New Government Toolkit for Hiring New Employees

Usually they speak with head hunters or other employees to look for new ones and make this process easier, but sometimes get lost with this information. Hoever, the Government has launched a completely new step-by-step toolkit for employers when they are willing to hire a new people. Further information can be found below in this new toolkit outlining the myths about employers and the corrections to these myths.

 

In the beginning employers can’t point out what kind of employee they are looking for and how much they will pay. An employer needs to make sure that the salary is at least national minimum wage. The result of paying less than minimum wage may be prosecuted in a criminal conviction and penalty. To check out if an employer complies with everything, find out the national minimum wage at direct.gov.uk.

The second myth is that employers think that they should select less appropriate candidate to comply with anti-discrimination laws. The toolkit shows to check before if a potential employee can legally work for you. The employer must check and make copies of documents before the appropriate candidate starts teh new job. This is necessary because if an employee doesn’t have legal rights to work in UK, the employer has to pay a penalty of up to £10000 per worker. To learn more about the penalties, use the toolkit to understand data protection obligations.

Continuing from the second point, the third tool is employment insurance. A business must take out an employers’ liability insurance policy to the value of at least £5 million, and must also have an indispensable insurance certificate or make it available to the Health & Safety Executive. The employer is responsible for having the right insurance. Without that could be fined up to £2500 for each day that employer doesn’t have the appropriate insurance. To check if insurance has been authorised, please consult the Financial Services Authority Register.

The 4^th myth for employers is that registration with HMRC is complex and time consuming. When a new eployee starts with a business, they have to be registered witht HMRC for tax puroposes. If an employer is late registering an employee, a fine is calculated on the extent of the lateness.

The last myth concerns employment contracts. Even if an employee is with the company for as little as a month, there still needs to be a written contract stating the period of employment and pay terms, etc… This needs to be signed by both parties. An employer can be taken to an employment tribunal if a contract is not drawn up.

So when employer decides to take a new employee there are easy five steps to cover:

• Salary level

• Confirm the employee is eligable to work within the UK

• Ensure the business has employment insurance

• Ensure the new employee is registered with the HMRC

• Ensure a contract is signed by both parties

Zane Spalvina