Hiring your first showroom staff: a flooring checklist

Sooner or later a showroom stops being just you. Someone has to hold the floor while you're out measuring, and someone has to keep orders, bills and installs moving while you're quoting. Your first hires also set the standard for everyone who follows.

This guide covers who to hire first for a flooring showroom, how many hours need covering, the employer basics in Victoria and how to get a new person started. It draws on the Fair Work Ombudsman, business.gov.au, the ATO and WorkSafe Victoria, with our franchise page for how a National Floors showroom runs.

The short version. A showroom needs people to sell, to measure and quote, and to keep the paperwork moving. It trades 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, which is 48 hours a week, against a 38-hour week for a full-time employee, so plan for a mix of hours. Before anyone starts, check the award, register for WorkCover with WorkSafe Victoria, and set up payroll, super and Single Touch Payroll. Then give them an induction and a safety briefing.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice.

Who should you hire first for a flooring showroom?

A showroom has four jobs to fill, and you're one of them. Here they are, with what our franchise page lists for each.

Role	What the job involves	From our franchise page
Sales consultant	Greets walk-ins, helps them choose and books the measure	"Automatic follow-ups so no enquiry goes cold"
Measure and quote	Visits the home, measures and prices the job	A field app to "measure, quote and update jobs on site"
Admin and dispatch	Keeps orders, bills and install bookings moving	"Every customer, quote and install in one place, with crew scheduling"
Owner or manager	Leads the team and turns walk-ins into booked jobs	"Owner leading a sales team"

The page says owners should expect to be on the floor six days a week, especially in the first year. So a good first hire is whoever frees you for the job only you can do: a sales consultant to hold the floor if measures keep pulling you out, or someone to measure and quote if enquiries are waiting. Admin and dispatch usually come next, using the job management system.

You don't need flooring experience to lead a showroom. The same can be true of your team. Product knowledge can be taught. How someone treats a customer is harder to teach.

How many hours does a showroom need covered?

The showroom trades 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday: eight hours a day over six days, or 48 hours a week. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the National Employment Standards set a maximum of 38 hours a week for a full-time employee, plus reasonable additional hours. So even one person on the floor at all times takes more than one full-time employee's ordinary hours, before leave. A full-time employee also gets four weeks of annual leave and 10 days of paid sick and carer's leave a year.

That's why a mix of full-time, part-time and casual shifts is worth planning from the start. The Ombudsman says a casual has no firm advance commitment to ongoing work and is paid a casual loading or a specific casual rate. Casuals don't get most paid leave, but you must give each one the Casual Employment Information Statement.

Which award covers flooring showroom staff?

Most employees are covered by an award, which sets minimum pay rates, hours and rosters, breaks, allowances, penalty and overtime rates and leave, business.gov.au says. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the General Retail Industry Award covers the retail sale or hire of goods or services for personal, household or business use, including furniture and household goods, and lists sales assistants, store managers and back-office staff doing clerical work in a retail shop among the roles it covers. For a showroom, that's the first award to check.

Don't guess, though. The Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool helps you find the right award and work out pay rates, penalty rates and allowances, which matter for a showroom that trades on Saturdays. Not every role will sit under the same award, so check each one. Minimum rates are reviewed each year, usually with changes from 1 July. We don't quote pay rates here because they differ by role and change every year, so check the current pay guide. Wages are a running cost to plan for, alongside rent and working capital, and our guide to what a flooring franchise costs lists the others.

What do you need to do before a new employee starts?

business.gov.au's guide to hiring employees sets out the steps. For a first employee in Victoria:

Register for WorkCover with WorkSafe Victoria. Generally you must if you employ any workers, unless you pay only a very small amount in a financial year and have no apprentices. WorkSafe must receive your registration within 60 days of when you first meet the requirements, and if your company employs you, you count as its worker.
Check the right to work. Confirm the person can work in Australia using the Department of Home Affairs' free online service, check any licences the role needs, such as a driver's licence for home visits, and don't discriminate when you recruit.
Put it in writing. For an award-covered employee, business.gov.au's employment contract tool builds a letter of offer and a contract.
Give them the paperwork. That's the Fair Work Information Statement before, or as soon as possible after, they start, plus the Casual Employment Information Statement for casuals. Make the award easy to find.
Set up tax and super. Ask for a tax file number declaration, give them a super choice form within 28 days, register for PAYG withholding and use payroll software that reports through Single Touch Payroll.
Pay correctly. At least monthly, with a payslip within one working day. Since 1 July 2026, super must reach their fund within 7 business days of each payday, or 20 business days for a new employee's first payment.
Keep records of pay, hours, leave and super for 7 years.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Your accountant, your payroll provider or the Fair Work Ombudsman can confirm what applies to you.

How do you keep a showroom team safe?

WorkSafe Victoria's retail safety basics list hazards a showroom will recognise: lifting heavy or awkward objects like boxes, using trolleys and ladders, tripping over stock left on the floor or in walkways, and stress from abusive customers and work pressure. As an employer you must give your employees the information, instruction, training and supervision they need to work safely, and report notifiable incidents to WorkSafe. Put that into the first day: show where the exits and first aid kit are, how to lift and stack, and how to use the ladder.

How do you onboard and train new showroom staff?

business.gov.au's induction checklist covers showing them around, introducing colleagues, explaining your business and their role, running through key policies and procedures, giving them access to the tools and systems they need, and arranging any training. The flooring detail is yours to teach.

At National Floors, the initial training is for you: it covers product, sales, operations and the money side, before you open. After that, "every procedure stays at your fingertips, from quoting a job to handling a complaint", and you keep the full video and SOP library: 10+ hours of video training and 100+ pages of written procedures. Written procedures give a new hire something to learn from besides watching you. Whether your own team can train on our materials is a good question for your discovery call.

Can you give a new hire an unpaid trial shift?

Only in narrow circumstances. The Fair Work Ombudsman says an unpaid trial may be unlawful if it isn't necessary to show the skills the job needs, runs longer than needed (from an hour to one shift, depending on the work), involves more than a demonstration of skills, or isn't directly supervised. Anything beyond what's reasonably required must be paid. For a longer look, employ the person as a casual or on a probation period and pay every hour. Probation doesn't reduce entitlements: business.gov.au says employees on probation get the same entitlements as other employees.

To see how rostering fits into a working week, read a week in a flooring showroom. For WorkCover and insurance before you open, see how to open a flooring store in Victoria, and for leading people after a change of career, career change to a flooring showroom. Then browse the open territories, from Bendigo to Sale, or check whether your area is open.

Questions

Who should I hire first for a flooring showroom?

Whoever frees you for the job only you can do. A sales consultant can hold the floor while you measure, and a measure-and-quote person can free you to stay with customers. Admin and dispatch can start with one of your first hires, using the job management system.

How many staff does a flooring showroom need?

Our franchise page doesn't set a team size, and it will depend on your site and your sales. The hours are a guide: 48 trading hours a week, against a 38-hour week for a full-time employee, means a mix of full-time, part-time and casual shifts.

Do I need WorkCover for my first employee?

Generally yes in Victoria. WorkSafe says you must register if you employ any workers, unless you pay only a very small amount in a financial year and have no apprentices, and it must receive your registration within 60 days.

Can I offer a trial shift before hiring someone?

Briefly, and under supervision. The Fair Work Ombudsman says how long depends on the work, from an hour to one shift, and any longer period must be paid.

Do I need flooring experience to lead a showroom team?

No. Initial training before you open covers product, sales, operations and the money side. Check whether your area is open.

Hiring your first showroom staff: a flooring owner's checklist