documents

documentsEmployment Documents – Updated May 2017.

An area of huge concern and confusion for small businesses is what paperwork and documents you need to give to your staff (we’re using the term ‘staff’ loosely here) to ensure your working relationship is clear and unambiguous.

At The HR Kiosk we hear on a daily basis how employer-staff relationships have broken down because it had not been described clearly on paper. Here we look at the types of documents you need to provide, whether a legal requirement or through your own prudence.

The documents you need will depend on what type of staff you hire, whether they are:

Permanent or fixed term contract employees (full or part-time)

Directly hired casual PAYE workers (on casual or zero-hours contracts)

Casual workers or contractors employed via an agency (you are the ‘hiring’ employer)

Freelancers or contractors / consultants (whether sole-traders or limited companies – you are their ‘client’)

Employment status:

Working out somebody’s employment status can be very complicated. If there is a dispute where you, the employer, believe you are employing someone as a self-employed person / contractor and the reality, decided by a Court, is that they are actually an employee, then there may be tax liabilities for you and financial penalties, as well as the staff gaining the employment rights of permanent employees.

The Court will essentially not just look at what is written on paper about the relationship between you and the staff (i.e. any contract that exists) but will look at the actual reality of the working relationship. Therefore you must make sure you have the correct paperwork to suit the actual circumstances.

Read on…..