Hiring Minimum-Wage Employees | How-to Guides for running your business from Business.com

Minimum-wage employees are the foundation that keeps your customers coming back, and your business going strong… or not. Taking special care when you hire such employees is just plain good business sense. After all, for these lower-paid workers, jobs are a dime a dozen. If you want them to stick around, treat them like the valuable business contributors they are.

The top three things to know about hiring minimum-wage employees:

1. Take the time and effort to find and train the right person for the job for the best possible results.
2. Offer value-added benefits and incentives to ALL of your employees, not just the high-paid ones.
3. Listen to and encourage employees’ ideas – and try them out, when feasible. By showing you value their input – and them – you’ll earn their loyalty and be able to hang on to the quality workers. And who knows? Maybe you’ll find your future chief operating officer amongst those initial minimum-wagers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Follow the laws

Whether you’re hiring your first employee, or your 100th, make sure you follow all state and national laws. Some states – or even specific cities – have different minimum wage standards than the national requirement, and if so, you’re required to follow the most specific regulations.

I recommend: Go to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for a list of minimum wage laws by state. The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has great information for the small businessperson who is hiring new employees, including their free Online Classroom, where several lessons discuss the duties of an employer. At Social Security Online, download the legal forms and publications needed for new hires.

Advertise on the cheap

If you’re paying minimum wage to these employees, then it’s not necessary to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars on a costly ad or a professional recruiter. Look to local newspapers and free (or low-cost) job Web sites, call high school and college placement offices, or get referrals from your employees/friends/families.

I recommend: Check out the popular Craigslist, where you can post an ad in your city (by specific industry) for free in most cities. Their Traffic Comparison page offers proof that their job ads are as effective – if not more effective - than their pricier Web site competitors.

Check them out

Take the time to run your prospective employee through pre-employment screenings before offering him/her the job. Don’t forget to call references, too – you can tell a lot just by how a former boss reacts to the person’s name!

I recommend: Go to OPENonline, a national pre-employment screening firm for small biz owners. The “SelectHire Interactive” option allows you to verify Social Security Numbers (SSNs), addresses, education, employment history, and more.

Offer benefits

Though you might not be able to pay more than minimum wage, there are other ways to add value to their job experience, including health insurance, 401(k) plans, or college reimbursement programs. Even Employee-of-the-Month contests with small gift cards or cash prizes go a long way toward making them feel valued.

I recommend: Is your business employee-friendly? Find out by taking this SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) quiz. Check out Odyssey OneSource for customized benefit packages tailored to the needs or your employees and their families. Drive or surf to a store like Barnes & Noble or Starbucks and pick up gift cards to reward your Employee of the Month.

Make smart decisions

We don’t expect you to hire a Mensa member to work the counter of your dry-cleaning business; however, do not hire the first person to ask for an application, unless he is a quality employee.

I recommend: Think hiring the wrong person costs no more than a little time and aggravation on wasted interviews and training? Think again. At Automatic Data Processing (ADP)'s Bad Hire Calculator, find out the true cost of hiring the wrong person (but sit down first – the numbers are shocking). Go to Winning Workplaces to peruse their 48 different “Building Blocks of a Winning Workplace” tool kits – you can buy ALL 48 for a paltry $125!

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

Hire outside the box: Don’t narrow your hiring field to those who “appear” to fit some preconceived notion. Consider hiring English-speaking immigrants, retirees, and disabled people – all of whom might prove to be the best employees you’ll ever have.
Ask current employees for recommendations: If you have a great employee, why not ask him to recommend friends/siblings for openings?
Review workers regularly: Once a minimum-wage employee does not a lifetime minimum-wager make. Give your employees the chance to shine, be generous – but always sincere – with praise, and give raises regularly.
Promote from within: One of the top ways to recruit high-quality workers at lower wages is to offer them opportunities for advancement within the company – and make sure they know this from the start. Don’t let those top minimum-wagers spend all their time dusting displays – take the time to groom them for advancement whenever possible.
Be spontaneous: Make a point to reward your workers regularly – and spontaneously! If it’s time to do pull an all-nighter to do inventory, order in pizza and sodas. (And don’t forget to get a veggie pizza for your vegetarian employee, or diet soda for your diabetic receptionist – noticing these individual preferences, and accommodating them – might seem minor to you, but it’s the small gestures that mean a lot when you’re on the receiving end of them!)

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