Stable Hand Wages

[Lucy B]

Hi all
I am looking for around five stable hands to work on a large livery yard - 26 stables.
But I'm a bit stumped on how much I should pay them,working hours, days per week etc.
Does it make a difference that I will be offering accomodation that's a five minute walk from the yard to them as part of their job - each will have a bedroom with ensuite bathroom upstairs - downstaris share a kitchen,dining room and two living rooms - they will have to keep the place clean but I'll pay the electric and heating bills aswell as a wireless connection.
So how much should I be offering - any help would be much appreciated.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

you will have to pay minimum wage levels as a minimum. i think you can only deduct £35/week or thereabouts for the accommodation provided. working hours would be 40 per week. holidays/bholidays again there is a minimum requirement which you have to give and pay for. you also by law need to give them a contract of employment at the start of their employment. you will also need employers liability. do you really need 5 employess? that would be a minimum wage bill of inexcess of £1000 per week ... 26 stables will have to generate a lot of income to make the business viable. dont forget you have to pay the NI and tax as well. Good luck

 

[joginthepark]

Hi

You are thinking of employein 5 workers on a 26 stable yard? That would only be 5 stables each and care of 5 horses.
What is it you want your workers to do?

I care for 9 horses at our yard in its busy time. It took me hour to hour and a half to clean 9 stables out, Bed down,water,hay.

I also work full time. Albeit, 1 till 9. But my morning I spent looking after the horses,field care - Poo Picking daily - I cannot stand a poo kept field. So I done it daily. To keep it nice and clean.

If someone puts there heart into horses. Im prety sure you would only need two full time employee's and maybe a part time to cover days off and holidays?

 

[Lucy B]

No, I'm not sure if I really need 5.

It's hard to explain but it's not exactly a livery yard. There are 5 livery horses, 15 of my own/families horses (I've rescued quite a few, so there are currently 4 companion animals) and 6 racehorses. As you can imagine, it gets very confusing and I've employed a manager but I thought I'd try to sort this bit out myself. For the racehorses we have so many people - trainers,jockeys, every sort of specialist that you can imagine and so much more - that's mainly what the manager sorts out (but she also arranges for all of my horses to have vet checks and farrier visits).

I could just pass this on to her, but I thought I'd give it a go, and actually sort it out (the manager's kind of busy at the moment - though she would never say that).

How many stable hands would we realistically need for 25 stalls (one livery is on DIY - the others are on full livery)?

 

[Lucy B]

Sorry, I didn't see the last reply
So by your reckoning I'd only need 2-3 - right?

I would need them to muck out, bed down, water, hay, poo pick in the fields and to clean 6/7 horse's tack, between once and twice a week depending on how much work is done.

 

[TicTac]

Sorry, I didn't see the last reply
So by your reckoning I'd only need 2-3 - right?

I would need them to muck out, bed down, water, hay, poo pick in the fields and to clean 6/7 horse's tack, between once and twice a week depending on how much work is done.

Can I come and work for you please. I work at a stud with 50 breeding horses, including 7 full ( non breeding ) liveries, 15 stables. 5 x barns and there is only 2.5 people to do everything!

 

[Lucy B]

HaHaHa
Okay, so I guess I only need to look for 2 people, still how much money should I be paying? Is it even worth offering them that house or should I just rent it out to a family - I'd get more money that way - wouldn't I?

 

[lq22]

It depends on your location. If you are in the middle of no where or the housing nearby is expensive i think you'd be better offering the house. If not then it definitely makes more commercial sense to rent the house out to a family.

Agree with the others that 2 would be plenty for you provided they're hard working.

 

[joginthepark]

Hi,

I'd say two is more then enough people. And you have the yard manager.

Not being horrible but vet/farrier/training/riding and so on is all part of managein' a yard so that should be on top of seeing to the horses.

What does your yard manager do?

Look on careergrooms.co.uk
That will give you an idea of how much people pay. And I have to say it is below the min wage.

I don't get paid to do everything I do. But then it is a family yard.

Can I come and work for you?

How many days a week you wanting the worker to work
What times?
And so on.

Could you not get a mobile home on your place? That would be a good live in?

 

[Steeleydan]

A friend of mine has NVQ students and they only have to be (legally) paid £100 per week, for a 5 day week 8-5, because they are considered trainees, they have so many days off a year to attend lectures etc. This might be a better more financially viable route to go down as only 5 would cost you £500 a week.

 

[Lucy B]

I'll have a look into the students. Would the lectures (days off) be at the same time for every student. Although I could always employ two of them and one separate worker to ensure there is always someone there. But I'll definitely look into that one

 

[glenruby]

I wouldnt just take on students if I were you but it certainly would be a good idea to get one. Does your manager do hands on work with the horses - if so then 2 staff should be sufficient. If not then you would probably need 3. Racehorse wise are they in work? Lay ups? Breakers? It may affect the type of staff you require.

 

[littlemisslauren]

If you take on NVQ students they have to be supervised at all times due to health and safety.

I work on a large yard (25 horses) and at the moment there are only two members of yard staff, myself and the yard manager! We have an NVQ student but she can't work on her own / do any riding etc on her own.

 

[Lucy B]

Ah
That could be a problem if they can't work alone.
As for the manager, she does most of the work for the racehorses - stables, food, water, tack and managment of all the various people to do with them, and then like I said before vet and farrier for my lot.

So that leaves 19 stalls and horses who need to be accounted for - would one normal stable hand and one student work well there (that way they could work as a pair) or would that just hinder the stable hand

This really is confusing - so what do people think
Option 1 - 1 stable hand and 1 student for 19 stalls
Option 2 - 2 stable hands for 19 stalls (8 each)
Option 3 - 1 stable hand for 19 stalls

They wouldn't have to exercise any of the horses but if they wanted to they could exersise 2 horses per day.

 

[Tnavas]

5 sounds a sensible number as there will always be one or two having their day off. We used to have three full liveries to care for - this was to exercise, strap - properly around 45 mins each. Full muck out daily, plus yard maintenance, tack cleaning and feed preperation. Get school horses ready, take lessons etc.

Work hours were 8 - 6 Mon - Sat, 8 - 1 Sun with one or two yard staff on feed up & skip out.

Those that lived on site were rostered on to late stables.

Contact the Department of Labour for all the legal aspects of employing people so that you don't make any errors.

A working student or two can reduce costs BUT you must make sure that you do have the time to train them well so that they are happy and also improving day by day.

 

[Miss L Toe]

Five trainees, eeks you will be a shivering wreck in a month, also to train people you need to have a good level of competence, and it sounds to me that you are a bit unsure of how to manage the staffing as it is.
In a racing yard where the horses are maintained at the highest level, seven days a week, the lads look after four horses, and six on a Sunday, all the feed and bedding etc is usually organised efficiently. The horses are bedded up at night, groomed and fed, for evening stables, four horses take three hours to do, in the morning they are fed, skipped out, exercised (extra staff from local area), quartered,fed again. The stables and the horses are clean and well looked after. In a big flat yard with high value animals a security check is made late at night.
In the local riding school the working horses are on "deep litter", ie poop removed and a bit of bedding sprinkled on top. They are not groomed or feet picked etc, it takes an hour to do four horses, they are are out all day and in at night. The working ponies are out all night and stabled during the day with a haynet, minimal bedding, six ponies per hour to skip out, water and hay.
Re the accommodation and wages ask your accountant. You need to charge a specified amount to each employee.

 

[crazyhorse4727]

Hi
I don't see why option 3 wouldn't work. 19 stables is not asking to much for 1 worker as well as exercising atleast 2 horses and yard management. Just make sure you employ them on a trial period first. So you know the level of their work, and make sure they don't clash with you and your yard manager.
As for nvq students you have to make sure someone there is trained and you have the appropirate insurance.
So I would say hire a stablehand first, see how that goes. Then further down the line think on taking on a nvq student!
Hope that helps and good luck!

 

[Lucy B]

Thanks to everyone who posted - I thought I'd tell you how it's worked out.
I did bring it to my accountant and yard manager and we had a proper session where we got it sorted. We have found a couple who are in their late twenties who seem pretty much perfect for the job. I've given them a trail, they are reliable, friendly and efficient so we've got a contract sorted out for them. We've deceided to give them the house. As for work hours - it's 8-5 from Mon-Sat and 7-12 on Sunday. When they take their holidays and days off, they'll be covered by one of the liveries (he's a really nice and honest chap, and as we've sorted out the dates for this summer at least he's happy to do it) - he'll be paid both their wages since he's doing both of their jobs, and he's been with us for three years now - I know situations might change but I'm sure I'll find someone else if this doesn't work.

Thanks for all of the advice