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Key Takeaways
1️⃣ Pay your people fairly & quickly
Your people are the backbone of your company. Without them, there would be no shows, no successful events. Make it a priority to pay them fairly and on time, ensuring their satisfaction and loyalty
2️⃣ Don't let freelancers be the last in line
Your people should be the first to be paid, not the last. By valuing their contributions and compensating them promptly, you create a positive work culture and attract top talent to your company.
3️⃣ Stop supporting bad behavior
If you collaborate with a labor agency that doesn't prioritize quick and fair payments, you're compromising the quality of talent you receive. Support agencies that value their workforce, creating safe work environments and giving fair compensation.
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Read the Transcript 📚
[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to Corralling the Chaos podcast, where we talk publicly about the things you're worried about privately. My name is Angela Alea, and I'm your host. This is the event industry podcast for companies and crew, where we're going to go deep and nothing is off limits.
[00:00:21] Angela Alea: Today's episode is going to be more of a public service announcement and less of an actual episode. So the reason why I'm doing this, there's a lot of trending stories out there right now about slow payments to our industry's freelancers. And every day I see posts from freelancers saying things like, I wasn't paid or I wasn't paid on time or even worse companies refusing to answer their phone calls.
[00:00:48] And we have to stop this. Everyone says things like, We need better people. We need more people. We need reliable people. We need people we can count on. [00:01:00] We need. And we're never going to get what we need. When we can't seem to get the basics, right? So here's my ask of this audience, please, for the love of God, pay your people fairly number one and pay them quickly.
[00:01:17] So we all know people in this industry, they are the key to everything we do. You don't have a show without your people. I'm going to say it again. You do not have a show without your people. You don't have a company without your people. So, why in the world can't companies figure out how to pay their people, again, fairly and quickly?
[00:01:39] That's it. When it comes to what is the standard for how often they should be paid or how fast, I would say never more than two weeks and certainly never 30 days and never once you're paid. Don't do that. Matter of fact, some states have certain laws to protect that. If you're W2ing your people, you can't [00:02:00] wait a month to pay them.
[00:02:01] So different states have different regulations about how often you should pay them. Because at the end of the day, most companies are getting deposits from their clients, right? So you have the money. And if you're not, that's probably another conversation. So stop making your people Be the last in line to get paid.
[00:02:19] They're the last ones that should get paid last. There actually should be the first to be paid. So don't forget that and the companies that continue to hire the labor agencies that are not paying quickly or fairly. Please stop supporting that behavior. It's trying to draw some lines in the sand. And there are a lot of great labor agencies out there that are actually are W2ing, paying them well, paying them often, making sure they're safe work environments.
[00:02:48] But if you're a company that doesn't pay fairly or quickly, you're not going to get top talent. So, and if you're working with a labor agency, That doesn't get this. You're also not going to be getting top talent provided to [00:03:00] you from them. So freelancers, the other thing that I'm recognizing is they're taking note like never before.
[00:03:08] They are talking. There is absolutely a naughty and a nice list out there. And you're on one of them, so pick the right list, do the right thing, and be the company that the people you're looking for are looking for. So, short and sweet today, thanks for listening to my ramble. Please, do the right thing.
[00:03:29] Remember your people are central to your company, to your clients. So pay them fairly and pay them quickly. And I hope we, as an industry, all get some good conviction around this. So thanks for listening today. If you like what you hear, don't forget to hit subscribe. And if you have any questions, comments, or feedback, reach out to us at podcast@lasso.io