What are the costs associated with taking on staff?
Estate Agents in the UK are right to be hesitant in taking on additional full-time employees, even if extra hands are greatly needed in the business because of the time and costs involved. They know that the expense of taking on a new employee entails more than just the person’s salary and benefits. Additional costs cannot be ignored when crunching the numbers to ensure it is financially feasible to grow a team.
Here is an overview of 5 cost categories to include when considering the financial outlay for a full-time staff member:
- Recruitment costs
Traditional recruitment agencies can charge 20-30% of the starting salary, which for a role associated with a salary of £25,000 per annum would equate to 5,000 to £7,500 in agency fees.
- Remuneration
- Salaries
The average base salary for an Office Worker in the UK is £25,310 per year.
- Employee benefits
Additionally, employers of full-time staff are also responsible for the following monthly costs for each employee:
- Employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NICs) of 13.8% on any salary above the National Insurance Secondary threshold.
- Auto-enrolment pension contributions, the minimum total contribution is 8% in the 2024/25 tax year, with a minimum of 3% coming from the employer and the balance from the employee.
- Employees’ liability insurance.
- Payroll costs
There is also time-consuming employee-related administration to consider. There can be overheads associated with the cost of running an RTI-compliant PAYE payroll system to facilitate Income Tax and NIC deductions from your employee’s pay.
- Employee entitlements
Employees are entitled to the following non-working days with pay:
- Holiday pay, which includes their leave entitlement plus bank holidays. UK holiday entitlement equates to about 6 weeks’ salary.
- Sick pay, for which employees pay eligible employees £99.35 per week for 28 weeks if they claim Statutory Sick Pay.
- Maternity/Paternity pay, for which you may need to pay employees up to 52 weeks.
- Training and onboarding
Whether in-house or through an outside company the average cost to a UK business of training new employees is about £1,000 per employee.
- Overhead expenses
To properly equip a new in-office employee, overhead costs will be incurred. These once-off or repetitive costs can include:
- Suitable office workspace
- Office furniture
- Computer equipment and software
- A phone line
- Extra insurance
- Travel expenses
- Increased utility expenses
- Office consumables, including stationery and refreshments
Take on a Virtual Assistant from VA Central – it’s cost effective!
A growing number of Estate Agents across the UK have found that outsourcing a bespoke and custom-matched Virtual Assistant from VA Central is the best choice when growing their business. We are continually adding to an international talent pool from which skilled and experienced candidates are selected. Our clients benefit from our VAs having a minimum off 3-5 years role-appropriate property industry experience and having gone through a thorough vetting process so that only the best candidates make the cut.
Here is an overview of the same 5 cost categories when taking on a Virtual Assistant from VA Central:
- Recruitment costs
There are no recruitment costs.
- Remuneration
We offer highly cost-effective half-day and full-day packages that equate to an hourly rate in line with the Minimum National Living Wage. Click here for more pricing information. [https://vacentral.co.uk/pricing/]
- Employee entitlements
Our clients do not pay sick leave or maternity/paternity leave.
- Training and onboarding
Our Virtual Assistants are provided with ongoing training workshops and personal development at no extra cost to our clients. There are occasional instances where clients may ask for their chosen VA to be provided with specific, paid-for training.
- Overhead expenses
The beauty of taking on a Virtual Assistant – or a whole team of them – is that there are no office-related costs. Our Virtual Assistants work from their home office and come with their own up-to-date computer systems – and they work in UK office hours.
Our VAs generate a positive return on investment
A great benefit of taking on a Virtual Assistant from VA Central is our practice of carefully matching each VA and client. The right VA in the right position has been proven to support team engagement and communication, help in streamlining workflow and lower staff turnover – all of which positively affects our clients’ bottom line. Our great track record in VA placements is a result of the care we take to match skills with job requirements and match VAs with our clients’ work ethos and company values. Our experienced Client Success team all have well-honed people-instincts that support their match-making skills.
Be sure not to miss part two of this blog that explores more ways our Virtual Assistants generate a positive return on investment.