Q. I recently employed — two weeks in advance —
a freelance masseuse/acupuncturist woman of many parts to come on holiday with us for a week to do cooking, driving, plus a few massages. (I have lost my licence and have a bad shoulder.) However, circumstances have changed and I now do not need her. How should I handle this without offending her, and what is the appropriate amount! should pay in compensation? I would have paid her £250 per week.
Name and address withheld A. You have left it too late to enable the woman to find other work You must pay her the £250 anyway, but you can still gain value for your money by asking that it be set against payments for massages given to selected friends of yours to whom you wish to give a present. Set these massages up to take place during the week she would be working for you. If they are scheduled too far in the fitture, the woman will lose the connection between effort and reward, and bitterness may ensue.
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