Employing people

Introduction

Before considering offering employment to someone in the UK it is essential to ensure that certain legal issues are understood and complied with. 

• Ensure that the potential employee has the legal right to work in the UK. You can follow the government guidelines here https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work 
• Clearly set out the wage for the role and ensure that the wage offered is comliant with the Agricultural Wages order.  The Agricultural Wages Board sets rates for agricultural workers which supersede the minimum wage provisions and includes provisions such as the requirement to provide protective clothing and the maximum which can be deducted for providing accommodation. 
• If you are an employer, you are required to have employers’ liability insurance https://www.gov.uk/employers-liability-insurance. 
  Check if you are required to enrol your staff into a workplace pension scheme. This applies to any staff between 22 and the state pension age, earn at least £10,000 a year and normally work in the UK. You can read more about it here https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions-employers . 
• You must inform HMRC by registering as an employer. This must be completed at least one month before you pay your first staff member. If you are going to employ someone and pay wages you also need to setup PAYE so you can pay tax and national insurance for your employees. You can find out more about registering as an employer and PAYE here https://www.gov.uk/register-employer. 
• Terms and conditions of the employment must be provided to the employee in writing and must cover a list of key areas, you can find a list of them here from gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions/written-statement-of-employment-particulars.

Contracts

It is also important to understand what type of contract you are offering someone, whether it is full-time, part-time, zero-hours or a freelancer/contractor and what your responsibilities are under the legal terms of these contracts. You can read more about contract types here: Contract types and employer responsibilities

Further links

Employing staff for the first time

Five legal issues to consider when employing a person in the UK