How to Fire Dogwalker? post 31

[Bicoastal]

My current dogwalker is now drawing up contracts. I have used her for almost a year with no real contract.

Contract coincides with me moving to a new location (this fact relevant later). The contract -not yet produced- states holidays and vacations are paid. :eek: Didn’t know dogwalkers earned paid vacations!

I don’t want to pay for 1 week of walks my dogs aren’t getting. I have to pay to take them on vacation; I don’t want to also pay for a week of walks back home -when they aren’t being walked!

Is it normal to pay the same monthly rate regardless of vacation? Whether the dogs get 20 walks or 15? The occasional holiday I don’t mind, but several days I do.

Walker’s first day at new place was yesterday. She said it took her a long time to get there so it may be too far out for her. If we are parting ways anyway, I really don’t want to pay her vacation. I also don’t want her to treat my dogs poorly or no-show because it’s the last month of her services and the check is smaller.

WWYD?

[JB]

WWID? Not sign the contract.

I could see a short-notice vacation still requiring you to pay her, since she will likely not have time to line up other work during that time. But for something you plan 4 months out? No way.

[GaitedGloryRider]

What? That sounds kinda crazy to me. If you want employer-paid vacations get a job with a company that offers them. A dog walker is basically a sub-contractor. I don’t pay the plumber, the guy that paints my exterior, the electrician or the handyman for vacations why in God’s green earth would the dog walker get one? She gonna ask for workman’s comp or medical and dental next?

Geesh, I think your dog walker is getting a little too big for her britches.

If she’s going that route I’d threaten to 1099 her butt at the end of the year.

[Canaqua]

[QUOTE=GaitedGloryRider;6468747]
What? That sounds kinda crazy to me. If you want employer-paid vacations get a job with a company that offers them. A dog walker is basically a sub-contractor. I don’t pay the plumber, the guy that paints my exterior, the electrician or the handyman for vacations why in God’s green earth would the dog walker get one? She gonna ask for workman’s comp or medical and dental next?

Geesh, I think your dog walker is getting a little too big for her britches.

If she’s going that route I’d threaten to 1099 her butt at the end of the year.[/QUOTE]

Totally agree, if someone wants paid vacations, they can sit their butt in a cube all day and work for someone else, just like the rest of us. The self-employed and independent contractors (as I assume this dog walker is) pay for their OWN vacations. Been there and done that, didn’t work, didn’t get paid, period. I wouldn’t pay for holidays either. I pay my dog walker by the walk, not any kind of salary. I do not have to pay as long as I cancel the day before. He manages his own cash flow by making sure he has enough customers to provide the income he needs.

Very slippery legal slope as well…if you treat her as an employee, you’ll be taxed as if she is an employee and maybe be on the hook for worker’s comp as well.

DON’T DO IT. Not only is it a completely unreasonable request on her part, but you’d be setting yourself up for legal and tax trouble as well. Have a look at the IRS rules as to what constitutes an employee and what doesn’t. If she’s relying on you for all her income, to the extent she expects paid vacations, she’d probably be your employee and you DO NOT want to open that can of worms.

[rockonxox]

I ran my own dog sitting and walking business when I was in college. I never expected ANYONE to pay me for work I didn’t do. That is ridiculous.

[andreab]

You said you haven’t seen the contract yet. Is it possible you are misunderstanding what she said, or that she was not clear in how she said it? My dogwalkers have always had a surcharge for holidays, and if you canceled on vacation visits (or any visit) after a specified timeframe, you would have to pay for the visits. To me, that is reasonable.

If she means you pay for holidays and vacations she does not work, which is how you currently understand it, then I think that is unreasonable.

[maunder]

Yep - I agree with those stating that as a sub-contractor she is treading a slippery slope in regards to acting very much employee-like. I wouldn’t agree to it. It’s nuts.

That’s quite a step in the world of dog walking. Kind of ballsy. I’d bet she will lose some clients.

Edited to add that my opinion is based upon the second way andreab stated.

[Bicoastal]

Her words exactly

Her email is italicized below:
I will write out a contract as I am currently doing with other clients, just so we have a written agreement. In that agreement I will state the following: Increased Rate, Confirm Payments for the First of the Month, State that holidays and vacations will be paid as well, and in the winter I will follow Fairfax County’s schedule regarding closing due to inclement weather.

I pay for the month on the first. Initially, I paid a day’s less if there was a holiday (if I had off work). I did that in Feb and she said xyz months have more than 30 days so let’s have one flat rate month in and month out. Maybe agreeing to that was my mistake.

I am going on vacation in Aug. I’ve told her twice but not recently so this may surprise her. I need to pay for Aug tomorrow. Write the check for the amount less vacation week and leave a note explaining?

FWIW I am not her only client. I was one of her first; now biz is growing and maybe her britches are, too.

[ako]

Your dog walker is completely crazy. Dump her a**! Dog walking is pay-per-service work. Payment at time of service or at the start of the following month, depending on your agreement. Nice tip at Christmas. If she’s ill or injured, I would help out. But paid vacation? Not a chance!

If she wants paid days off, she needs to go into another profession.

I am astounded by her ego and irrationality! Really!

She should be charging her customers such that she’s competitive and can afford a living on full-time work, vacation, etc. If she’s not smart enough to figure that out, she’s not going to succeed.

[lovey1121]

@Bicoastal;6469453

Her email is italicized below:
I will write out a contract as I am currently doing with other clients, just so we have a written agreement. In that agreement I will state the following: Increased Rate, Confirm Payments for the First of the Month, State that holidays and vacations will be paid as well, and in the winter I will follow Fairfax County’s schedule regarding closing due to inclement weather.

Find yourself someone else FAST! I ran an 8 employee pet sitting service for 18 years. NEVER a paid vacation expected, though I had a couple clients do it a couple times.

Paid holidays?? That’s when YOU NEED HER! Or have her come walk your pup on Labor Day:)

As far as bad weather- that’s why I always had 4WD. If you can get there, you go-or you don’t get paid.

Dump her ASAP.

[lovey1121]

Also, with this kind of attitude, I’d be wanting to know that she is reliably performing her end of the contract. Is she staying the whole time promised? Is she shorting your dog’s walk and chukking him in the yard instead? I’d be suspicious-this from someone with a nose for crooked petsitters.

PS- We charged per visit . Paid at the end of the week, generally. NEVER asked for money up front, because I personally don’t believe in paying for services not yet rendered.

[Canaqua]

Well, since you have not signed a contract yet, you could just pay her for the weeks in August that you’ll actually be using her services, in which case she might make an issue of it. Or, find another walker now.

I would not put up with her demands. I use a professional walking service, the owner lives near me and walks my dogs personally, because they aren’t the easiest to manage. He’s been in business for quite a long time and has 16 employees, is insured, bonded, etc…so it’s about as business like as a dog walking service gets. I pay him at the end of each week, for only the walks I used during that week. I have him regularly scheduled to come four days a week (never holidays), but if I need to cancel a day, I can (and not pay for it) as long as I let him know the night before so he knows who he’s walking the next day.

I don’t pay in advance for personal services like this. Cleaning lady gets paid after each visit, lawn mowing kid gets paid after he mows the lawn. If no cleaning or mowing happens (for whatever reason) I don’t pay them. Yes, everyone gets a tip at Christmas. That’s it. I don’t see dog walking as being any different…a self-employed person offers me a service and I pay them after performance of said service and only if the service was performed. If I don’t like the way they do it, I pay them for their time and then don’t hire them again. Common courtesy prevails…if I don’t need them on a regular day, I give them as much notice as I can, at least the day before, so they can make other plans. It’s not my responsiblity to guarantee them an income, that’s their responsiblity, by having enough paying, satisfied clients to keep the cash flow going. That’s part of budgeting…they need to save for clients vacations and less income that week or month.

[Casey09]

A nice try by your dog walker I guess.
She needs to learn that there is a difference between an employer and a client. You are not her employer, you are her client. Therefore, you pay only for services rendered. I think that her new contract is totally unreasonable. I hope you find another dog walker who is living in the real world.

[meupatdoes]

We had a housekeeper when I was growing up who came every Monday and stayed all day. My mother paid her two weeks vacation (ie, paid for two Mondays that she was out fishing in Alabama).

I don’t know if all of the households she took care of did that, but she was with our family from before I was born until after I graduated from college.

It seems fair enough to me. I work a 9-5 and get paid vacation because I am salaried. I can choose to extend the same deal to any paid by the hour employees I employ. I don’t hire any paid by the hour help for anything, but if I did I would certainly follow in my mother’s footsteps.

Btw Lovey, I train horses on the side of my 9-5 and charge out my prorides in a package at the first of the month. Every once in a blue moon I come in under at the end of the month and I adjust the bill for the next month accordingly, but I charge in advance. My horse riding time slots are limited enough that I don’t want to deal with someone who will cancel their slot 24 hours in advance, or take their horse out of training because they are on vacation and can’t come watch. I have more horses I could ride than slots to ride them in, so I work with the people who buy a package and then the rides get done as my schedule allows over the course of the month. If they want to hang their bridle up weird or ask the BO if I came out yesterday they are more than welcome to, all they will find is “Yep, we got the email that she rode yesterday, and she rode yesterday!”

I have never met the dogwalker, but it is quite possible that she is an excellent worker who is very honest and as a result has more potential clients than she has time for. Perhaps she is at a point where she has enough clients that she can whittle down the list to the ones who live conveniently close by and will pay her a flat rate. Competition works both ways.

[Belair]

My DD’s daycare provider’s contract has me paying her vacation days and federal holidays. Maybe it’s becoming more of a common practice? It really threw me off at first.

[Burbank]

ummm sorry but if she is not walking your dog, she doesn’t get paid

it is totally fair to charge extra to walk your dog and or care for your dog on the holidays when you are gone

but this is not a job that you get paid to not do, if you want to be nice and give her a bonus have at it

since you are at her outer edge it might just be time for you two to part ways

[Canaqua]

[QUOTE=Belair;6471939]
My DD’s daycare provider’s contract has me paying her vacation days and federal holidays. Maybe it’s becoming more of a common practice? It really threw me off at first.[/QUOTE]

That’s normal practice for daycares…been like that as long as I’ve had kids (oldest is 23). They can enforce that to hold your spot. I can see how it would work that way for a horse training business too.

IMO, both childcare and horse training are much more highly skilled professions than dog walking (I’m not talking about dog training, just walking). Childcare is also high stakes, leave your young child at home alone while you go to work and you’ll end up in jail, don’t go to work on a regular basis, you’ll lose your job ;), so people will do a lot to retain a daycare provider that they find reliable and high quality.

Around here, anyway, I can throw a rock and hit 10 dog walkers of varying levels of experience and professionalism, from the lady next door who just wants some exercise and a few bucks and knows little about dogs, to the longstanding pro service I hired. Many people can walk dogs, it’s not a specialized enough skill to be able to demand paid vacations and other perks.

I have a special situation…I need the young BC mix taken out (anyone can do that as long as they keep an eye on her, she’s very sweet), but they have to get in the house to get her out around the VERY territorial elderly ACD mix…hence I needed a pro walker with some training experience and experience with aggressive dogs. I pay more for his services than I would for most other walkers in the area, but I don’t have to pay for vacation or holidays, because most of his clients have regular, easy, dog situations and there’s too much competition for him to write up demanding contracts, he’d lose all his other clients who don’t need a special walker.

[charismaryllis]

maybe she means that if her regular dogwalking days fall on your vacation, or a federal holiday when you’re home (and presumably could walk the dog yourself) she’s still going to come and walk the dog or at least expect to get paid for those days…?

(–i’m just winging it here–never had a dogwalker or anything like that.)

[Nootka]

Does she think she is a school teacher? She must just be confused and think her dog walking job is a school teacher position.

She needs some meds:yes::lol:

[meupatdoes]

[QUOTE=Canaqua;6472264]

Around here, anyway, I can throw a rock and hit 10 dog walkers of varying levels of experience and professionalism, from the lady next door who just wants some exercise and a few bucks and knows little about dogs, to the longstanding pro service I hired. Many people can walk dogs, it’s not a specialized enough skill to be able to demand paid vacations and other perks.[/QUOTE]

Well, you can throw a rock and hit 10 cleaning services around my parents’ house, and my mom still gave our housekeeper two “weeks” (because she only worked one day a week for us) vacation.

Again I don’t hire any paid help, but if I had an ongoing, day in day out/week in week out relationship with someone who did a good job I would try to sweeten the deal from my end and go a little extra ways to make them feel valued. A little extra money or appreciation here and there can go MILES for you down the road. Ie the time when you are in the hospital suddenly and the dogwalker suddenly makes it their mission in life to make sure your dogs are taken care of 3x per day. Or when you tell the bartender how wonderful his mojitos are and nobody makes them quite like him and suddenly he starts offering “rum drink tutorials” and you get billed for 1/3 of your actual tab. Or when no matter what nail place you are in “I am so glad to be back in [whatever city you are in] because my nails always look the best when YOU do them,” and you also never have to wait more than 10 minutes whenever you arrive. People will turn themselves inside out for a little appreciation or to feel like they are valued.

Whereas if you act like people are disposable and their services are half of one six a dozen of the other, it has the opposite effect.