In Employment, HR legislation

I work with a number of small charities and social enterprises who are taking the leap and employing their first employee. I equip them with the absolute essential starter kit of HR policies and procedures to get them going.

Firstly, there are a number of issues to consider and arrange or plan for:

  • How are you going to manage paying salary, National Insurance and tax – in-house or find an accountant/bookkeeper or payroll provider?
  • Pension auto-enrolment for very small employers is being rolled out and will require you to offer a pension to your employee sometime in the next two years. My blog https://populo.org.uk/uncategorized/pension-auto-enrolment/ gives more information.
  • You will need employers’ liability insurance.  If an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of the work they do for you, they can claim compensation from you. You can buy employers’ liability insurance through insurers or intermediaries like brokers or trade associations.

An employee has the statutory right to receive a written statement of particulars of employment within two months of starting work with you. You must ensure that it covers certain information – the following is not an exhaustive list:

  • Names of the employer and employee
  • Date when employment began
  • Date on which the employee’s continuous employment began
  • Scale or rate of remuneration or the method of calculating the remuneration
  • Intervals at which remuneration is paid, that is, weekly, monthly or other specified intervals
  • Terms and conditions relating to hours of work, including any terms and conditions relating to normal working hours
  • Terms and conditions relating to entitlement to holidays, including public holidays and holiday pay, in such a manner as to allow them to be precisely calculated
  • Job title or a brief description of the type of work the employee is employed to do
  • Place of work or an indication that an employee is required or permitted to work at various locations.

The absolute basic package of HR policies and procedures to have in place for your first employee from day one is:

  • Equal opportunities policy
  • Disciplinary procedure
  • Grievance procedure
  • Some guidance on various leave entitlements

Free employment advice may be obtained from:

Government website

ACAS

HMRC

The Pensions Regulator

Community voluntary services organisations in your area or contact me for a no obligation chat.

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