaning service business, but we have found that a generic application just wasn't gaining enough of the pertinent information, we needed, in order to determine the eligibility of the potential applicant. Therefore, we developed our own and we suggest you do the same. Let's discuss the different parts of the application and how you can use them to gather the information you deem relevant for your business.

1. Personal information -This is the most important and self explanatory. In this section you gather names, phone numbers, addresses and the like. 
2. Requirements of Employment -Use the next section to filter out potential applicants that do not have one or more of your requirements of employment with your company. Make sure you create a question pertaining to each of your "Required" attributes. For example, if you use the internet and texting to communicate with your staff, you would need to require your employees to have a cell phone with texting capabilities and a computer (or equivalent) with internet access. Therefore, you would include questions relating to these requirements. If an applicant answers 'NO' to any of the questions relating to your required attributes, you do not need to read further. This person is filtered out and you move on to the next one. Example Questions:
• Do you have a cell phone with texting capabilities? Yes/No If yes, please provide cell phone number. 
• Do you have a computer with internet access? Yes/No  
3. Employment History and Information -This next section is used to gather information on the applicant's work history. We specifically ask questions regarding to experience in the cleaning field as well as what days of the week they are available and what times. 
4. Education History -In this section we gather our applicant's educational history as well as any technical certifications pertaining to the field. We also ask if they are currently enrolled in school and if so, what the schedule is.
5. Tell Us About Yourself -This is one of the most important sections. We ask questions like "Tell us about yourself, your family and what you like to do in your free time.", "Where do you plan to be in three years?" & "Tell us why we should hire you.".  The answers to these questions give you a feel into the personality of the applicant. If they like to do things that your current, successful employees do, then you have a good inclination that their personality will mesh well with your current staff.

Wow, this is quite a bit of information so I think this is a good place to stop for today. Take your list of attributes and create your application. In our next issue, we will discuss how Clean Right Co posts our job openings, gathers the applications and filters them to find the qualified applicants that we are interested in learning more about. Erica Jensen, President Clean Right Co -Spokane, WA

How to write a job description that works!

Over the past 11 years of being an employer in the cleaning service industry, my partner and I have read thousands (if not tens of thousands) of applications and resumes, have hired hundreds of people and have parted ways with most. Through this journey we have learned what type of people work well within our organization and what type do not.

Unfortunately, finding the right employee is like finding a needle in a haystack. There is a huge population of unemployed persons that are all applying for the same jobs. So how do we find the right people within this mountain of applications and resumes? My partner and I have developed a hiring system that includes a series of steps, which we will discuss in a series of blog posts, that give us an insight as to which applicants are worth knowing more about.

This blog post is a continuation of a series of posts on how to find the "perfect" employees for your cleaning service business. If you haven't already, read the previous posts which are linked below.

How to hire the RIGHT people for your cleaning service business

Writing the job description

A good job description will inform your applicant about the position they are applying for as well as, what will be expected of them while working for the company and, in return, what the company will offer them for meeting those expectations. 

So knowing what you expect from your staff is easy to define, right? Come to work on time, do a good job, don't cause trouble and do what you're told. There... Done.... Well, not so fast. Your potential employees need more from you. 

In order to attain the right people for your cleaning service business, you need to lay it all out on the line so, when applying for the position, the applicant knows exactly what that position entails, what the company will expect from them and what they can expect in return. Therefore you need to write a detailed job description which should include the following information: 

• A brief description/history of the company and the services offered.
• A list of requirements for the position. These will be the "must have attributes" from the list of attributes you made which is discussed in the previous post. If they don't have all of these attributes, they don't get hired. (e.g. valid driver's license, reliable transportation to and from work, etc.)
• A list of attributes that your company finds in it's top employees. These will be the "desired" attributes you made from the previous post. A good applicant will have most, if not all, of these attributes. (e.g. punctual, friendly, team player, etc.)
• What the company offers in return. It's important to show the value of working for your company to your applicant so they can get excited about the job and feel confident in the company they are applying to work for. If you demand allot and offer a little, you will never find the right people. (e.g. hours per week, wage, bonuses, paid time off, holiday pay, etc.)
• Details on how to apply *More information on this in our next posting!

By giving your applicant the information they need to make an informative decision, on whether this job suits their needs or not, is imperative. Taking the time to put together a detailed job description will ultimately save you both time and energy by weeding out those potential applicants that, given the information, realize this is not the job they are looking for and therefore decide not to apply. In other words, you're not wasting your valuable time reading applications and calling people that aren't qualified or interested in the job you have to offer. 

I truly hope this second posting has gotten you thinking of how you can streamline your hiring process and find the right people for your cleaning service business. Our next issue will focus on how to collect your applicant's information so you can easily define who is, and who isn't, going to be the perfect employee for your cleaning service business.  

Best Wishes ~Erica Jensen President Clean Right Co.

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How to hire the RIGHT people for your cleaning service business

Over the past 11 years of being an employer in the cleaning service industry, my partner and I have read thousands (if not tens of thousands) of applications and resumes, have hired hundreds of people and have parted ways with most. Through this journey we have learned what type of people work well within our organization and what type do not.

Unfortunately, finding the right employee is like finding a needle in a haystack. There is a huge population of unemployed persons that are all applying for the same jobs. So how do we find the right people within this mountain of applications and resumes? My partner and I have developed a hiring system that includes a series of steps, which we will discuss in a series of blog posts, that give us an insight as to which applicants are worth knowing more about.

Step One: Develop Your 'Perfect Employee'

Define your Company's Culture-

The first thing you must do, before developing your 'Perfect Employee' is understand your company's culture. What's a company's culture? It's the personality of your business which is defined by the personalities of its management and staff members. It's very important to understand the culture of your cleaning business, especially given that it is a service based business, where staff members are working in conjunction with each other, to complete jobs. Therefore, your teams must be able to get along and work well with each other.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself: 

What type of person are you looking for? 

What types of people "fit in" with your staff? 

If you were to create a perfect employee, what would that look like? 

List of Attributes-

The best way to answer these questions is to make a list of the best attributes that your current and most successful staff members have. Keep in mind that this list should contain more than just cleaning skills. Include attributes about their lifestyles, family life, personalities, and even what they do in there free time. By creating this list of attributes for your 'Perfect Employee', you will have a list of desirable qualities that you can compare your applicants to.

Classes of Employees-

In any business there are two classes of employees -those that lead, and those that follow. Therefore you should develop a list of attributes for both classes as you will need to hire different types of people for these different classes of employees. If you're looking for a leader, then you need people who are more assertive & motivated. However, if you are looking to hire a follower then putting an assertive type person in that position may cause problems within that team and eventually that person will become frustrated with their position and will not stay with your company because you are not offering them what they need to be happy.


Anyways, I think this is a great start to developing a system for hiring in your cleaning service business. It has taken my partner and I many years to develop our system and we hope it will help you to avoid some pitfalls along your way.

In our next issue, we will discuss your responsibilities, as an employer, to your staff. Until then just remember, without happy staff, you will never have happy customers. 

Best Wishes, Erica Jensen President of Clean Right Co. -Spokane, WA