As an employer, the tax and employment responsibilities you have for your staff will depend on the type of contract you give them and their employment status. Contract types include: full-time and part-time contracts fixed-term contracts agency staff freelancers, consultants, contractors zero-hours contracts There are also special rules for employing family members, young people and volunteers .

Full-time and part-time contracts

As an employer you must give employees: a written statement of employment or contract the statutory minimum level of paid holiday a payslip showing all deductions, such as National Insurance contributions ( NICs ) the statutory minimum length of rest breaks Statutory Sick Pay ( SSP ) maternity, paternity and adoption pay and leave You must also: make sure employees do not work longer than the maximum allowed pay employees at least the minimum wage have employer’s liability insurance provide a safe and secure working environment register with HM Revenue and Customs to deal with payroll, tax and NICs consider flexible working requests avoid discrimination in the workplace make reasonable adjustments to your business premises if your employee is disabled

Fixed-term contracts: last for a certain length of time are set in advance end when a specific task is completed end when a specific event takes place Fixed-term employees must receive the same treatment as full-time permanent staff. Find out more about fixed-term employees’ rights , and what to do about renewing or ending a fixed-term contract.

As an employer, you can hire temporary staff through agencies . This means: you pay the agency, including the employee’s National Insurance contributions ( NICs ) and Statutory Sick Pay ( SSP ) it’s the agency’s responsibility to make sure workers get their rights under working time regulations after 12 weeks’ continuous employment in the same role, agency workers get the same terms and conditions as permanent employees, including pay, working time, rest periods, night work, breaks and annual leave you must provide the agency with information about the relevant terms and conditions in your business so that they can ensure the worker gets equal treatment after 12 weeks in the same job you must allow agency workers to use any shared facilities (for example a staff canteen or childcare) and give them information about job vacancies from the first day they work there you are still responsible for their health and safety

Freelancers, consultants and contractors

If you hire a freelancer, consultant or contractor it means that: they are self-employed or are part of other companies they often look after their own tax and National Insurance contributions ( NICs ) they might not be entitled to the same rights as workers, such as minimum wage you’re still responsible for their health and safety

Zero-hours contracts are also known as casual contracts. Zero-hours contracts are usually for ‘piece work’ or ‘on call’ work, for example for interpreters. This means: they are on call to work when you need them you do not have to give them work they do not have to do work when asked Zero-hours workers are entitled to statutory annual leave and the National Minimum Wage in the same way as regular workers. You cannot do anything to stop a zero-hours worker from getting work elsewhere. The law says they can ignore a clause in their contract if it bans them from: looking for work accepting work from another employer You are still responsible for health and safety of staff on zero-hours contracts.

Employing family, young people and volunteers

Family If you hire family members you must: avoid special treatment in terms of pay, promotion and working conditions make sure tax and National Insurance contributions are still paid follow working time regulations for younger family members have employer’s liability insurance that covers any young family members check if you need to provide them with a workplace pension scheme Volunteers and voluntary staff When taking on volunteers or voluntary staff you: are responsible for their health and safety must give inductions and training in the tasks they’re going to do Young people You can employ young people if they are 13 or over but there are special rules about how long they can work and what jobs they can do. Once someone is 18 they’re classed as an ‘adult worker’ and different rules apply. As well as following these rules you must do a risk assessment before taking on young workers. Young people may also have certain employment rights like: statutory maternity pay and ordinary statutory paternity pay if they qualify as a result of their continuous employment paid time off for study and training redundancy pay Young workers and apprentices have different rates from adult workers for the National Minimum Wage .

Contract types and employer responsibilities

Overview

As an employer, the tax and employment responsibilities you have for your staff will depend on the type of contract you give them and their employment status.

Contract types include:

full-time and part-time contracts
fixed-term contracts
agency staff
freelancers, consultants, contractors
zero-hours contracts

There are also special rules for employing family members, young people and volunteers.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Step 1
1. Check whether you need full time or part time staff
2. Check the different types of employment status
and
Step 2
You also need to make checks when you recruit and employ someone.
1. Find out what you need to check when you employ someone
Step 3
You need to register with HMRC so you can pay tax and national insurance for your employees.
Step 4
1. Understand your pension responsibilities as an employer
Step 5
1. Find out about Employers' Liability insurance
Step 6
1. Employ someone

Contract types and employer responsibilities

Overview

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Contract types and employer responsibilities

Overview

Part of Get your business ready to employ staff: step by step

Step 1: Decide what type of employee you need , Show this section

and Check you can afford to take on employees , Show this section

Step 2: Make your workplace safe and accessible for employees , Show this section

Step 3: Register as an employer and set up PAYE , Show this section

Step 4: Check your responsibilities around workplace pensions , Show this section

Step 5: Get Employers' Liability insurance , Show this section

Step 6: Recruit and employ staff , Show this section

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