Pay Increases

[LPCap]

Recently, my company has needed to hire several people for in house loss prevention work. The problem is the pay. Even for experience, the company I work for offers very low pay for very high expectations (there is a quota etc).

I recently called around to all the major department and big box stores loss prevention departments and asked about the pay for experienced and non experienced loss prevention personnel. All of these operations are in house and pay 30-35% more starting pay than we do, (for both experience and non exp) and offer bonuses and ok benefit packages.

We are losing staff due to many members jumping ship to competitors who will pay several dollars more an hour than we do, with less responsibility.

I have also checked with local stores (non Loss Prevention jobs) and found that they pay 5-10% more than we do for starting wages.

I am thinking about drafting a proposal to the district management laying out these points. I have no personal stake in the matter because I am salary, but the people that work the stores are grumbling and jumping ship.

Any ideas as to what I should say, not say and/or how I should go about drafting this proposal and presenting it to management?

[Lawson]

I somewhat faced the same issue a while ago... I asked a friend who works at a sporting goods store "Sportsman's Warehouse" how much their LPOs make, she said they typically make around 17-19 an hour.

So a rival store, Cabelas, is opening a new store in our city. I interviewed with them for an LPO position and when I asked they said the pay was $9.50/hr. I was stunned. I dont think they understand as soon as their 9.50 LPOs catch on that Sportsman's Warehouse is paying almost double for entry, they are going to work a year at Cabelas, get up a bunch of experience in Sporting Goods loss prevention, then jump ship to Sportman's. I mean, who is going to pass up a 100% pay increase?

[HotelSecurity]

I

I mean, who is going to pass up a 100% pay increase?

Me , I am grossly underpaid for what I do. (Work 40 hours a week at one hotel AND at the same time Supervise Security at this and 2 others). For this I am presently being paid less than $1.00/hour more than a regular full time Officer + I have the full health insurance while they have it only for medications. At 51 with declining vision I have no choice - I'm stuck here. My boss also works a regular job at the head office with the Director's position as a side line. He gets his 40 hours from the head office & the 3 hotels pay 8 hours a week, so he gets paid 72 hours per week AND has a company car. I've asked for 4 hours from the 2 other hotels to give me 48 hours a week but so far all I get is "we are loosing money"

[Maelstrom]

I somewhat faced the same issue a while ago... I asked a friend who works at a sporting goods store "Sportsman's Warehouse" how much their LPOs make, she said they typically make around 17-19 an hour.

So a rival store, Cabelas, is opening a new store in our city. I interviewed with them for an LPO position and when I asked they said the pay was $9.50/hr.

IMHO if you pay peanuts... you get monkeys!

Thankfully my hourly rate is above the award & better than some armed positions in the Metropolitan area, however having said that there's still jobs that will pay more than double that again, though they're working in extremely volatile locations/conditions not unlike a Biker's bar

Fact is to attract & retain quality staff you need to offer attractive pay & working conditions period, or the time & effort spent on training & SO experience development will be utilized by your competitors

[HotelSecurity]

I thought monkeys worked for bananas

[Taktiq]

My monkeys operate as my back up on dangerous calls.

[Justice_Hound]

BHR Lawson,

As a former Loss Prevention Manager with Sportsman's Warehouse in another state I can positively tell you that Loss Prevention Agents with Sportsmans Warehouse DO NOT make 17-19 an hour. As a Manager I dont even make that much an hour. Not that I dont think that some of our staff deserve it though. Sportsmans LP is a very progressive agency and most of our staff in my state have over 10 years of law enforcement, security, and loss prevention experience. Generally company wide our agents make in between 10 to 13 dollars an hour.

Justice_Hound
Sportsmans LPM

[CorpSec]

Pay isn't everything. Of course you have to make enough to keep the wolves from your door, but consideration must also be given to things such as benefits, working conditions, advancement opportunities, etc.

I am thankful that I have a job that pays well and that I like. But, I do remember towards the beginning of my security career taking an in house job that paid $8.50 an hour with good benefits (good money in 1993 for guard work). I was so miserable with the working conditions that I went back to the the $6.50 an hour contract gig that I previously held. At the time, having a job that I enjoyed and that allowed me to study on post was more important then money.

They say to find something you enjoy doing and you will never work a day in your life. There is a lot of truth to that.

[NRM_Oz]

It happens everywhere - retail is so cut throat that those that are happy with their jobs will take a lower rate in order to avoid the BS factor. I know where I once worked in retail, apart from working every 2nd weekend (every 3rd for me) I worked a day more a week than the LPS and I earned about the same per hour as he did with those long weeks.

When I advertised for staff I wanted someone good so I ended up paying him 15% premium for his experience to get him to work for me. Then I found out that some of the 10 year vets were on 30% less because they company refused to pay competitively.

In Australia, many security companies can hide behind contracts and one I sussed out for a friend was paying $13.00 US per hour less on Sundays and 50% less on public hols than the award rates. Some non-english speaking newbie will accept those rates without a 2nd glance and the legit companies are unable to compete with such competitiveness.

[CorpSec]

An off shoot of this topic is what kind of raises do you get/prefer? Merit or across the board?

I have worked for contract outifits where if you could fog a mirror on your anniversary date you got the set raise. Usually really piddly. I prefer merit increases where the more you do and the better you are at your job determines your pay.

As a supervisor in an organization that uses a merit system, I may give one officer 30 cents an hour while giving another a buck and a half. It is basically all based on how good of a year they had. Over time, an excellent officer will find themself making several dollars an hour more than someone who is not as good of a performer.

From reading the various from around the world I feel lucky to be doing security work in Minnesota. The conditions in the industry here seem much more favorable than a lot of other areas.

[NRM_Oz]

Ironically my team picked up their game and produced some legendary results but the goal posts were moved again at the end of the year so no performance bonuses or pay increases were possible I was informed. When an employee of 10 years informs you he has never had a pay increase with inflation for 5 years ............ something is not wrong.

When I ran my own company I made sure I paid above award to get the best staff. Each took turns supervising the shift so they all got a chance to learn the ropes and move further with the company. I do know 1 client decided to save money and 2 weeks later were ringing me to come back as they found the company they hired employed foreign workers without english skills. All this to save money and the bottom line is not $$$ but risk exposure.

[LPCap]

The problem is that we pay less and the working conditions, while not bad, do have very high expectations.

So, for more pay, benefits and less work expectations, these guys can go down the street and work LP for another company.

My questions is do the district guys want to hear it, or will they tell me to tell them to quit and take that other job?

[Badge714]

The problem is that we pay less and the working conditions, while not bad, do have very high expectations.

So, for more pay, benefits and less work expectations, these guys can go down the street and work LP for another company.

My questions is do the district guys want to hear it, or will they tell me to tell them to quit and take that other job?

The sad reality is that many employers like to have a certain amount of turnover because then they don't have to give pay increases, vacations, etc. This is true for many companies in the security field.
As long as applicants keep showing up to fill the holes, they won't pay more. It's when no one will apply for the jobs that they will raise salaries.
Chances are if you tell the District guys that you're going to lose some employees, they'll just tell you to replace them fast to avoid a lot of OT caused by them leaving.

[Hank1]

Chances are if you tell the District guys that you're going to lose some employees, they'll just tell you to replace them fast to avoid a lot of OT caused by them leaving.

Bingo! You just nailed it.

Be safe,

Hank

[EMTGuard]

I havn't had a pay raise in the 3+ years I've worked for my security company. I actually left for a dispatching job which paid better but when that didn't work out I went back to my old post. I just stopped taking on any additional tasks the client comes up with for us. Example- about a month ago our supervisor left a note that each day we will collect the contracter sign in sheets and fax a copy of the timesheet for a particular contract company which works in the plant to one of our plant managers. I have not done so. I collect the signing sheets as I've always done, staple them together and drop them in the file cabinet like I've done since the beginning. I'm not going to start faxing anything until I see additional compensation. I also don't sweep or mop the floor since the janitors decided to stop doing their job in our building. I can't pay my bills now and they expect me to take on the janitors job too. AAAAWWWW HECK NO!!!! We gonna have a tea party, Baby! Let's dump this fracking tea! Who's with me? No extra duties without extra pay! Everyone put on your indian costumes and meet me at the harbor.