I wonder if anyone could help.  We have a self-employed and fabulous cleaner here at Walthamstow. He is contracted for 3 hours a day but sometimes has to work longer due to the messy oiks that use and abuse our building.

Until recently he was paid a weekly standing order and then any extra hours were calculated at the end of the quarter in a one off payment.  All by online payments.

This year, we have begun to set up the online payments weekly for exactly the hours that he has worked the previous week.

There has been some concern over this method.  Although it is more accurate from an accounting viewpoint, it runs the risk that if no one is available to set up a payment (there's only 2 of us who can), our lovely cleaner wouldn't get paid on time.  

One suggestion has been that we pay him by standing order and work out the pay difference on a monthly rather than quarterly basis.  However, this increases the chance of him owing us money - for example if he takes several days off over Christmas.

Any other suggestions/comments gladly accepted.