So...since pay day is tomorrow, I thought I'd share more about that process.
Once a month, we have a payment to the government for each permanently employed worker. We pay 5% and the employee pays 5%. It is similar to Social Security. They can receive their contribution once they turn 55. Because of this, the farm's salary cycle is from the 10th of the month to the 9th of the next month.
I do all of the wages on Excel spreadsheets. There are several different categories of workers and different levels of daily wages. It was very confusing to me when I first began!! One spreadsheet is for our employees that live on the farm; we provide their housing. One spreadsheet is for employees who live off the farm; we are required to give them an additional 15% of their salary towards rent. One spreadsheet is for those who are over 55 but don't have to pay into the gov't contribution scheme. One spreadsheet is for casual workers (not permanently employed and seasonal workers). Within each of these spreadsheets there are general workers, dairy workers (skilled labor), a builder who receives a higher wage because he is "skilled", workers who receive a fixed salary, watchmen, and casuals. Oh....and also, we have two farms which is two different Excel files with wages. Whew.
Lucky me, I like Excel. Each month, I have to count up the days worked and enter in for each employee plus the amount of overtime. There's also bonus' that some workers receive (dairy related). Once a year, we pay leave pay which is the same as paid vacation. They receive 2 days per month of the year. So that would be 24 days paid vacation per year. And also, if they decide to leave employement, we pay them a little over 2 days per month that they were employed by us.
Another aspect of wages is congory (local word for -- I owe you money!!) Sometimes, a worker is given an advance in their wages or a loan that is paid back over a series of months. I also run a shop with the basics for them to buy on credit (which is another post). They also can buy loaves of bread and eggs from my chickens in the morning at register. If we slaughter a cow here, the meat is sold to them on credit and also a friend will sometimes sell his sour milk (don't cringe -- they like sour milk). All of this is complicated by a severe case of "preggy brain". Last month, I completely messed up the congory list by charging February twice instead of February then March. This shorted me well over k1,000!!! And I didn't catch the mistake until it was far too late.
I am a numbers nerd (inherited from my dad!) and quite enjoy doing the farm books and wages. I just require a bit of quiet time to concentrate. Alone. And quietly.....! (without my 19 month running around wreaking havoc! haha!) This month, I was able to get most of it done Sunday night after church and it has been so nice to have one of my monthly duties finished so early.
In preparation for tomorrow's pay day, I will fill out a pay slip and staple to an envelope, then fill with the appropriate amount of cash. The workers sign their name or stamp their fingerprint on the (Excel) spreadsheet and it is filed away.
I love the exhilaration of a job finished. And this little aspect of the farm helps me to feel a part of everything.
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