Employment Contract Tailored for Commission-Based Work
A Brand New Contract for All Employees
We pay salaries purely on a commission basis based on each employee’s personal billing. We believe this is the best way for every employee to be ‘paid what they’re worth’. Expertise and experience are reflected in the hourly rate, and the hours worked in the final total. While this naturally places more responsibility on the employee for their livelihood, the salary is higher than a traditional monthly wage.
A pure commission salary doesn’t align well with a traditional employment contract. For example, defining fixed working hours is unnecessary since the pay is determined by hours worked. Employees can work an amount that suits them, and this can vary month to month. Therefore, we decided to create a new employment contract based on our own principles.
Another significant factor was that the universally binding collective agreement (TES) ended, and there was no certainty about if or when a new one would be established. So, last autumn, we decided to define the employment terms that suit us, which in practice include the same benefits as the previous agreement under the collective agreement.
Significant Changes
In addition to the regular monthly salary, the holiday pay and holiday bonus accrued during that month are always paid out. This means employees receive their holiday compensation earlier than usual, and during the actual holiday period, nothing else is paid besides the holiday pay and bonus accrued for that time. In practice, the total salary for a working month is approximately 60% of the employee’s billing. Holiday pay is calculated as an average of the actual salaries paid.
Working hours are 0–37.5 hours per week. This allows employees to agree on flexible working hours within their projects. There’s no need for special arrangements with the employer if, for instance, an employee’s life situation changes and they want more flexibility in their daily life with shorter hours.
The employment contract has been made comprehensive enough that there is no need to apply a collective agreement (TES) unless it is universally binding.
The Process
At Bytecraft, all employees can choose to become shareholders and thereby have their voices heard in company matters. On matters as significant as this to employees, their combined voice is naturally much greater than their collective ownership, and this also includes those who are not yet shareholders. The creation of the employment contract involved employees and, of course, a lawyer to ensure full legal compliance. The contract was developed much like good software: iteratively and in small steps. This allowed us to shape a solution that suits everyone and replaces the old contract.
Compensation Model
The employee’s basic salary is a commission-based pay, which is 50% of the employee’s personal billing (excluding VAT). In addition to the commission, the compensation model includes a guaranteed minimum salary of €3,000/month. This means that if the commission falls below €3,000/month, the employee is still entitled to a salary of €3,000—provided, of course, that working fewer hours than normal was not the employee’s own choice that month.
Sick leave and holiday pay are determined according to the average salary.
Interested in joining Bytecraft? Check out our open positions or learn about BytePath — our tailored solution for finding top technical talent.
