My Bakery Employees That Freelance From Home
Business By marieandtwannette Updated 23 Apr 2014 , 11:31pm by bubs1stbirthday
AUgcjill, I agree! Let 'em go before it does become an issue.
Do you guys think most customers would actually order from the rogue employee? I am loyal to a local bakery here for the baked goods that I have no interest in making and if I walked in there and the cashier handed me a card asking me to order from her instead of the bakery, I would definitely let the owner know! (Maybe this is because I am sensitive to such a thing.) Do you think I am the minority here? I feel like employees that do this would eventually be caught?
AI would totally tell the owner, too. Poaching customers is just wrong.
There's no way I'd let someone who was selling cakes on their own work for me. Why should I train someone to go take business from me? I don't think so.
just for the record --i once quietly took about two years off from here -- to my knowledge i did not post about it in advance-- although i posted about coming back on--i remember talking about how slow the board was compared to how zippy it was previously--
maybe in a stray post somewhere i mighta said, i'm outa here but i don't think so and clearly in over 11,000 posts i can't remember everything i've said but i did not start a thread about it and i'm 101% positive i haven't done it multiple times--
carry on, friends
A
Original message sent by costumeczar
There's no way I'd let someone who was selling cakes on their own work for me. Why should I train someone to go take business from me? I don't think so.
Quote:
I own a small bakery and cake shop that has been steadily growing, and I have added 2 part-time employees. I am looking for some feedback/advice on whether or not I can (or should) prohibit these employees from freelancing on the side, or "caking at home". All thoughts are welcome...I am looking to see what is the general consensus on the matter.
and my thought on this subject would be to advise your employees of a new policy that will be included in their next paycheck they sign a loyalty agreement -- you want to be the kind of leader that clearly draws the lines in a fair way advising of the importance for them to be loyal at the same time making it easy for you to take action if it comes to that--and if i had doubts i might quietly test this out somehow--try a mystery shopper--maybe that's been mentioned--i didn't re-read the whole thread--but i would give them a chance with it--if they can do stuff for their family and close friends and that's ok with you--or at least just advise them where the new boundaries are and see who bristles and who offers their followship and loyalty--them getting in some practice at home is not a bad thing necessarily--
but it is most difficult to consistently do work at home to much extent because most of the work needs to be done at the same time they are working for you--they probably work thur, fri, sat? so that's when they need to be busy doing their own stuff--so there's that too--if you can get them to work those hours those days that's a bit of insurance--but of course no excuse for poaching or anything clearly over the line like that--so safeguard your customer phone #s and email addresses too--
and a loyalty agreement can be ignored too--it's not exactly binding if some people are gonna be cruds--it's just in an effort to be a good leader--
A
Original message sent by AZCouture
No kidding! Do you get requests for internships? I get a couple at least once a month. Part of me wouldn't mind taking one on, but they couldn't be a local person, for the reason you just mentioned. Plus, not sure how it works really, but I'm guessing you can't get away with only letting them do dishes and other grunt work. :D
I get internship and employment requests all the time...I tell them that i work from home and i don't have employees. If i did have an intern it would be to teach them what it was like to work from home and be interrupted all the time...maybe I could make them do laundry, sit on the phone on hold with the insurance company when the doctor calls to interrupt my work with a question about a referral, go pick a kid up from school when they get sick, that kind of thing.
I owned a retail bakery for many years and dealt with more problems than I care to remember. Overall, I'm glad for my experience as a business owner, but it was not easy. What is easy: For people to post all kinds of advice that has no relevance to the daily reality of the OP. Some of the advice leaves me perturbed, but I realize that every member has an opinion. I guess this is what happens when we start a thread. 
Best of luck to you, marie!
I get those intern requests all the time too. One time I took on a recent high school grad as an intern because his culinary teacher called me and begged me. She said that he was super talented and just needed some exposure before he went off to culinary school in the fall. His third day at work he spilled a whole pan of pumpkin bread batter on the floor. Now that's OK with me, accidents happen - BUT! he didn't clean it up, he just walked through it and tracked it all over the kitchen. Long story short... a month later he was still making mistakes AND still had pumpkin batter on his shoes so I wished him the best of luck and told him to go home.
Thanks again for the feedback. I realize each situation is different and I won't bore you with all of the details of my business model, but I will try to give a quick update and a little more background.
The young lady who has been with me for about 8 months actually is a paid intern. My intentions, which I have communicated to her previously, were to hire her on when she graduates. I suppose an easy way to eliminate this situation is not to offer her employment when her internship is over. If I had it to do over again, I would not take on an intern for the simple fact that from my experience, they seem to have an attitude that they know more than I do, but cannot put out the work or quality to substantiate the claim. I was probably the same way when I was young. And maybe she does know more than me (I am not formally trained as a baker) - but what she knows is not relevant to my particular business and furthermore, I think it is unwise to convey that attitude to an employer.
The second young lady was hired to help out a few months ago. I know I should have clarified or confirmed that she was not or would not be freelancing, but again...live and learn, right? She takes instruction wonderfully; admits she doesn't know everything, is very eager to learn. She is in school to be a firefighter. She is completely self-taught and just enjoys doing the work.
I met with both of my employees on Monday, and as part of the meeting I presented them with a non-compete agreement. I emphasized that as we grow it is important for me to put policies and procedures in place and this was something I had taken under a lot of consideration. I told them that there were many reasons for me to ask them to agree to this, but in the end, it just makes good business sense for me to protect the business for which I have sacrificed dearly.
The Intern was not happy. I did not realize she was doing as much on the side as she is. People have seen her working in my store and now they know she is in school and will be graduating soon and they go directly to her to order cakes. She said that I was making it very hard for her. I said that I understand, but I hope she can see it from my perspective.
The other employee said that she only bakes for people for free. I told her if she wanted to work for free there was nothing I could do about that and it was her choice to do that, but if she referred those people to our bakery she could work more for me and actually be paid to learn and practice.
Neither have returned the form to me yet. My decision is that if they do not return it by Monday they will be dismissed. The agreement will be difficult if not impossible to enforce, but I feel like at the very least, it gets all the cards on the table and puts the employees on notice.
I have been absent from this conversation a lot because I see too much drama on here. I don't really have the time or inclination for that. I appreciate feedback that is relevant to the thread. There have been some good ideas and perspectives posted and I do want to say that I am thankful for those of you who have taken the time to post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marieandtwannette
The Intern was not happy. I did not realize she was doing as much on the side as she is. People have seen her working in my store and now they know she is in school and will be graduating soon and they go directly to her to order cakes. She said that I was making it very hard for her. I said that I understand, but I hope she can see it from my perspective.
The other employee said that she only bakes for people for free. I told her if she wanted to work for free there was nothing I could do about that and it was her choice to do that, but if she referred those people to our bakery she could work more for me and actually be paid to learn and practice.
Neither have returned the form to me yet. My decision is that if they do not return it by Monday they will be dismissed. The agreement will be difficult if not impossible to enforce, but I feel like at the very least, it gets all the cards on the table and puts the employees on notice.
yes --awesome results--of course it's un-enforcable but it's not only a barometer that reveals which way the wind is blowing--it establishes your boundaries which is vital-- i hope you advised them that the consequence of not signing by monday is dismissal--some states are free and clear about employment issues of hiring/firing and some states can really wrap you up in some hurt so be careful there-- document document document--
and i think you can limit her from doing free cakes too--maybe just for family and close friends--but you certainly can set parameters there--very good call to point out that your success benefits her directly--
hope you continue the thread to reveal what monday brings--best to you
Quote:
Thanks again for the feedback. I realize each situation is different and I won't bore you with all of the details of my business model, but I will try to give a quick update and a little more background.
The young lady who has been with me for about 8 months actually is a paid intern. My intentions, which I have communicated to her previously, were to hire her on when she graduates. I suppose an easy way to eliminate this situation is not to offer her employment when her internship is over. If I had it to do over again, I would not take on an intern for the simple fact that from my experience, they seem to have an attitude that they know more than I do, but cannot put out the work or quality to substantiate the claim. I was probably the same way when I was young. And maybe she does know more than me (I am not formally trained as a baker) - but what she knows is not relevant to my particular business and furthermore, I think it is unwise to convey that attitude to an employer.
The second young lady was hired to help out a few months ago. I know I should have clarified or confirmed that she was not or would not be freelancing, but again...live and learn, right? She takes instruction wonderfully; admits she doesn't know everything, is very eager to learn. She is in school to be a firefighter. She is completely self-taught and just enjoys doing the work.
I met with both of my employees on Monday, and as part of the meeting I presented them with a non-compete agreement. I emphasized that as we grow it is important for me to put policies and procedures in place and this was something I had taken under a lot of consideration. I told them that there were many reasons for me to ask them to agree to this, but in the end, it just makes good business sense for me to protect the business for which I have sacrificed dearly.
The Intern was not happy. I did not realize she was doing as much on the side as she is. People have seen her working in my store and now they know she is in school and will be graduating soon and they go directly to her to order cakes. She said that I was making it very hard for her. I said that I understand, but I hope she can see it from my perspective.
The other employee said that she only bakes for people for free. I told her if she wanted to work for free there was nothing I could do about that and it was her choice to do that, but if she referred those people to our bakery she could work more for me and actually be paid to learn and practice.
Neither have returned the form to me yet. My decision is that if they do not return it by Monday they will be dismissed. The agreement will be difficult if not impossible to enforce, but I feel like at the very least, it gets all the cards on the table and puts the employees on notice.
I have been absent from this conversation a lot because I see too much drama on here. I don't really have the time or inclination for that. I appreciate feedback that is relevant to the thread. There have been some good ideas and perspectives posted and I do want to say that I am thankful for those of you who have taken the time to post.
that was a good way to handle it, you'll see exactly where they stand, anyway! The fact that the intern said that you were making things hard for her isn't promising.
From your description my fear would be that the 1st intern would sign the non-compete but still try and work on the side anyway.
I think you handled this situation great. I wish you luck. Please update us next week so we know what happens :)
Thanks again for the feedback. I realize each situation is different and I won't bore you with all of the details of my business model, but I will try to give a quick update and a little more background.
The young lady who has been with me for about 8 months actually is a paid intern. My intentions, which I have communicated to her previously, were to hire her on when she graduates. I suppose an easy way to eliminate this situation is not to offer her employment when her internship is over. If I had it to do over again, I would not take on an intern for the simple fact that from my experience, they seem to have an attitude that they know more than I do, but cannot put out the work or quality to substantiate the claim. I was probably the same way when I was young. And maybe she does know more than me (I am not formally trained as a baker) - but what she knows is not relevant to my particular business and furthermore, I think it is unwise to convey that attitude to an employer.
The second young lady was hired to help out a few months ago. I know I should have clarified or confirmed that she was not or would not be freelancing, but again...live and learn, right? She takes instruction wonderfully; admits she doesn't know everything, is very eager to learn. She is in school to be a firefighter. She is completely self-taught and just enjoys doing the work.
I met with both of my employees on Monday, and as part of the meeting I presented them with a non-compete agreement. I emphasized that as we grow it is important for me to put policies and procedures in place and this was something I had taken under a lot of consideration. I told them that there were many reasons for me to ask them to agree to this, but in the end, it just makes good business sense for me to protect the business for which I have sacrificed dearly.
The Intern was not happy. I did not realize she was doing as much on the side as she is. People have seen her working in my store and now they know she is in school and will be graduating soon and they go directly to her to order cakes. She said that I was making it very hard for her. I said that I understand, but I hope she can see it from my perspective.
The other employee said that she only bakes for people for free. I told her if she wanted to work for free there was nothing I could do about that and it was her choice to do that, but if she referred those people to our bakery she could work more for me and actually be paid to learn and practice.
Neither have returned the form to me yet. My decision is that if they do not return it by Monday they will be dismissed. The agreement will be difficult if not impossible to enforce, but I feel like at the very least, it gets all the cards on the table and puts the employees on notice.
I have been absent from this conversation a lot because I see too much drama on here. I don't really have the time or inclination for that. I appreciate feedback that is relevant to the thread. There have been some good ideas and perspectives posted and I do want to say that I am thankful for those of you who have taken the time to post.
Hi Marie, I sincerely hope everything works out for the best. I just wanted to say that while in school the instructors would tell us about the bakeries that needed interns. We were all eager to learn the trade some more than others. And yes there were a few that thought that they knew more than the instructor. They had every state of the art tool on the market for cake decorating even though we had a basic list of what we would need to help save us money. Those egos were quickly deflated when they had to do grunt work in the real world of working in an actual bakery,lol.
What I'm trying to say in a nutshell is that is that every intern is not awful. I'am so glad that I was given the opportunity to work and learn where I did. It laid a great foundation for my skill set and work ethics in the industry.
If you ever need employees, call up the local community college or university that offers the field of bakery or pastry arts and tell them what you are looking for interns and they will put you on a list. We have to do an internship to graduate. That way you only have to hire the ones with the most promising potential. We were graded by that internship so everyone (well mostly everyone) was determined to get an A. You get free labor and they get a chance to learn the trade, I'd also like to mention that we had to have cleared background checks in place before we were allowed to intern at someones business.
I don't know if this is something you are even interested in doing, just though I'd put it out there.
Good Luck!
Quote:
I get those intern requests all the time too. One time I took on a recent high school grad as an intern because his culinary teacher called me and begged me. She said that he was super talented and just needed some exposure before he went off to culinary school in the fall. His third day at work he spilled a whole pan of pumpkin bread batter on the floor. Now that's OK with me, accidents happen - BUT! he didn't clean it up, he just walked through it and tracked it all over the kitchen. Long story short... a month later he was still making mistakes AND still had pumpkin batter on his shoes so I wished him the best of luck and told him to go home.
Haha, one thing you can never teach people is common sense - make a mess, clean it up - just basic common sense. I used to work in both the animal industry (vet nursing and a boarding kennel) and hospitality (big career change about 5 years ago to running the front of house at a large busy café) and one thing I learnt is that if people walk in the door and show that they have no common sense you may as well turn them right around and send them out the door right then and there as nothing can teach them that.
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