Is this legal?

xxJudexx

I run a dog walking business and was thinking of branching out into dog boarding. I want to have a register of boarders on my books to enable me to match the dog to the most suited boarder.

I want to have these people employed by me so I can include a clause in their contract about not boarding any dogs not referred by myself.

The only thing I'm not sure about is payment. The boarder would receive a small amount of money per dog, certainly not min wage for the amount of hours the dog is in their home. Is this legal? Obviously they do not have to give the dog their sole attention the whole of the time the dog is staying there.

I know that people who work nights but are able to sleep in this time don't have top be paid nmw, is my situation the same? And if it is could someone point me in the right direction to a document that states this?

Obviously I will be getting a contract drawn up with the help of a solicitor but I would like to know if it is even possible before I spend out anything!

Thanks

bris

Per dog per night would be the obvious way, just like a kennel.

PlutoinCapricorn

Employing these people does not sound very realistic for this kind of operation to me: it seems more like ad hoc sub-contracting. Have you read up on the responsibilities of employers?

InsideInsurance

As above, you dont want these as employees, if you do you open a world of pain that would include minimum wage.

These people can be self employed and your standard contract with them can equally contain a clause about them not being allowed to take boarding work from others.

As they are self employed and not employees then its fully up to you and them what rate is paid and isnt subject to minimum wage etc. Indeed setting it at a per task basis rather than time makes it easier to defend the fact they are not employees.

Mistral001

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Employing these people does not sound very realistic for this kind of operation to me: it seems more like ad hoc sub-contracting. Have you read up on the responsibilities of employers?

Yes this is sub-contracting in my view. However, if I was leaving my dog at kennels and found that it was actually being sent to someone else, I would be a little annoyed. Why would I not just go straight to the sub-contractor in the first place?

PlutoinCapricorn

I have never been involved with the dog world, but I wonder how many people would accept that condition. Also, if they wanted to board dogs why would they do it for you and you alone rather than directly? Have you got a lot of good contacts?

InsideInsurance

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

I have never been involved with the dog world, but I wonder how many people would accept that condition. Also, if they wanted to board dogs why would they do it for you and you alone rather than directly? Have you got a lot of good contacts?

Whilst its legal I agree it may both be found to be unacceptable and hard to enforce. You may be better off with just a non-solicitation for repeat business from those who you refer

Its not an area of business I have any interest of getting into but if I were and someone wanted to be my sole supplier of business then I would be looking at some for of minimum monthly amount or retainer plus a minimum notice period if they wanted to drop me

That said, those in this area may not be that astute and could well just sign the deal without looking/ thinking.

xxJudexx

Mistral001 wrote: »

Yes this is sub-contracting in my view. However, if I was leaving my dog at kennels and found that it was actually being sent to someone else, I would be a little annoyed. Why would I not just go straight to the sub-contractor in the first place?

Now I think about it I can easily see how it is sub contracting.

The dog owners would not be thinking they are taking their dog to a kennel. They would know exactly where their dog is going and who would be looking after it. They would meet the person beforehand to make sure they are happy with the whole set up.

I have insurance and can add on employers liability to this insurance, would this be the case if they weren't employees?

xxJudexx

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

I have never been involved with the dog world, but I wonder how many people would accept that condition. Also, if they wanted to board dogs why would they do it for you and you alone rather than directly? Have you got a lot of good contacts?

This job wouldn't pay very much at all on an individual basis. They would most likely get around £10 per dog per day. It is just really meant for people who have the spare time and love dogs, not someone looking to earn a living from it.

I am currently running a dog walking business and quite a few of my clients have asked about boarding but I cannot do it in my own home for various reasons so have had to turn them away.
I have a website up and running and on the first page of google for my area so it seems a shame to waste the potential opportunity.

InsideInsurance

xxJudexx wrote: »

I have insurance and can add on employers liability to this insurance, would this be the case if they weren't employees?

Your not an employer so no employee liability.

There is an outside risk that if they are self employed and got injured somehow that a smart ar§e lawyer will try and argue that despite the contracts the relationship was actually employer/ employee and therefore you have a greater duty of care.

By structuring your contract such that it is task based payment, they have the right to refuse work etc will all help in weakening such an argument.

In theory you could also get similar arguments being made from HRMC and/ or an employment tribunal re them actually being employees

Mistral001

On a purely financial note, if the business did become popular, and your turnover rose above the VAT limit, you would have to charge VAT which the end user could not recover and since the business is fee-based the Op would not be able to recover much VAT either.