What are the Responsibilities of an Employer?

Being an employer means in many cases more money, more freedom within your job and many general perks however it also means that you owe a responsibility to protect and take care of your employees. By taking care of your employees you are more likely to run a successful business and to guarantee a successful future in turn.

employer

N.B. Employers engage persons on either contract of service or contracts for services. Only a person engaged under a contract of service is an employee and therefore protected by the full range of employment legislation.

The Rules

There are some main rules or guidelines to follow when employing people for the first time:

  1. You must decide how much to pay someone, and you must pay your employee at least the National Minimum Wage. The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay per hour almost all workers are entitled to. The National Living Wage is higher than the National Minimum Wage, and workers are entitled to this if they are over the age of 25. There is a calculator available online so that both employers and employees can check that the rest amounts are being paid out. Furthermore, the HMRC has the right to check this if they are concerned about workers being underpaid
  2. Employers must check to see if someone has the legal right to work in the UK. It is incredibly important to check this as there is potential for all parties to get into trouble. You can do this through the link to a government website attached to this section of the article.
  3. You may want to carry out a DBS Check (Disclosure and Barring Service). A DBS check is essentially a check of someone’s criminal record. Whilst there are those who have been in trouble with the law previously and have been rehabilitated you do not want to put other people at risk to harm and potential jeopardise your business.
  4. Employment Insurance is 100% necessary. You have to get Employers Liability insurance as soon as you become an employer and the police must cover for at least £5 million and come from regulated insurers. This insurance will have you pay compensation if an employee is injured or falls ill as a result of the work they carry out for you. You risk being fined £2500 every day that you are not insured as well as a potentially £1000 for not have your EL certificate on display
  5. Statement of Employment. It is required to provide a person with this type of letter if they are employed under your watch for more than a month.
  6. Inform HM Revenue and Customs and register your new employee.
  7. Verify whether you need to enrol your employee in a workplace pension system.

Expansion of Disclosure and Barring Service Checks

There are three main types of checks which can be carried out as an organisation and they are the following:

  • A standard check shows spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings
  • An enhanced check shows the same as a standard check plus any information held by local police that’s considered relevant to the role
  • An enchanted check with barred lists shows the same as an enhanced check plus whether the applicant is on the list of people barred from doing the role
  • You are not allowed to carry out a basic check as an organisation, the person in question has to request for their own basic DBS check.
  • DBS Checks will not cover someone who has lived outside of the United Kingdom

Expansion of a Written Statement of Employment

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The minimum for a written statement of employment must contain the principal document and must include the following information:

  1. Business’s name
  2. The Employee’s name, job title. Or a description of work and start date
  3. If a previous Jon counts towards a period of continuous employment, the date the period started
  4. How much and how often an employee will get paid
  5. Hours of work
  6. Holiday Entitlement
  7. Where an employee will be working and whether they might have to relocate
  8. If an employee works in different places, whether these will be and what the employer’s address is

A further but non-obligatory document must contain the following information:

  1. How long a temporary job is expected to last
  2. The end date of a fixed term contract
  3. Notice periods
  4. Collective agreements
  5. Pensions
  6. Who to go to with a grievance
  7. How to complain about how a grievance is handled
  8. How to complain about a disciplinary or dismissal decision

Hours of Work, Breaks and Rest Periods

The Organisation of Working Time Act of 1977 laid down the maximum working hours and daily and weekly rest breaks

Leave

The near majority of employees, have annual leave and public holidays entitlements from when they begin working. Most people will receive 25 days annual paid leave.

Daniel is a loans expert based in London and has been working in the payday loans industry since 2010.