How to employ someone part time?

[helen-back]

Me and my partner started a domestic cleaning business on Jan 2nd this year and for the past 3 months we have done very well. We have had help from a family member that has worked with my gf to deliver leaflets and also do the jobs as they came in.

Right now we need to take on staff to help deliver leaflets and take over some of the regular jobs we have. I have found someone that wants to work part time and after an interview we have decided to offer them a part time job with a 3 month trial period. For the first month they will be delivering leaflets and my gf (who is the md) will train the new employee whilst we wait for the CRB check to come back.

Once all is ok they will then take over some of the regular jobs hopefully with another person we plan to employ.

Right, what we dont understand is what is required of us as employee's. I have looked on several websites including direct.gov site and i still dont understand where to start.
Really could do with some pointers and maybe a checklist of things we are required to do as a minimum.

These are a few things i believe we need to have in place :

1 : We need to make sure they are legal to work in this country although not sure exactly how to do it?

2 : Make the job offer in writting and include : The job title, length of probation period, the pay, hours (although how do we state the hours when they will differ each week?), the start date, Not sure if there is anything else we need to include or how it should be written exactly?

3 : Employment contract? I have read that the following on a website nowletsgetstarted.co.uk but know nothing more than i have just read : to include your business name, the name of the employee, the date their employment started, how much you are paying them, frequency of payment eg weekly or monthly, normal working days/hours, and any requirements for these to differ, normal place of work, and any requirements for it to differ, holiday entitlement, sick leave and sick pay entitlement, notice period to terminate the employment, your disciplinary and grievance procedures.

All of the above makes me wonder where the hell i should start???

All i want to do is employ someone part time (up to 20 hours a week) and pay them for the hours they work, what is all this sick pay and holiday pay and other stuff i know nothing about??? I have never had a job and dont know anyone that runs their own business so im finding this very hard indeed!

I want to do this as basic as possible and move on and grow my business, what should i do? Is there someone that will deal with all these issues or anyone i can phone to help me with this as i want to do this properly and without breaking any laws etc.

I cant move on without employing people so i know its got to be done, just not sure where to start when every website i look at throws even more question marks at me!


Any help really is much appreciated.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Contact your local enterprise agency or council who have support staff for start up companies, the town hall staff should be able to give you who to contact, failing that contact your bank manager who again is likely to know who to contact

These agency's are set up to educate people who want to start up in business and explain all items lke contracts, cashflow, profit and loss, Marketing etc

All employee's need to appear on your books and should fill in a form to HMRC when they join the company or give you their P45 which you send off, HMRC will then after a few weeks give you a tax code to apply to this persons wages, up to then you use week one month one as the code

You can only use freelance people who invoice you, if you are certain they are registered self employed with HMRC other wise HMRC will come back to you for all the tax and NI they should have paid and maybe fine you as well

All new employees have to prove to you that they are entitled to work in the UK normally by what it states in their passports, birth certificates, national insurance number

All employees are entitled to holiday pay and normally worked out pro rata with hours worked so a part time worker will only get paid a percentage of a full time worker

You must pay the minimum wage relating to the age of the employee or aprentice

You really need to get on top of the basics very quick, most are available from the government website but not always the easiest read

WH Smith normally have a paperback book on starting up a business which also helps

Good luck

 

[davidakerr]

You may wish to speak to the Federation of Small Businesses. They will assist you with all the pre-employment problems and also offer you legal protection if you should fall foul of the employment laws dealing with "questionable" employees. All matters regarding Holidays, Min Wage, Contracts etc are available from them.

 

[sjbeale]

If you need help with this I offer an HR Starter Pack which is ideal when employing your first employee or indeed for businesses who have not yet given their employees any employment documentation. Included with the documentation is one hours advice on staff management/problems, etc. Please email me [email protected] for more details.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Think she has gone maties

 

[thelegalstop]

Hi, If you need help with the Employment contact itself, we have templates, which can be tailored to suit your needs. Please send me a PM, so we can get in touch! If you want, we can take this opportunity further and help you sort everything out!
Look forward to hearing from you!
All the best!