Pitfalls of the first employee

Janex

I will need to employ someone in the next couple of months and was wondering if anyone can give any advice about potential pitfalls of 'the first employee'. I have researched the main things such as registering with HMRC, PAYE, NI contributions etc etc. but are there any pitfalls that anyone can advice me about that I maybe haven't thought of! This list is not exhaustive, but for example, can I be had up if I don't advertise for the position properly, can I be had up if I don't interview properly, can I be had up if I don't employ a woman? What are my resposibilities as an employer that may not be outlined on the government websites? I am trying to minimise the risk of something being just around the employment corner by being one step ahead! Thanks in advance! Janex

Horace

Hi - have a look at the ACAS website - https://www.acas.org.uk - you will need to have a disciplinary procedure, a grievance procedure, need to know what the legal holiday entitlement is, have terms & conditions of employment, have a health & safety policy, have insurance (employer's liability insurance). There are lots of legal things that you need to be aware of e.g equal opps etc. etc.

ACAS - arbitration and conciliation advisory service - they are a very good source of information for both employers and employees alike.

DireStraits_2

Jane
not sure where you are upto with this...but heres my experience of being a new employer.

You need to
a)understand the law or
b) get someone to help who does.

There are also ways around things you want to achieve or protect yourself against.

I use a great company who charged me £99 for a contract and £200 for a staff handbook and ongoing support. PM me for the details.

Advertising with the Job Centre is free, speak to them they will help you word it so it complies;
e.g. I need physically fit people - but the JC people advised me on wording so as not to breach any rules.
I also registered with them so I can do this online now.

Interviewing: set out some questions that wil lhelp you pick out the right person, what qualities are you looking for....

But remember to be nice and polite, there are some nice people who are clearly unsuitable for some jobs, no need to beat them down!


Good Luck

tandraig

there is a site which offers great easy to understand advice called Business Link its UK based and I have used it to check out holiday entitlement etc and noticed that it covers most areas from advertising and taking on staff to pay, holidays, giving notice making redundancies etc. The Acas site is good too but not put in quite such easy to understand language or format. btw i use the site from the perspective of employee rather than employer but it seems pretty comprehensive to me.

ukbill69

Tell them to go self employed, easy that way, no contracts needed, can get rid of them as and when, dont have to pay holiday, dont have to pay tax for them.

Zazen999

ukbill69 wrote: »

Tell them to go self employed, easy that way, no contracts needed, can get rid of them as and when, dont have to pay holiday, dont have to pay tax for them.

And, if they aren't 'really' self employed - totally illegal.

OP - Business Link is your first shot; they should be able to point you in the right direction of all the legal stuff.

It is a minefield, but alot of people do it so it's not impossible.

Savvy_Sue

Janex wrote: »

This list is not exhaustive, but for example, can I be had up if I don't advertise for the position properly, can I be had up if I don't interview properly, can I be had up if I don't employ a woman? What are my resposibilities as an employer that may not be outlined on the government websites? I am trying to minimise the risk of something being just around the employment corner by being one step ahead! Thanks in advance! Janex

Good advice from all but one poster so far. The answers I would give to the questions you've already thought of are:

You could be 'done' if your advert said you were looking for a fit young man, unless you actually needed a fit young man, in which case you'd have to quote which bits of the relevant legislation you were exempt from in your advert (disability, age, sex - and there's more!)

Remember you're looking for the best person to do the job, and your job description and person spec will 'inform' you about what sort of person that might be. If you don't advertise 'properly', then you are limiting the field from which you'll get applicants. That doesn't mean you have to spend a great deal of money advertising in a national newspaper (or even in your local newspaper!), but it is worth giving some thought to where the kind of applicants you want might be looking for jobs. Job Centre is free, and wide ranging, and if you have a local Gumtree, we find that's quite useful!

There are questions you just don't ask in an interview, and definitely NO questions you ask women but not men and vice versa. If your job requires shifts, antisocial hours or heavy lifting you should ask whether the applicant can manage those things, without eg assuming that a woman with children may find shifts more difficult than a man. People's personal domestic arrangements are just that, personal, and if you've been clear about what you need, you should give them credit for working out whether they can offer what you need within those arrangements.

Now, it's worth at every stage being methodical about who you're choosing - both to interview and to appoint. So having prepared a job description and person spec, you'll compare each application against that, and interview those who get most 'points'. You'll ask them the same questions at interview, and 'score' their answers. You'll work out what questions will get you the information you need - not just "tell me about your experience" but "what if" questions: if customer service is key to the job, "What would you do if a customer came in to complain that the job we did for them last week wasn't satisfactory?"

If you do that, then you should get the best person for the job, and if that's a woman, a man or an alien there will be no cause for complaint. Doesn't mean there will never BE a complaint, but you'll have evidence. And if a disgruntled potential employee knows you have evidence, that should discourage them from wasting their time and yours with a complaint.

Having said all that, if you know that Jo down the road is looking for a job, and you think they could do the job you need, there is nothing to stop you offering Jo the job. But the point of advertising and interviewing 'properly' is that you may get a better person than Jo, or you may find that Jo is the best person you can find.

After that, you need to think about a statement of terms and conditions of employment, with grievance and disciplinary procedures, because that will save a lot of grief later on. The other main area to 'worry' about is Health and Safety, and you do need your Public Liability insurance to cover staff - you may already have it but if you took it out when it was just you it's worth checking that staff are covered too.

paulwf

You can also get ready made kits that you can adapt, e.g.:

http://whs.lawpack.co.uk/Business/HumanResources/product705.asp

I have no idea if that is a good one - just the first one I found as an example. I have included it though to show you don't have to pay £300 for contract and handbook...obviously the service will differ but this is a forum dedicated to moneysaving so worth a look The old contract I was on was from a £10 legal kit and did the job just fine.

Although you are right to consider everything if you are a good employer there are unlikely to be any problems so don't worry...the employment forums on here are full of scare stories but that is usually down to unfair employers. Just lay everything out in the contract such as the pay date and holiday entitlement. Make sure you cover sickness in depth including their maximum sick pay entitlement.

Two things I'm a fan of:

- Trial days. After the interview give the preferred applicant a paid trial day to see if when it comes down to the work they can get on with you and you can get on with them. You'll get a much better idea of a person than in an interview.

- Trial period. Have a month or 3 month trial period built into the contract so it is easier to let them go if you don't like their work practices. Lots of retailers mainly take on staff as seasonal temps then retain the ones they want.

Savvy_Sue

I think we downloaded our terms and conditions for staff from Businesslink. They have a 'fill in the blanks' template. It's one of the tools on this page. It feels a bit cumbersome, and you have to read the finished result carefully, but it should be watertight!

Janex

Thank you so much everyone. Although it is a minefield, I feel very much happier now! A problem shared is a problem halved! I was starting to get really preoccupied, so thank you!:rotfl:

ukbill69

Zazen999 wrote: »

And, if they aren't 'really' self employed - totally illegal.

OP - Business Link is your first shot; they should be able to point you in the right direction of all the legal stuff.

It is a minefield, but alot of people do it so it's not impossible.

Not up to you to check, its the person to report this info. Sometimes inland revenue ask contractors names and addresses and you have to give this info, this is to catch em out.