New Year, New Start, New Job: An Employer’s Guide to Hiring Employees

This short article is aimed at the businesses who are looking to employ new staff.  It is important to take the correct legal steps when hiring new employees. Though it may seem simple to some, there are mandatory steps that any employer must take when looking to take on a new employee – and that doesn’t mean just showing them where the tea and coffee is located!

Right to work in the U.K.

First thing’s first, every employer MUST ensure that their new employee has a right to work in the U.K. Right to work checks can be carried out manually by obtaining documents from an approved list (see Home Office website for this). If an employee is unable to show their documents or status, you may be able to use the free Employer Checking Service to establish if they have a right to work in the U.K. Additionally, depending on the sector of the business, an employer should consider carrying out DBS checks on any candidates prior to any offer of employment being made. For example, if an employee is required to work with children or vulnerable young adults.

Registering with HMRC

If a business is hiring its first employee after not previously having any workers, it is vital that they register as an employer with HMRC. The taxman is the last person an employer wants to deal with while trying to run a successful business! This can all be done online in conjunction with the PAYE (pay as you earn) online service ensuring businesses can access tax codes for their employees, send payroll reports to HMRC and much more.

Keeping tax records

Whether a business is hiring employees for the first time or have gone through this process previously, it is extremely important that the employer keeps their latest 6 years of tax records accessible and accurate or this could have serious future consequences with the revenue. This will allow an employer to file precise tax returns and be able to calculate how much Corporation Tax is owed.

Contract of employment

Though these procedural steps are crucial to successfully hiring a new employee, a lot of the legwork rests on having a correct contract of employment. Whilst the requisite terms and conditions an employer must include are helpfully established in s.1 Employment Rights Act (ERA) 1996, it is not likely that business owners will have the time to read this delightful chunk of legislation. To save some time (and sanity) for any curious minds, the following terms MUST be included for a contract of employment to be legally binding:

• The name of all parties involved
• Start date of employment/ continuous employment (where applicable)
• Salary and how often it will be paid
• Hours and place of work & job title and description of work
• Holiday entitlement/pay & Sickness leave/pay
• Pensions and pension scheme details
• Length of notice required if contract is to be terminated
• Expected period of employment (if fixed term contract)
• Details of disciplinary, grievance and dismissal rules

So what is the take away here? While hiring an employee is an exciting opportunity for any business growth, it is important to keep a cool head and follow all of the correct procedures. It is easy to get lost in the legal minefield that is Employment law. Should you need a friendly guide to help you draft contracts or handbooks please contact Emily Standring on York 01904 716012, Wetherby 01937 583210 or Malton 01653 692247 or email emily.standring@warekay.co.uk.