Employer responsibilities

[redsturgeon]

We are about to bite the bullet and hire an administrator/office assistant for 27.5 hours per week and I was wondering what obligations we will have in terms off holiday, sickness, maternity etc. We are looking to hire on an initial six month contract with a view to extending if it all works out. Any suggestions as to were we look for the rules and regs on all this...I guess pensions might be an issue too these days!

John

[PinkDalek]

We are about to bite the bullet and hire an administrator/office assistant for 27.5 hours per week and I was wondering what obligations we will have in terms off holiday, sickness, maternity etc. We are looking to hire on an initial six month contract with a view to extending if it all works out. Any suggestions as to were we look for the rules and regs on all this...I guess pensions might be an issue too these days!

John

Does this basic guide assist for starters?:

https://www.gov.uk/employing-staff

It covers:

National Minimum Wage
Legal right to work
DBS checks
Employers’ liability insurance
Written statement of employment (see https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts ... articulars which takes you to https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights re Holiday Pay and https://www.gov.uk/taking-sick-leave for sick leave)
Registering as an employee with HMRC
Workplace pension scheme enrolment (with a link to http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/ ... -date.aspx)

I'm sure there's many more matters to consider and melonfool, for one, could add a considerable amount, should she happen upon or be alerted to your Topic.

[melonfool]

We are about to bite the bullet and hire an administrator/office assistant for 27.5 hours per week and I was wondering what obligations we will have in terms off holiday, sickness, maternity etc. We are looking to hire on an initial six month contract with a view to extending if it all works out. Any suggestions as to were we look for the rules and regs on all this...I guess pensions might be an issue too these days!

John

Min (living) wage appropriate for age
28 days paid hol (of which you can dictate all with notice, so 8 could be bank holidays, for example)
H&S risk assessments
Written terms of employment within 8 (I think?) weeks - s1 of the 1996 Employment Rights Act covers what needs to go in it:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/1

Sickness is statutory sick pay if they earn over the sick pay threshold and only starts on 4th day of sickness
Maternity - might as well til she gets preg (you might not employ a woman, but only women get pregnant) before worrying about that as it's boringly complex (and it's 'share parental leave' now anyway)

How may employees do you have and have you been informed of your auto-enrollment staging date? I'd imagine pension would not be an issue for you until 2018?

Importantly, no claim for unfair dismissal for 2 years - but gazillions of other claims possible. So, do not discriminate, do not breach the contract terms, do not breach the notice period - all these can lead to claims within the 2 year period.

One week's notice period after one month and up to two years - then it's two weeks for every year of service, capped at 12. You can contractually have longer notice, but not less.

Worth having a discipline and grievance policy (that's two separate policies) - the ACAS website has examples on.

Mel

[redsturgeon]

Thanks for the responses. That should get us started. I always said we would avoid taking on employees...too much red tape and hassle but it has become necessary due to huge increase in workload, so it's a nice problem to have I guess.

John

[Slarti]

Thanks for the responses. That should get us started. I always said we would avoid taking on employees...too much red tape and hassle but it has become necessary due to huge increase in workload, so it's a nice problem to have I guess.

John

Also worth having a look for IT usage policy and ensuring that Data Protection training is covered.

Slarti

[redsturgeon]

Thanks for the responses. That should get us started. I always said we would avoid taking on employees...too much red tape and hassle but it has become necessary due to huge increase in workload, so it's a nice problem to have I guess.

John

Also worth having a look for IT usage policy and ensuring that Data Protection training is covered.

Slarti

Thanks, will do