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Company Deducts Credit Fees From CommissionsQ: I am a sales rep for a moving and storage company in the west. My contract states that the "agent is responsible for their portion of credit card fees incurred by "company name." I signed the contract, so I must pay a portion of the bank fees when a client uses a credit card, but it doesn't state any details, such as a certain percentage. This makes it impossible to figure out how much will be deducted from my paycheck. I am not allowed to say that we don't accept credit cards, but I encourage customers to pay in cash. Most, however, charge their credit cards. I thought credit card fees were considered the price of doing business. A: It sounds like your company was a "cash only" business, and when it changed its policy to accept credit cards, it did not recalculate its business expenses and fees to include credit card fees under "the cost of doing business." This decision is bad business and creates poor employee relations on many levels. It creates an antagonistic relationship between the company and its sales reps. Most people use credit cards, so that immediately reduces a sales rep's commissions. Credit card companies' fees range from 1 to 3 percent per transaction. After that initial fee, additional charges may apply to each transaction, depending on variables such as the zip code location and addresses associated to each customer's credit card. These varying conditions lead to individual calculations per transaction. The contract states a rep pays only a portion, but no one can determine what a "portion" is since it is not defined. It is obvious why sales reps feel they are being "squeezed" financially by the employer.
Individual charges per transaction can only compound the difficulties in the payroll department in ensuring each sales rep is being paid accurately. Of course, no one will be able to check the amounts unless an audit is conducted. As a result, it is not worth your time to try to determine what your paycheck will be. But your choices are many. Strive to be the top sales rep and negotiate your own contract where the credit card fees are covered by the company; convince the company owner to review the costs of doing business and revise the charges to include credit card fees, which would streamline the accounting and payroll work. Or, find another job in the same industry (if you like it) where the company's payment model is more current and based on clients using credit cards. Last, take your sales skills to another industry that is forthright in its commission structure. EMPLOYEE WONDERS 'WHO HE BLEEP HIRED THIS GUY" Q: I took a job because I needed the money and thought it might also be fun. Not so. My boss has no personality, no sense of humor. He is not capable of thinking outside the box. His rigid personality renders him incapable of managing. Should I quit or try to show him how to handle things. I don't know how this guy got hired. A: Quit! His personality is set and cannot be changed, even by him. Unless you can convince the top boss that this man cannot function as a manager, leave and put your energy into something productive, like another job search. Email all your questions to workplace expert Lindsey Novak at LindseyNovak@yahoo.com. She answers all emails. To find out more about Lindsey Novak and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM 
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