# Employment question



## Koshka (Feb 28, 2013)

Hi everyone! I hope things have been great for each and every one of you 

So, I'm at the point of my soap career when I have no other choice left but to hire a couple of helpers. I mainly deal with CP soap making, and we all know that the process is quite complex and tedious (especially from beginners point of view). 
Anyone knows how to go about it? 
Has anyone hired help before? 
How much to i pay???? lol 

Besides training the individuals there's a huge liability issue involved (i do have insurance and I'm getting workers' comp). I also will be training and talking to them about safety issues before I let them smell any essential oils...

Your advice is (as always) much appreciated!


Cheers,

Kosh


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## gratia (Feb 28, 2013)

I have no help here but just want to say congrats on getting that big.


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## nebetmiw (Feb 28, 2013)

Koshka try the Business forum down below on main page.  They should be able to help.


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## Koshka (Feb 28, 2013)

Haha! I've thought about it, but my question involves cold process soap making, so I've posted here...



nebetmiw said:


> Koshka try the Business forum down below on main page.  They should be able to help.


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## lizflowers42 (Feb 28, 2013)

I want to be paid to make soap all day   Sorry I can't help with your question, you've just allowed me to day dream a bit there!


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## nebetmiw (Feb 28, 2013)

Business forum is about soap business only.  They have 3 sections all realated to selling soap.  Good luck with your venture it is a big step.


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## squigglz (Feb 28, 2013)

Man, I wish I lived near you, I'd work for you in a heartbeat!!

Congrats on getting that big!

Since they are going to be handling hazardous materials and whatnot, you need to pay them better than min. wage. Of course, you could always handle soapmaking and hand off label making, internet PR, stuff like that to the employees instead to negate fears of that kind of thing.


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## houseofwool (Feb 28, 2013)

squigglz said:


> Man, I wish I lived near you, I'd work for you in a heartbeat!!
> 
> Congrats on getting that big!
> 
> Since they are going to be handling hazardous materials and whatnot, you need to pay them better than min. wage. Of course, you could always handle soapmaking and hand off label making, internet PR, stuff like that to the employees instead to negate fears of that kind of thing.



The actual mixing of lye and oils, along with molding, swirling etc, isn't something I would be comfortable handing off.  

If you found someone who is very precise they could pre-measure the oils, prep molds along with packaging.

If you sell at shows, then hiring booth staff is also a good use of resources.


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## Genny (Feb 28, 2013)

I'd also check out the OSHA's website for Small Businesses http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/index.html  to see if any of it applies.


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## Koshka (Feb 28, 2013)

Genny, thank you! Looking at it right now



Genny said:


> I'd also check out the OSHA's website for Small Businesses http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/index.html  to see if any of it applies.


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## Koshka (Feb 28, 2013)

I will welcome you with open arms, Squigglz! And paid vacation 

I was thinking about paying them $13-$15 per hour (i think that's good in Florida). The problem is, I can't do soap on my own... I've done some calculations and found out that I make about 800 bars a day. And I have maybe 3-4 soap making days a week, the rest is for markets, shows and such. And that's not including wholesale orders. So if I'd get 2 more people that will increase my production to 2400 a day, and that would be sufficient. Labeling is not an issue I have a fancy machine that wraps them for me, but when it comes to selling, I'm afraid I'm the only one passionate and knowledgeable enough to make a sale. 

So if you ever decide to come to Florida, you got a job here 



squigglz said:


> Man, I wish I lived near you, I'd work for you in a heartbeat!!
> 
> Congrats on getting that big!
> 
> Since they are going to be handling hazardous materials and whatnot, you need to pay them better than min. wage. Of course, you could always handle soapmaking and hand off label making, internet PR, stuff like that to the employees instead to negate fears of that kind of thing.


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## Koshka (Feb 28, 2013)

Yeah, I'm not comfortable with letting people near lye as well. But you've made a good point about letting them handle other ingredients and packaging. Maybe that would work 



houseofwool said:


> The actual mixing of lye and oils, along with molding, swirling etc, isn't something I would be comfortable handing off.
> 
> If you found someone who is very precise they could pre-measure the oils, prep molds along with packaging.
> 
> If you sell at shows, then hiring booth staff is also a good use of resources.


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## melstan775 (Feb 28, 2013)

You can train people for lye, but you have to have a training system in place.  OSHA requires MSDS and a hazardous material management system for the handling of hazardous materials.  The best thing to do is to create a system for handling with through training, your own certification system if you will. A lot of people don't want to go through the trouble of creating a system for their business, but it's the best thing to do because it creates a concrete way of doing things and you can hold people accountable who don't comply, so you can later discipline and/or dismiss with smaller liability. Also you don't "have to" pay higher then minimum wage, nothing says that hazardous materials jobs require a higher wage, at least not in my state.  You just have to pay the highest of federal or sate minimum wage if you're not paying medical benefits, and the lower of wages if you do.  I'm not advocating minimum wage as a standard, since no one can really live on that anymore, but I am just saying legally, there is no requirement that I know of that requiresyou to pay higher wages then that.


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## squigglz (Feb 28, 2013)

I'm not saying she legally has to, I'm saying she SHOULD. Right thing to do, etc. Also, a lot of people will pass on a job that requires safety equipment and handling hazardous chemicals, but only pays min wage. She'll get bites, but it won't be what she needs.

You want quality help? You pay for it. Frankly, if I got an offer to work at making artisan soap for 7.25/hr, when I know bars sell for 5-10 dollars on average in my state, I would laugh so hard I would probably pass out.

Just my two cents~


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## Ianto (Feb 28, 2013)

If you are looking for part time help, you could try a local college.  It might be a job that would interest chemistry majors.  In theory they should have some basic lab safety knowledge and might find it fun turning fat and sodium hydroxide into soap.


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## melstan775 (Feb 28, 2013)

I wasn't attacking you Squigglz. Just putting in my own two cents about that I know about labor laws too. <3


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## Badger (Feb 28, 2013)

I wish you luck in you endeavor.  If I was near you, I would see if you could hire me part-time at minimum wage so I would have a chance to work with soaps more.   I am on disability and there is a limit to how much income I could get without losing benefits.


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## soap_rat (Feb 28, 2013)

I came to say exactly what Ianto said.  Chemistry classes teach a lot of what your workers need.  They even make soap at some point. (Although I think they do one oil into a beaker of excess lye and take out the soap).  Bio majors also take chemistry and do a lot of labwork, or maybe even animal sciences students.  I don't know if you've taken chemistry, I took it after I learned soapmaking, and making soap is pretty much the same as following any lab procedure properly.

However, I wonder if student workers are going to be stable enough for you.  If you can find retirees or semi-retired with some similar qualifications, (or an average adult who wants only part-time work) they may stick around longer in a part-time job and be more worth the training.  Put in the job description whatever weight of oil bucket they'll have to manage, though, since that could be an issue.  Or for the right candidate, I guess you could work around that limitation.  Anyone with a science degree or background is likely a good candidate, but I'm also thinking that people who got degrees in home ec. or are really precise bakers (that involves chemistry too) are possible candidates too.

I'm not sure what official rules you'll need to follow for hazardous material training, but in a different hazardous industry it became quite popular to cover one's butt liability-wise by having each worker take a practical and written test on using a tool or chemical.  Then you have the paper test on file in the event there's an accident and you're accused of negligence or failure to train.

Definitely make it a 100% goggles workplace, there are plenty of stories of lye accidents or raw-soap splashes just on this forum.

In terms of the artistic side of soapmaking, like swirls, that will only come with practice, and I think you should view training someone to do that as a materials investment.  I don't know how to teach someone to swirl soap without them first making swirls that may not look as good as your own work.  IIRC you do soap donations, so your trainees could be learning to swirl on that soap.  If not, maybe you make a vanilla soap that eventually turns all brown anyway, but the swirl work would be visible for a day or two for "grading."

I wonder if you will want to incentivise your workers; as you've mentioned it's your company and you have the most passion.  Once someone is qualified to do swirls, give him/her a raise.  Or do bonuses based on the number of pieces done that day?  Just a couple ideas.

Best wishes for finding some great people right away, and I'm happy for the growth of your company!


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## Koshka (Mar 1, 2013)

I am leaning towards science people. I've interviewed a couple of potential candidates today and none of them seem to be a fit  Either the person didn't sound like a responsible kind or many of them were just looking for any kind of work.... So frustrating! 

I will try and approach a couple of college campuses, maybe someone will respond. I also thought about getting someone with aromatherapy experience, or even certification, that would be a huge plus. I'm also hoping that maybe there's a soaper around who does it as a hobby and knows the deal already but that's close to 0 chance 

My soaps are pretty simple, I don't have any fancy designs, they're round and one colored. So that makes my life easy lol. But I definitely am doing training and the whole safety course for employee (with little test at the end) for their safety and my protection. 

Thank you for your advices! 



soap_rat said:


> I came to say exactly what Ianto said.  Chemistry classes teach a lot of what your workers need.  They even make soap at some point. (Although I think they do one oil into a beaker of excess lye and take out the soap).  Bio majors also take chemistry and do a lot of labwork, or maybe even animal sciences students.  I don't know if you've taken chemistry, I took it after I learned soapmaking, and making soap is pretty much the same as following any lab procedure properly.
> 
> However, I wonder if student workers are going to be stable enough for you.  If you can find retirees or semi-retired with some similar qualifications, (or an average adult who wants only part-time work) they may stick around longer in a part-time job and be more worth the training.  Put in the job description whatever weight of oil bucket they'll have to manage, though, since that could be an issue.  Or for the right candidate, I guess you could work around that limitation.  Anyone with a science degree or background is likely a good candidate, but I'm also thinking that people who got degrees in home ec. or are really precise bakers (that involves chemistry too) are possible candidates too.
> 
> ...


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## Koshka (Mar 1, 2013)

Oh, and I'd rather pay more to the person that gets the job to keep them happy. I'm very fair and I would rather have dedicated and happy workers than someone who does their job so so and would want to leave after 2 months.


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