Frequently Asked Questions HR Services to the Movement
Frequently asked questions – HR Services to the Movement
Pay
Q1. Do I have to pay someone a set rate?
A1. If you employ someone directly you must pay them the National Minimum wage, which can vary depending on the person’s age. Please see www.gov.uk and search ‘National Minimum Wage’ for the latest rates.
Q2. Can I just pay the employee cash to keep it simple?
A2. No. If you are employing someone you have a responsibility to ensure you are complying with HMRC in respect of National Insurance and Income Tax. Please see www.hmrc.gov.uk for more details.
Q3. Do I have to pay the person on time?
A3. Yes, agree a regular date or day of the week that you are going to pay the person and stick to it.
Annual leave
Q4. Is an employee entitled to annual leave?
A4. In accordance with the Working Time Directive, all employees are entitled to a minimum of 20 days’ annual leave per annum plus 8 paid bank holidays. This is based on a full time employee. If the employee is part time this figure can be reduced pro rata. For example, a part time employee working half the time of a full time employee would be entitled to 10 days’ leave plus 4 paid bank holidays.
Q5. If we are busy and can’t allow the person to take their leave, can we just pay them instead?
A5. You must ensure that the employee has taken their minimum amount of leave for the leave year to comply with the Working Time Directive.
Sick leave
Q6. Do I have to pay an employee if they are sick?
A6. If an employee is sick, there may be local variations/arrangements in place for sick pay so please refer to these. However, all employees are entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP). For more details and the current rate of SSP please see www.gov.uk and search ‘Statutory Sick Pay’ for the latest rate.
Hours of work – Working Time Directive
Q7. When we are busy can I just get the employee to keep working without a break?
A7. No, you need to be aware of and comply with the Working Time Directive in relation to rest breaks as listed:
Workers are usually legally entitled to rest breaks if they work for someone else, but their rights depend on:
· their age;
· how many hours they work per day;
· the kind of work they do.
Adult workers
Workers over 18 are usually entitled to three types of rest breaks.
‘Rest breaks at work’
If they work more than 6 hours a day, they have the right to one uninterrupted 20 minute rest break during their working day (this could be a tea or lunch break).
‘Daily rest’
Workers have the right to 11 hours’ rest between working days (eg if they finish work at 8pm, they shouldn’t start work again until 7am the next day).
‘Weekly rest’
Workers have the right to an uninterrupted 24 hours without any work each week or 48 hours each fortnight.
Work that puts health and safety at risk
If a person’s work is ‘monotonous’ (eg working on a production line), an employer should give them enough breaks to make sure their health and safety isn’t at risk.
Young workers
Young workers (above school leaving age and under 18) are usually entitled to:
· a 30 minute rest break if they work more than 4.5 hours (if possible this should be one continuous break)
· daily rest of 12 hours
· weekly rest of 48 hours.
Maternity leave
Q8. What do I need to do as the employer if a member of staff tells me they are pregnant?
A8. As the employer there are certain requirements you must fulfil if one of your employees is pregnant and has worked with you continuously for 26 weeks or more. First you need to conduct an individual risk assessment with the employee, as adjustments may be needed to enable them to continue in their role. Help with this can be found at www.hse.gov.uk. For details of maternity pay and other employee rights please visit www.gov.uk and search ‘statutory maternity pay’.
Paternity leave
Q9. What do I need to do as an employer if one of my staff tells me their wife/partner is expecting a baby? Are they entitled to paternity leave?
A9. If the employee has worked with you continuously for 26 weeks or more they are entitled to paternity leave. For details of maternity pay and other employee rights please visit www.gov.uk and search ‘statutory paternity pay’.
Employing paid staff
Q10. I want to employ someone, what do I need to do?
A10. If you have a vacancy you should advertise the vacancy and ask applicants to submit either their curriculum vitae (CV) or complete an application form for the post.
You are advised to write a job description for the post, which outlines the details of the job and at the end of this a person specification. The person specification sets out the skills/experience/knowledge/qualifications that are essential or desirable. You can then use the job description and person specification to shortlist candidates for the role.
The interview should involve two panel members and all candidates should be asked the same questions. Questions should be fair and relevant to the post. You should not ask the candidate personal questions, such as how they will cope with the post around any caring responsibilities they may have.
Once you have selected your candidate for the post, as soon as possible and legally not more than two months of them taking up the post, you must issue them with a contract, stating the terms and conditions of the job and the organisation. Please see sample contract templates on this website for more details.
Q11. Can the employee just invoice me for the work they do, i.e. act as self employed?
A11. This is fine if the person is providing similar services to a range of people and does the work to suit them i.e. does not have to do the work at a set time. Caution should be taken with this arrangement as you may be liable for the person’s tax and national insurance if it transpires that they have not completed a self assessment and taken personal responsibility/liability for tax and national insurance on their income. See www.hmrc.gov.uk for more advice on self employed status.
Q12. How do I pay the employee when I only have one employee or a few employees?
Q12. You may find it useful to take advice from an accountant who may be able to do your payroll for you. There is also good advice on www.hmrc.gov.uk