Non salary staff perks.

[roscoe erf]

What a bizarre thread

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

aye that’s it nothing to do with just doing my job properly I guess

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.

 

[I thats it]

Beside their salary, do you provide staff with any extra perks?

We do a lot already to make the work places as desirable as possible rubber matting in the parlour, change equipment regularly etc
We started tackling mastitis a few years ago and every time we dropped 5 cases per 100 we got rid of tyres and brought more gravel bags for the silage pit.

This year I've decided to allocate budget to non salary perks. First on the list was branded beanies, caps, jackets etc. I thought maybe buy a whole boxed lamb and share it out. Then next time a pig or get one of those mobile car spa guys to wash everyones cars? Maybe bring the personal financial advisor I use in to speak to everyone?

Anyone got any good ideas?

It'll depend on your staff. Ours all have their own farms at home and come to us on average 4 days a week. If they want to borrow machinery on their days off then we usually work round it and let them have them for the day. Help them if you can. It works well both ways.

 

[Serup]

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.

Why in the world would you not think you could do better than that and leave after 8 weeks? I would love to hire commited people like that, but would never treat them anywhere close to this.

 

[Lofty1984]

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.

So they were pricks to work for if you were that good you could of left and walked into another job

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

Why in the world would you not think you could do better than that and leave after 8 weeks? I would love to hire commited people like that, but would never treat them anywhere close to this.

It was a well paid job at that time, there weren't other jobs available in the area which I'd of wanted, lack of confidence was I think the main problem at the start, with hindsight I should have stood my ground.

 

[Sid]

Does it work both ways?

Son made a mistake at a place of work.
Wrote off farm truck.

He asked me what to do i said pay the excess so that boss isn't out of pocket.

 

[Jdunn55]

Does it work both ways?

Son made a mistake at a place of work.
Wrote off farm truck.

He asked me what to do i said pay the excess so that boss isn't out of pocket.

Recently saw a very large contracting team (Wilson contracting I think) brag about how if any employee breaks anything they have to pay for the lot - funnily enough they then went on to state that they have a very high turnover of staff cant think why

 

[Sid]

Recently saw a very large contracting team (Wilson contracting I think) brag about how if any employee breaks anything they have to pay for the lot - funnily enough they then went on to state that they have a very high turnover of staff cant think why

Other son had his wages deducted when he left a place for minor damages such as a bent bar on a gate, cut on scraper tractor tyre etc. He wasn't the only one that drove the scraper.
Funnily it was just enough to take his whole last pay packet!

 

[Headless chicken]

Does it work both ways?

Son made a mistake at a place of work.
Wrote off farm truck.

He asked me what to do i said pay the excess so that boss isn't out of pocket.

the offer would be nice but I wouldn’t see it fit unless they were clearly at fault and not just an accident.

 

[Jdunn55]

Other son had his wages deducted when he left a place for minor damages such as a bent bar on a gate, cut on scraper tractor tyre etc. He wasn't the only one that drove the scraper.
Funnily it was just enough to take his whole last pay packet!

Gosh how coincidental... I think at my last work I made two bigger mistakes (not massive but not minor) and I offered to pay for both of them out of guilt but was refused both times.

 

[Headless chicken]

To give a degree of perspective from an outsider looking into another industry my three of my mates are managers one in a nursing home other two in Aldi.

they would mostly earn 36ish k a year. They work anti social hours, are on call at times, contracted for 50 hours a week, expected to be freshly shaven and well presented in the mornings, provided their own trousers and shoes( shoes maybe via choice ie the company may contribute £20) and they have to deal with the public. They each love their jobs but it’s not all the rose tinted glasses we seem to be having people saying it is.

I think the odd unexpected day off doesn’t go a mis. Or the odd milking where you tell them you’ll finish off. I don’t buy into this whole you have to give things or spend money to make people feel valued, their salary should cover that. It’s the small gestures that work.

 

[Jdunn55]

To give a degree of perspective from an outsider looking into another industry my three of my mates are managers one in a nursing home other two in Aldi.

they would mostly earn 36ish k a year. They work anti social hours, are on call at times, contracted for 50 hours a week, expected to be freshly shaven and well presented in the mornings, provided their own trousers and shoes( shoes maybe via choice ie the company may contribute £20) and they have to deal with the public. They each love their jobs but it’s not all the rose tinted glasses we seem to be having people saying it is.

I think the odd unexpected day off doesn’t go a mis. Or the odd milking where you tell them you’ll finish off. I don’t buy into this whole you have to give things or spend money to make people feel valued, their salary should cover that. It’s the small gestures that work.

A cup of tea and cake that i get presented with at milking makes my day every time, if I've had a sh!t milking it makes it 10x better, and if I've had a good milking it's like the icing on the cake! Clothing and mugs etc although nice are just things. In the same way we all get presented with pens and hats from the different ai companies - it doesnt make me want to buy stuff from them any more or any less, what does is the ones who phone and ask how I am, how the calves/heifers are getting on etc.

As for dealing with the public, theres not enough money in the world I could be paid to deal with their clownery, it's bad enough having to deal with footpath walkers but the only silver lining with them is that if I tell them to f**k off I'm not going to get fired

 

[frederick]

Other son had his wages deducted when he left a place for minor damages such as a bent bar on a gate, cut on scraper tractor tyre etc. He wasn't the only one that drove the scraper.
Funnily it was just enough to take his whole last pay packet!

Was he self employed.
If not unless there was a written contract the employer was bang out of order.

 

[Sid]

Was he self employed.
If not unless there was a written contract the employer was bang out of order.

It was in the contract, even though he is adamant he didn't do it.

I learnt my lesson on that as well with thousands of damage that someone self employed just walked away from!

 

[Sheepykid]

It was in the contract, even though he is adamant he didn't do it.

I learnt my lesson on that as well with thousands of damage that someone self employed just walked away from!

I don’t think legally there is a way around it is there? With employed people I think unless you can prove it’s malicious damage I don’t think you can make them pay for one pennies worth. I’d be interested to know if I’m wrong though. Having spent many thousands repairing things also!

 

[Sid]

I don’t think legally there is a way around it is there? With employed people I think unless you can prove it’s malicious damage I don’t think you can make them pay for one pennies worth. I’d be interested to know if I’m wrong though. Having spent many thousands repairing things also!

Having spoken to an advisor they said there was nothing that he could do!

 

[ollie989898]

Interesting thread.

My take on it is that it will very much come down to the nature of the business. I know some of you will work very hard and have staff that give their all. Probably a small crew but maybe you make good money too. In that circumstance, hell yes, a farm/estate branded smart jacket/overalls/bib and brace would be good. Not a £10 fleece the likes of which the freezer section in Tesco would wear. No problems with staff PPE/wellies/gloves etc either- it's all tax deductible and there is a borderline legal aspect to PPE anyway. Dairying can be a harsh existence as I well know, anything that makes it more comfortable is ok in my book. Conversely the guy running a firm of 100 truckers is going to have a hard time to dedicate that much time to his guys. Hard to know where to stop in some ways as everything you do is x100 fold.

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. Senior or more long standing staff will be given a chance to shape policy and machinery purchases, too- all makes them feel part of the scene and they have a degree of control over their own destinies.

I personally would not give cash, I think a case of beef, beer, wine or whatever at Christmas time would be very nice and thoughtful.

Having a suggestion box is very common in the corporate world. Jobs that folk hate or find difficult- I agree find ways to make them easy and fun if possible. My father said work should always be at least 50% fun. It's AOK to sweat your guts out doing something you detest for yourself, it's another for an employed person who doesn't own the place.

The part farming will forever struggle with is the family aspect to the job- you have parents at work all hours. I think gestures like paying for heating oil, diesel or providing a work vehicle would go a long way. I would also stress the importance of having them feel the family is included. A divorce will level nearly anyone. For example, whilst I was only working part time on farm a while ago, it was considered AOK for the wife and kids to turn up to bring me lunch.

 

[Dead Rabbits]

All the perks I mentioned are from food processing businesses, and are applicable to warehouse, processing, packing and drivers as well as office based workers, but most are available from most large employers.

TBH, I think the lack of perks that your friends and relatives have says more about the way the US economy is run than anything else. Everyone in the UK has free healthcare at the point of use, do most employers provide medical insurance, or does that come out of "take home" pay?

EU has done great work in the past to improve workers terms and conditions, and parity in this was a big problem when negotiating a post Brexit trade deal, with the EU not wanting to compete against goods from the UK produced by workers with lower pay, conditions etc.

And a US "degree" is hardly comparable to one earned in the UK.

From what you say, it's not just the far East that employ staff under poorer conditions than the UK.

Damn, you are right, we’ve a third world country here with low pay, fake degrees and no opportunity. Please spread the message far and wide.

You either get health insurance through an employer or pay for yourself. It’s not a very good system, costs are high. Don’t forget to factor in cost of living. Fuel, housing, transportation and food is cheaper here.

The point of the thread was ideas for non salary perks to provide employees assuming their pay is already market rate. Just small gestures to show further appreciation or brighten someone’s day.

If I employ someone I owe them an agreed upon price for their time, nothing more, we’re even every pay day. That’s not my attitude and you won’t get and keep people if that’s your view but that’s the hard truth of working for someone. I feel an incredible weight and responsibility employing anyone and try to be a decent human being who is not a tyrant and behaves towards others as I would have them behave towards me.

 

[betweenthelines]

Sorry if the truth hurts DR but US degrees are not as academic as in the UK, and your labour (with a "u") laws are below EU and UK standards.

But it is the "land of opportunity" trouble is, if you don't grab your opportunity and you're a member of a minority group or have long term or serious health issues, well, yes you might as well be in the third world.

Not my opinion, the opinion of my relatives -third generation US citizens.