HR/Employment Law

When setting up your organisation, you may be recruiting members of staff and it is important to know your duties as employer. There are rules and regulations that must be adhered to. You must consider all aspects of Employment legislation:
1. Register as en employer

In most cases if you wish to take on an employee you must register yourself with HMRC. You must register for PAYE. At this stage you would then consider setting up pension scheme and Health & Safety procedures.

2. Recruiting employees
It is necessary to ensure that new employees have the right to work in the UK. It may be prudent to check references and perform a criminal records check. Depending on the type of work will be undertaking you may wish to consider obtaining Disclosure certificates for your employees. This shows any criminal convictions of the individuals and is useful if the type of work involves children or vulnerable adults.

3. Income Tax & NI contributions
These must be deducted from employees salary. HMRC can provide advice about how to register as an employee (see links)

4. Contract of Employment
This is the agreement between employer and employee. It does not have to be formal written contact, it can be a written statement outlining the terms and conditions of the employement and must be provided within 2 months of commencement.

5. Employment law basics
Pay, holidays, sickness and absence procedures, notice period, disciplinary procedure redundancy and grievances. As an employer you must show clear guidelines to your employees , it may be useful to issue a staff handbook showing the company’s policies on these topics.

6. Other employment issues
Age Discrimination, National Minimum Wage, Equal Pay, Working Time Regulations, Maternity/paternity leave & pay, Sex/Race/Disability discrimination, Rehabilitation of Offenders. These are all topics you must consider when recriuiting employees.

If you require any advice on staff structures, company policy, data protection, employment contracts, or any other aspect of employment law please do not hesitate to contact us.