Independent contractors

[vred]

Starting a haunt in 2015 and was wondering if having your actors as independent contractors is the way to go

-V

[terrormasue]

I would love to hear how everyone does this? Can we go with independent contractors? How do the other haunts compensate their actors?

Sue

[Darkangel]

Why are haunts still not paying their actors??? It's not even legal to not pay your actors come on guys it's almost 2015 and you want to be treated a business professionals then you have to pay your actors.

DA

[TheDarkestHour]

I agree, I've been haunting for a while now, and it's a lot of hard work! Yes, haunts cost money to run, but, without quality actors, your haunt is pure garbage. Props and animations can only take you so far. Play fair, and compensate your actors for the hard work they put in, it's the right thing to do. Period. Even if it's only $30 a night, it can make a world of difference in the quality of actors you bring in.

[Deathwing]

Not paying your actors and being a profit business is illegal and shameful. I encourage everyone to seek out haunts still doing this in your markets and report them to the state.

Jake

[terrormasue]

I totally agree Jake. So how do you pay your actors? Contract? Hourly? season? Per night? Cash, check? Minimum wage? No money but have awesome great prizes at the end of the season? I would love to know. As I mentioned we do give out bonuses to every actor at the end of the season. I think this is a great topic and I would love any info on this.

Sue

[gadget-evilusions]

The last haunt we ran paid minimum wage to our actors. We hired them all as employees, had workers comp, payroll taxes, the whole works. Unfortunately, it's probably one of the reasons we shut down (that and our rent was too high). I would never take the risk of "independent contractors" anymore with the IRS looking at it more and more in our industry, and the potential risk from injuries and no workers comp. If I had it to do over again, I would open as a charity haunt with volunteer actors, with bonuses at the end.

[terrormasue]

Thank you Brian for your comment. A charity haunt is what I am trying to become. Everything I bring in I put right back out into the haunt to get it to the point of becoming a 501C. So again you CAN give bonuses to volunteers? By the actual act of giving a volunteer a bonus are you turning them into an employee? Like I mentioned above I agree with Jake that actors should be paid. I have acted for years and yes it is hard. But the HOW to pay them is the question here it not the question to PAY them its HOW to pay them and still have enough money left to run the haunt the following year. I have had to borrow money every year to get open. I can't continue to do that. I will go broke and have to close the haunt so back to square one. Ugh...

Sue

[Grey Lady]

reimbursement

I paid my actors a nightly 'stipend', reimbursement of expenses, if you will. Some of them drive 30 miles, leave work early etc, so I reimburse them for any losses. It is a set $ amount dependent on experience and performance. It is all outlined before we open so there are no misunderstandings.
The legal aspect in my state, I discussed this with my lawyer, is they are not employees, they are volunteers who receive a stipend.
Most of them told me they didn't need any stipend because they enjoyed it so much but they all cashed the checks.
Jan