How to pay your pet sitter and dog walker employees

Before you hire on that first pet sitting or dog walking employee one thing you need to decide is how are you going to pay them? I’m not talking about how you will physically get them the money; direct deposit, live checks, cash, etc. And I’m also not talking about on what schedule you pay them; weekly, monthly, etc. I’m talking about what you plan to base their pay on.

There are two primary methods in the pet sitting/dog walking industry; paying hourly and paying by the visit. While this article assumes you have employees verses independent contractors, this information can work for ICs as well with some minor tweaks. If you have ICs and are interested in finding out more how to pay them, shoot me a note at eliza@thepetbusinesscoach.dog.

Both methods have plusses and minuses that need to be considered. In this article we’ll take a look at both systems to help you decide what will work best for your business.

Paying employees by the visit

This is a commonly used method for pet sitters and dog walkers and it’s how I pay my own employees. In this method you pay the sitter a percentage of the amount the client pays for the visit.

There are some minor variations in this but in general you pick a set percentage to pay the employee. For example, if you choose to pay your employees 40% and you charge your clients $30 for a 30-minute pet visit, you would pay the employee $12. If you charge $50 for an hour long visit you would pay the employee $20.

Pros

• Administration is fairly easy as you pay the same percentage for all types of services. A spreadsheet or some pet sitting softwares will make these calculations automatically for you.
• You don’t pay your employees if you don’t have visits. This protects you from downturns in services or off-season slumps.

Cons

• Some services are less desirable than others for employees and you may need to pay a higher percentage to incentive employees to take these jobs.
• Pay for travel to and from jobs becomes complicated. State laws vary on what and if the employer is responsible for paying in terms of travel time or mileage.

A variation is paying a flat fee depending on the type of visit verses a percentage of client fee. A pro for this is that there is less math involved to determine pay amount if service prices vary (your service price may vary from client to client due to mileage fees, extra pet fees and other add-ons). However, a con is that sitters will not earn additional money for the additional fees charged to the client

A couple of things are helpful to keep in mind when paying by the visit. The calculated hourly pay rate cannot be lower than your state’s minimum wage. For example, if your state’s minimum wage is $15/hour and you’re paying your sitters $5 for a 15-minute visit that equates to $20 per hour. This meets the minimum wage.

The other thing to keep in mind is most pet sitting and dog walking companies pay sitters from 35-55% of the client fee. If you aim higher than 55% you will have difficulty making a profit due to other administrative expenses and taxes.

Paying employees by the hour

This is by far the most straightforward way to pay. The employee clocks in at the beginning of their shift, goes from job to job, clocks out at the end of their shift and is paid for the total hours between clock in and clock out.

Pros

• Easy to administer and keep track of.
• The per hour rate with this method is often less than the rate paid using the percentage method. I’ve seen hourly rates in the industry typically ranging between $12 and $15.
• Employee receives a more consistent paycheck week to week. 

Cons

• Employer is paying for drive time and heavy traffic or delays can extend the time the employee takes to get from job to job.
• You may end of paying an employee to do nothing if one of the visits during their shift is cancelled.

A variation on this method is paying by the hour for just the visits. For example, if an employee does a 30-minute visit, drives to another client and does a 60-minute visit, they have worked (and are paid for) 1.5 hours. Do note however that state laws will vary concerning pay for travel on what and if the employer is responsible for paying in terms of travel time or mileage. I don’t recommend this option.

However you decide to pay employees, it will likely be the largest expense you have in your pet sitting business budget so choose wisely. No decision is final but this is an area that is difficult to change midstream without upsetting your employees.

Another great article you might enjoy

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About Eliza

Eliza is the owner of two successful pet related businesses; Preferred Pet Partners, a pet sitting and dog walking company, and The Pet Business Coach, offering coaching and resources to aspiring or current pet related business entrepreneurs. She maintains two awesome blogs. One for pet parents https://preferredpetpartners.com/blog/ and one for pet business owners https://thepetbusinesscoach.dog/blog-page/.  Eliza also supports various animal rescue and shelter organizations. Eliza and her husband have a growing pet family. Visit her websites: www.preferredpetpartners.com or www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog.