Hiring staff?

[gemd89]

I am looking to hire a member of staff to do a range of work from admin to packing to ordering etc etc.

What do i need to know?

What advice would you give?

Who would i need to tell?

Im self employed how would my accounts work with taking on an employee?

Is it a simple process to hire a member of staff and where do i start/advertise etc.

What are the best questions to ask at interview? Do i have to hold interviews or can i just request CVS and employ someone over the phone?

I currently work from home looking to expand into premises - what are the rules of a person being in my own home? Is that okay?

How does this go down on my tax return? Are staff an expense?

Am i better changing from sole trader to something else?

Gemma

 

[Consistency]

Get legal advice to tell you everything you need to know. Make sure you have an employment contract in place. Speak to your accountant as to the legal aspects including PAYE, holiday pay etc.

Good luck with this..........

 

[Bob]

Lots of information here

 

[thebigIAM]

This takes me back ...

When we were employing someone at our home, we started off with a part-time person, on a casual as and when basis, and someone we already knew, a family member. If you pay less than £95 or £97 a week you avoid a lot of payroll hassles. I definitely would not advise taking someone on after a brief conversation on the phone, especially if you intend to let them into your home. Meet them face to face first.

You need employer's liability insurance, even if they are working in your home. Personally I prefer to operate as a limited company if I am going to employ someone, because in general, you will find it easier to limit your liability.

Having a staff member can help you to focus, but even if you only pay minimum wage, it can be a big responsibility making enough to cover their wages. If you have a quiet week, or something goes wrong and they can't contribute meaningfully to the business - eg. the stock is held up and your staff member has nothing to package up and send out - it can be a bit of a sweat. Remember to allow for all their holiday time, which I tend to think of as a major expense.

 

[peterbirganza]

Hiring of employee is a very sensitive and risky HR management task. Employees are the backbone of any business or industry. So hiring is the most important field in any business. Make strategies that how to handle employee and how should we retain them after hiring. Provide EEO(Equal employee opportunity) are the ways to hire a good employee and without good hiring we can not find good results from them for our business.

Best Regards,

Peter Birgganza

 

[Ashley_Price]

Be extremely careful about hiring someone to work in your home - this could open you up to a whole lot of additional costs, etc. You'll probably find you'll have to get business insurance for your property - unless you can lock the doors to the rooms the person shouldn't be going into. If the council find out that you are employing someone in your home they may decide to re-designate your house as a business premises and suddenly you'll have additional costs there.

You will need additional insurance to cover them being injured on your premises, etc.

Also you need to make sure you feel entirely comfortable having someone in your home. You are going to have to make sure it looks like a proper working environment at all times. You cannot (or shouldn't), for example, have your tights or undies hanging in the bathroom during their working hours, ironing laying about, etc. A lot of those little household chores that you might do during the working day will have to stop while you have the employee with you.

Finally, how will you ensure they won't snoop about if you have to nip out?

I got to a stage where I needed to have someone working with me and in the end it was easier to get a small office. Yes, I suddenly had additional costs, but these were a lot less than all the complications of employing someone at home. I also knew that a female temp (I was looking for a typist and the only ones that are applied were female) wasn't going to be happy working with me in the spare bedroom with the bed in the corner and my wife at work all day.

 

[elliot.rigsby]

I am looking to hire a member of staff to do a range of work from admin to packing to ordering etc etc.

What do i need to know?

What advice would you give?

Who would i need to tell?

Im self employed how would my accounts work with taking on an employee?

Is it a simple process to hire a member of staff and where do i start/advertise etc.

What are the best questions to ask at interview? Do i have to hold interviews or can i just request CVS and employ someone over the phone?

I currently work from home looking to expand into premises - what are the rules of a person being in my own home? Is that okay?

How does this go down on my tax return? Are staff an expense?

Am i better changing from sole trader to something else?

Gemma

definately take legal advice and make sure you cover contracts and staff handbook off before you start. Its a real mine field and you cant afford to get this wrong. It may cost a bit to sort out now but believe me it will be cheaper in the long run. Finally, make sure that you always follow the procedures you set out in your handbook!
Good luck

 

[gordano]

If you are ready to employ staff my advice is:

1 - Ensure you have a comprehensive employment contract.
2 - Be aware of the equality, UK Right to Work, and other relevant legislation.

By joining an organisation such as IoD or FSB you can get help with the above.

Sourcing staff depends on skill set. If it is general warehouse or general admin type roles you can find these for free by contacting Job Centre Plus.

If you need specialist staff then you will probably need to use an agency - there are many on this forum who can help with this.

 

[MikeNew]

Hi Gemma

Sit down and write up a specification of your ideal candidate: skills, experience,
personality, etc.
Then draw up a list of reasons why somebody would want to work for you. (It's a 2 way street!)
Personally, I would never consider directly employing anybody I hadn't met face to face or who I hadn't been able to thoroughly reference check.
It's a big step and carries big legal (and moral) responsibilities so, as the others have said, get yourself up to speed with all the issues. (Local Chamber of Commerce should also be able to help.)

Good luck!

Mike