Tldr: what are your opinions on the best practice for paying “farm” help a fair, living wage for work performed?
I've been utterly confused by and questioned why workers are treated the way they are since I was a teenager (I'm 36 now). Watching my dad have to go to work bent at a 45 degree angle from back pain, and then experiencing people coming to work with flu symptoms at a nursing home (my first job) completely boggled my brain. Then I called put a few times at various employers due to injury and illness and, well, you all know how that went.
I've been jaded, cynical, and fed up with American business practices for a long time. I slogged through it as best I could until 2015. Long story short, health issues prevent me from performing the jobs I have experience for, and any ability I had to push through my hatred of the corporate world is severely subdued.
Two years ago, I started a market garden on my property. Due to random severe health crises, both years were failures but taught me important lessons that have led to major improvements to my methodology. In short, this year will be successful regardless of my health thanks to those changes.
Depending on how things progress this year, I would love to be able to expand to meet demand. However, this would be difficult without help – and now we're at the meat of my post.
The problem I'm having is that, even should I expand, the business in its current state, even with expansion, would only be able to employ someone on an as-needed basis, i.e. planting and harvest time. As such, it will likely be a family member or friend whom I employ to assist. My question is – do I pay hourly or by the day, and how much is fair and livable?
As the business grows and I'm able to hire part-time and full-time employees (as is the goal, dream, and intention), how and what kind of benefits do I work into the business? What is a fair, living wage? (The reason I keep throwing “fair” into the wage question is that I'm intimately aware of how draining and taxing this work is, and how hard it is on the body.)
Any and all advice would be incredibly appreciated, and questions are very welcome!
Thanks in advance!
- A future employer who wants to break the mold