Non salary staff perks.

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
I don’t currently have any full time staff, not required right now. I’ve previously employed people. In addition to their salary they received;

bill free accommodation. Free food (if living in). Free meat if living out. All work wear provided (boots, wellies, overalls, wet weather gear, cold weather gear). All necessary training (ATV ticket, Telehandler ticket etc). Fully funded company vehicle (we operate over multiple sites). Use of a vehicle during time off. Strictly implemented time off rota. If we have a late finish they had a late start the next day. Opportunity to keep own small scale livestock. Last Friday of every month is ”Fat Friday”, I’d get a takeaway lunch (chippy, pizza etc) and we’d eat together and shoot the sh!t.

I like to think I’m pretty approachable and they felt able to change days off for appointments etc. Also, I’d kennel their dogs if they went on holiday.

edit; any contractors get fed free as well.
 
Last edited:
Basically "Maslow's hierarchy of needs"
More chance to excel if we aren't stressed about the mundane stuff.

^This

It is very simple, make sure the restroom/canteen always has decent coffee and a tin of biscuits/sweets on the go for break times (and make sure all staff actually get breaks...)

Then consult staff and ask what they would change to save time & effort during the day. It could be something as simple as swapping tyres for gravel bags or replacing something that is starting to wear out. It means a lot to employees when they genuinely feel listened to.

A Christmas bonus (not necessarily cash) is a good one, as it also impacts the family at home (turkey, gift vouchers, bag of logs, xmas tree etc)

Some employees hate works parties/nights out in the evenings, as it pressurises home life and they feel obliged to attend with work colleagues without getting paid for their time.
 

Spudley

Member
Location
Pembrokeshire
^This



Some employees hate works parties/nights out in the evenings, as it pressurises home life and they feel obliged to attend with work colleagues without getting paid for their time.

In a previous life, I had to attend a lot of evening events and it wasn't the fact that it was unpaid, it was always after a full day of work when all I wanted to do was go home and see my family and get some rest. It would have been much nicer during work hours.
 

Shep

Member
I found a suitable branch off a tree and nailed it onto our 3 legged milking stool to make it into a 4 leg one, for bragging rights down the pub you understand!
Not that I approve of them going to the pub, as they should be here milking😠
I also only give them 6 lashes instead of 7 as a punishment these days and try not to get them on the back of the legs.
 

Cowmansam

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Shropshire
I don’t currently have any full time staff, not required right now. I’ve previously employed people. In addition to their salary they received;

bill free accommodation. Free food (if living in). Free meat if living out. All work wear provided (boots, wellies, overalls, wet weather gear, cold weather gear). All necessary training (ATV ticket, Telehandler ticket etc). Fully funded company vehicle (we operate over multiple sites). Use of a vehicle during time off. Strictly implemented time off rota. If we have a late finish they had a late start the next day. Opportunity to keep own small scale livestock. Last Friday of every month is ”Fat Friday”, I’d get a takeaway lunch (chippy, pizza etc) and we’d eat together and shoot the sh!t.

I like to think I’m pretty approachable and they felt able to change days off for appointments etc. Also, I’d kennel their dogs if they went on holiday.

edit; any contractors get fed free as well.
Got any jobs going
 
You go after a salaried job including pension, 72 hour week, 145 cows you have sole responsibility for, any spare time you have you work on the arable or with the 450 beef cattle, go for interview, agree that you take your holiday at lambing time so you can lamb your own ewes, and you have 3 hours off every other Tuesday to go to market , you will agree with them in the autumn dates tups go in so lambing suits them, you have a mortgage on your house, a mortgage on some land you've bought, and a wife and young family, you take the job, they refuse to let you go to market, when lambing comes they laugh in your face and refuse to let you have time off, the pension contributions never materialise, the cows are stocked at over 3 per hectare, ayr calving, genus costed , and in the 8 years I was there we never dropped out of the top 5 in the west midlands area costings. By the time I walked the day after my divorce came through, (surprise surprise) they really did know they'd got me, and were bl.oody glad to see the back of me, but those cows were still done right.
Should have walked straight away
 
Should have walked straight away
Been thinking about that job, the old chap wasn't really the problem it was the idle son, but think I'd still rather work for them than some one who thinks I need a financial advisor, and he's giving me a perk with gravel bags, one point I would make is the op is a CHESHIRE dairy farmer so you have to make allowance's.
 

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
Been thinking about that job, the old chap wasn't really the problem it was the idle son, but think I'd still rather work for them than some one who thinks I need a financial advisor, and he's giving me a perk with gravel bags, one point I would make is the op is a CHESHIRE dairy farmer so you have to make allowance's.

I think you are taking the financial advisor suggestion wrong.

I imagine it would be offered. Use of them wouldnt' be demanded.
 

pappuller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
M6 Hard shoulder
Been thinking about that job, the old chap wasn't really the problem it was the idle son, but think I'd still rather work for them than some one who thinks I need a financial advisor, and he's giving me a perk with gravel bags, one point I would make is the op is a CHESHIRE dairy farmer so you have to make allowance's.
Weve moved onto tyre walls 🤣
 
I know some places, more arable or contractor-y in nature where the drivers are given work gear and a budget of sorts to deck 'their' tractor out. A motivated man will be worth 100 non-motivated ones, I know that.
I knew of a chap 20 years ago, who started a weekly competition: £5 to the driver of the best kept tractor. Apparently the staff all got quite competitive about it, for fun as much as for the fiver. He reckoned it paid for itself many times over in the way the tractors were looked after.
 
I think you are taking the financial advisor suggestion wrong.

I imagine it would be offered. Use of them wouldnt' be demanded.
No the way I look at it is (and I appreciate its mine alone(well almost)) just because he can't tie his own shoe laces, he automatically think's his staff can't either.
 

Loftyrules

Member
Location
Monmouth
No the way I look at it is (and I appreciate its mine alone(well almost)) just because he can't tie his own shoe laces, he automatically think's his staff can't either.
It depends on the relationship with the staff, you clearly feel or are made to feel inferior by your boss/bosses so have a negative attitude.
If a boss explains that they want to help and give access to a service 1) They may not have thought about or 2) They may not usually afford then I personally would see it as a nice thing
 

pine_guy

Member
Location
North Cumbria
No the way I look at it is (and I appreciate its mine alone(well almost)) just because he can't tie his own shoe laces, he automatically think's his staff can't either.
You must hate the government for making you consider taking a pension by auto enrolling you into one you have to leave if you don’t want it.

All the negative post make me laugh, every situation is different. The guys getting gravel bags might already be on really good salaries and this is just one of a number of incentives.

my two guys are both on reasonable salaries to start with, but are very good guys. Both have a house with the job. Both have kids but are split from the mother and the major thing I do is allow them drop of the hat flexibility to spend time with their kids, be that a phone call, few hours off when busy to watch them in the school play etc Or the hardest one for me is both take a lot of holiday on school holidays as they have the kids to Look after, but I too have a young family and wife is a teacher so not always easy, joy of being the boss.

nothing regular, but will buy lunch/meals for them on occasions, or wife will cook a meal if working overtime, silage etc.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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