Client wants to hire a full time employee under my company/contract

Question

So here's my situation. A client hired me for a part time job and we signed under my contract. Now they want me to go and find someone who can work full time on the same job I do. However I'm not sure as to how they want to proceed regarding the rate. I'm very careful discussing the rate because I don't want to show the client that I'm most concerned with the pay than the work at hand. Also I'm not sure as how to approach this situation as this is my first time doing this kind of arrangement.

It is also worth mentioning that the client and I are from different countries, they are from US and I'm from the other side of the world. Also since they are the ones asking for a full time worker under my company it is understandably a transparent transaction, meaning they are aware that I'm not using anyone to do work under my name, they are well aware the someone is doing full time work for them.

EDIT
They specifically asked "how much would it cost to hire a full time person under my company". Sounds to me that they want a different rate for that person.

So now here are my questions:

1. What rate should I offer them? The job is fairly easy and can be done by anyone who is computer savvy. Is it fair to me and the client that I stick with the same price per hour? I'm afraid that I would lose them if I do stick with the same rate.

   Or should I just use my rate and just give a percentage of it to the person I'm hiring?

2. Should I let my employee communicate with the client directly? I'm afraid that they might remove me from the equation since I won't be doing much of the work and only supervise.

3. Do you guys think I should modify the contract between me and the client and create another one for the person I'm going to hire?

4. Lastly, is it rude to ask about the rate we're going to use, either my rate or the newbie's rate? Or is it fine to be straight-forward with people from US?

Answer 1

A correct approach depends on several aspects:

1) Will this person be employed by you?

If yes, you should be compensated for the bureaucracy that follows having employees. If not, will you bill the client and have the full-timer bill you a bit less?

Bear in mind, having an employee means you are responsible for finding work for this person when this project ends. In your situation, I would prefer someone who is already a freelancer and have them bill you - and then you bill the client a bit more.

You could also take a one-time payment for findng the full-timer and have them bill the client directly - but that could remove you from the equation altogether.

2) Maintaining an ongoing relationship with the client:

Two scenarios: If the project scope is well-defined, you could go for a fixed-price contract. If it isn't, you should negotiate two hourly rates: One for the full-timer and one for whatever hours you are needed managing or delivering; he latter rate being higher than the former.