2.5 hours is this enough time?

[canteron]

If she is reliable don’t be mean, just pay. Finding a reliable person for such limited hours isn’t easy, in fact I would be thinking Christmas bonus!

 

[Goldenstar]

I give a weeks wages as a Christmas bonus to freelancers and a present .

 

[Winters100]

I was thinking about this post this morning while doing my horses, because I often get asked by other family members why it takes so long. The thing is that (outside of riding) if I wrote down all the jobs they would sound like 20 minutes worth, but they always take minimum 1 hour, and I don't have to do boxes or hay. I think the reason is that there is always something 'extra', usually something small and silly, but these small things take time. If I was doing my own horses in the scenario described I could do it in the 2 hours, because I would take the view that if the boxes were not done perfectly one day no big problem, but as an employee you can't really do things like this, so as an employee I would always want enough time to do the jobs properly and comfortably, not running with seconds to spare!

 

[MagicMelon]

On minimum wage it is barely worth doing for 2 hours a day. What does she earn.

This, especially with presumably her fuel for travel to get there?

 

[ihatework]

Maybe she is a bit slow.

But do you know what being a groom is a low paid and quite frankly grotty job.

If she turns up reliably, does a reasonable job and is good with the horses I wouldn’t begrudge paying for an extra 30 mins

 

[Orangehorse]

Maybe she is a bit slow.

But do you know what being a groom is a low paid and quite frankly grotty job.

If she turns up reliably, does a reasonable job and is good with the horses I wouldn’t begrudge paying for an extra 30 mins

If she is reliable, then keep! I haven't been able to find anyone to come a couple of times a week to do the stables, one agreed to come and didn't turn up, another got a full time job. My "go to" lady only lives a couple of miles away and was until recently going up twice a day to look after an elderly horse (she said the owner made it worth her while) so it was easy for her to pop in. But if you are paying someone to travel a further distance, just for you, then they have to take that into account.

Just for interest - if we have to get mechanics out to our farm machinery, at £x lots per hour, they start charging when they leave the depot.

 

[Fieldlife]

When I was doing 2 stabled horses a day, muck out, hay, feed, water. I found it could take me between 20-60 minutes depending on how fast I went.

Weekends if there was no deadline could easily get into fiddling around with things and take longer.

 

[Goldenstar]

If she is reliable, then keep! I haven't been able to find anyone to come a couple of times a week to do the stables, one agreed to come and didn't turn up, another got a full time job. My "go to" lady only lives a couple of miles away and was until recently going up twice a day to look after an elderly horse (she said the owner made it worth her while) so it was easy for her to pop in. But if you are paying someone to travel a further distance, just for you, then they have to take that into account.

Just for interest - if we have to get mechanics out to our farm machinery, at £x lots per hour, they start charging when they leave the depot.

Thats what a freelancer working very few hours in a place ought to be doing .

 

[Chianti]

How deep are the beds? It's very different going into a thin bed compared to one that's very deep. If she's reliable and does a good job then I would pay her what she's asking.

 

[HashRouge]

Two and half hours is reasonable to do that well .
She may be slower than some but is she reliable ? Trustworthy ? we need to move away from thinking the most important thing about a stable worker is that they shovel fast .
She won’t stay if you force her to play beat the clock day after day why would she for two hours in the current climate .

This, 100%.

I really wouldn't quibble over paying for an extra 30 mins. Especially if she does a good job and is reliable.

 

[Portly]

Thank you all, its an interesting topic for debate and views.
I don't begrudge paying for the extra and would prefer to pay to get it done comfortably than she feel pressured and unhappy. I am grateful we have her and she comes in, there was absolutely no push back when she requested the extra time.
We pay well above minimum wage as it needs to be attractive and worth their while.
Anyone that works directly or indirectly with me gets bonuses and presents for birthday and christmas, plus adhoc extras of their favourite things - I try to support and help where I can.

 

[Wishfilly]

As she's being asked to bring in, is she allowing a little extra time in case one of them decides to be a little difficult to catch? It also depends how far she has to bring them, and how many trips she is making?

For me, I wouldn't want to allow 2 hours, and then be running around with a pony who didn't want to come in on the 2 hour mark, knowing I had another job I had to get to. So it makes sense to have a little extra time allowed for catching in, even if it's not always/often used.

In general, I'd say it's quicker to turn out than bring in- I wonder if she'd consider reducing the time if you did things that way around? Although I know that might mean rearranging your day!