Are You A Doctor Who Is Frustrated With Having to Pay Your Staff When

Are You A Doctor Who Is Frustrated With Having to Pay Your Staff When You Are on Holidays?

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

May 11 2011

One of the most difficult things about having full-time staff is the fact that they will earn salary and benefits whether you are at the office or not. Taking holidays can therefore be a frustrating time for you and, instead of being able to relax, you might be thinking about the fact that your expenses are piling up while the business income has stopped.

There are several things that you can do to prevent this situation:

Hire staff by the hour or on contract rather than as salaried employees - Many people want to work on a part-time or casual basis rather than full-time. You will not need to provide benefit plans for them and therefore save what could be as much as twenty-five percent of additional expense for these.
Make it a condition of employment that staff will take their holidays when you take yours - The staff is there to help you and your business so you need to ensure that operational requirements are met. You can do this by making sure that this agreement is made at the time that you hire staff.
Make sure that there are specific important tasks to be done while you are on holidays - Every time that you think of something that would help you in the business, write it down. Before you leave for your holiday, review the list with staff and lay out the expectations that you have for completing them. This way you and your staff will be able to maximize the time when you are away and also realize added benefits in the future.
Rent your office to another professional for additional income - I actually have an organization that rents my office throughout the year. That way I have an income without having to invest more hours in seeing clients.
Ensure that you have other sources of passive income - Perhaps you can write a book or have other projects that your staff can work on or market when you are away.
Set up various tasks for staff - If you make yourself available for paid speaking engagements or other activities, you might be able to have your staff do the promotion and bookings for you during the time when you are away.
Accept this situation as part of your business model - Some professionals just view staffing as a cost of doing business and do not worry about paying them when they are on holiday.

When you go on holidays, you need to be able to leave the office behind you and be able to focus on enjoying rest and having fun. A little planning can help you to do that.