Enham Trust

Responsibilities of Being an Employer

If you chose to be an employer you will be taking on certain responsibilities. This need not be a problem. There are plenty of people to give you advice, including your Enham Trust advisor, the Skills for Care website and ACAS.

The responsibilities include:

  • You must give your employee a contract of employment. This needs to be given to them within 2 months of them starting with you. Your insurance company can provide one, or one can be found on the Skills for Care ( website.
  • You must treat your employee fairly, even if they have not done a very good job. You can not just ‘fire’ them. You must follow a disciplinary procedure. If you do not, they could take you to a tribunal.
  • There is a restriction on how many hours an employee can work in a week. These are called the ‘Working Time Regulations’ and these are available on the ACAS website (
  • You must pay your employee on time and give them a payslip to show how the pay is calculated. Your payroll service might help with this, or you can do it yourself on line.
  • You must allow your employee the equivalent of 5.6 weeks (including bank holidays) holiday each year. You can not pay them to not take their holiday or carry forward statutory holiday. If they choose not to take their holiday during the holiday year, the entitlement is lost.
  • You must pay statutory sick pay if your employee is off sick for four or more days in a row, if they normally earn more than the lower earnings limit for national insurance. Ask your advisor for more information.
  • You must pay at least the minimum wage. This changes every year, but the current rates are available from ACAS or your advisor.
  • You must give your employee time off for maternity, paternity and adoption.
  • You must ensure that your employee can work safely. A risk assessment is a good idea and we have a separate sheet for this.
  • You must have employer’s liability insurance. Your advisor can give you cost comparisons on this and advise on the content of different policies.
  • You should have a regular (say monthly) supervision session with your employee. Although you see them all the time, this gives you and them the opportunity to discuss any issues in a more professional way.
  • You must retain the records of your employee (payroll information, holiday records etc) for 7 years

This can sound daunting, but an advisor can talk you through simple ways of meeting these responsibilities.