Wow, Kamron’s article linked above is exactly what I was going to suggest – a guaranteed minimum per hour. I’m not sure $10 an hour guaranteed is exactly going to fly these days. I’m also not sure that including tips in that guaranteed minimum will fly either.
I’d say to make the offer “simple”. I’m not sure what “plus gas” means as most places don’t reimburse fuel but rather pay a certain amount per delivery or per run.
$7 base pay plus $2 per run, guaranteed 2 runs per hour, so $11/hour guaranteed. Make it a “real” agreement. Is it $11/hour “average” or $11/hour? If it’s truly $11/hour, then you need to determine what an “hour” is (is it a rolling 60 minutes or from :00 to :59 or what?). You also then have to determine when a “run” counts. I’d say the only part of a run you can control is the start, so I’d go with that. Remember, your drivers will probably try to “work the system” so if you time it for when the run “ends”, if they’ve had a bad hour and return at :58, they might not come right back so they can make this last delivery count for next hour instead of the current one. You also need to figure out “pro-rating”.
If you have a timeclock, that might help everything a lot. Have the driver timestamp each run using the timeclock.
Let’s say the driver is scheduled from 1-5pm (bad hours).
Runs begin at:
1:20
1:55
2:50
3:10
3:30
3:53
4:08
4:58
Driver clocks out after the 4:58 run at 5:15.
Seems to me you owe the guy an extra $2 for the 2pm hour. All other hours, he made his 2 delivery/hour minimum. At 5:15, he’s completed his day, but he’s still “worked” 15 mins of that hour. Do you round to 15 mins at ($1 per 15 mins guaranteed) or to 30 mins or to the next hour? You’re only rounding for the guaranteed part, not the base hourly wage. Effectively, you’re guaranteeing the driver that he’ll make $1 extra for every 15 mins he works. So, if he clocks out at :16 past the hour, you owe him $2 in delivery fees but only 16 mins of his $7/hour base. Yep, he’ll find something to do for that extra minute for that extra buck.
If you have these answers spelled out in a written agreement that you both can go back to and reference in the event of a dispute, then you’ll keep your drivers happier. Would a person quit over feeling they were short-changed by $1? Yep.