Your First Employee – Basic Information for the First-Time Employer

Congratulations! You have launched your new business. You have filed your licensing, designed a brand, started efforts to market and advertise your services, have an eye on fleets and units and have secured a space. Whether you have been running the business yourself for years or are launching a new startup company, at some point you will probably find yourself in need of help when it comes to running your portable restroom rental business.

Hiring a new employee, especially your very first employee, is extremely exciting, and you’ll want to make sure you cover all of your bases before you bring anyone new on board. We have compiled a few tips to help ensure you stay competitive within your industry and continue to grow and create income.

Here are a few important tips to remember when you hire your first employee.

Treat the Interview Process with Care

Sadly, not every potential employee is going to be completely honest on their business resume. In fact, it is estimated that nearly 40% of applicants lie or exaggerate on their resumes. When performing an initial interview, ask for two professional references and one personal. You want to make sure you check references thoroughly and ask questions that directly relate to the applicant’s resume. Talk to the people they have listed and look for consistency in the way the applicant is presented to you from a former employer. If the potential employee states that they have experience in the portable restroom rental industry, ask industry-specific questions that are directly related to their previous work.

Perform a Background Check

If you had an amazing experience with an interviewee and want to move forward with the hiring process, perform a background check with the potential employee’s consent. Certain records are off limits without legal permission from the individual in question, including military background, education and certain medical history. Consent is also necessary when hiring a third-party investigator to perform the sleuth work for you. If you have discovered information pertaining to their legal history that is damaging or discredits their record enough to not hire the individual, you must inform the individual and allow him or her a chance to refute or explain the information you’ve uncovered.

Check for Illegal Substance Consumption

In the portable restroom rental industry, you want employees who are performing their job safely, efficiently and without clouded judgment from drugs and alcohol. This is especially important when hiring a potential employee who is going to be driving a trunk or performing maintenance with heavy machinery. Truck operators are mandated to take a pre-employment drug test and often are required to adhere to random drug testing throughout their employment with your company because job safety when operating vehicles and machinery is so important.

Remember Proper Etiquette When Performing a Follow-up Interview

It goes without saying, some questions should be off limits. Specifically, asking about an applicant’s age, sexual orientation, marital status, religious affiliation or race. Even if you are just a one-man or one-woman show within your business, make it a point to look well put together with your brand in mind when your potential employee shows up to their follow-up interview. This is a chance to be slightly less formal, but it doesn’t mean you should show up in sweatpants and the same shirt you wore yesterday. Your employee should be able to tell how important this business and the brand are to you by the way you present yourself and your business.

Information for Your New Hires

Use this checklist designed by the US Department of Labor to gather information from your new hire:

• Employee’s full name and social security number
• Mailing address, including ZIP code
• Birth date including year
• Sex and occupation within company
• Work schedule including but not limited to: specifications regarding time of day and day of the week when employee’s workweek begins, hours worked each day, and total hours worked each workweek
• Clear schedule agreed upon for payment (bi-weekly, weekly, etc.)
• Overall salary or hourly wage including the potential for overtime, requirements for holidays, etc.
• Total overtime earnings for each workweek
• Specific wage information including all additions to or deductions taken from employee’s wages
• Total wages paid each pay period as specified by the routine for payment
• Date of payment and the pay period covered by the each payment clearly marked and indicated on check or contract

Looking to Take Your Portable Restroom Business to the NEXT LEVEL? Download our FREE Guide: “Your Guide to Operating A Portable Restroom Business.”

Thinking About GETTING INTO the Portable Restroom Industry? Download our FREE Guide: “Your Guide to Starting A Portable Restroom Business.”