I Have a New Employee Starting in My Business. What Am I Required to Do?

As an employer, there will be times when you need to recruit new staff in your business. When a new member starts on your team, there are specific actions you need to take in terms of employment law. You must be aware of your employer’s obligations when recruiting staff since not carrying out your duties can create problems for you, such as receiving fines. This article will explain what you, as an employer, need to know when a new employee starts working for you in England.

Check Your Employee’s Right to Work in the UK

When you take on a new employee, you must ensure they have the legal right to work in the UK. Ideally, you should check this during the recruitment stage, so you know if it is possible to offer them the job role should you select them during the recruitment process. 

To ensure that your new employee has the right to work in the UK, you will need to:

• request documents to prove this;
• check the documents are genuine; and 
• keep a copy of the documents for your records.

The type of documents that prove a new employee can work in the UK include a:

• British passport;
• British citizenship document;
• European Economic Area (EEA) citizenship documents;
• Swiss citizenship; or
• valid work visa or permit.

Conduct a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check

Not all employers need to complete a DBS check for their new employees. Instead, it depends on the area of your business. For example, DBS checks an employee’s criminal history to see if they have any criminal convictions. If your business is in healthcare or you work with children, this will apply to you.

Carrying out a DBS check means giving your new employee an application from the DBS. Once your new employee completes the application, you can send it back to DBS. In addition, your new employee will receive a certificate from DBS informing you of any criminal history. 

Add Your New Employee to Your Payroll and Workplace Pension Scheme

Once satisfied that your new employee can start working for your business, you will need to add them to your payroll. This will enable you to pay your new staff member and deduct from their salary, as legally required for PAYE. You will also need to inform HMRC that you have a new e-employee using a Full Payment Submission (FPS).

To add your new employee to your payroll system, you need to acquire important information from them. This includes:

• personal details, such as their date of birth and address;
• a National Insurance number; 
• whether your new employee is required to repay a student loan;
• what they have been paid so far during the tax year; and
• their tax code.

If you already employ staff, you should have a workplace pension scheme. If your new employee earns over £10,000 per year and is at least 23 years of age, you must add them to the scheme. You should do this immediately upon starting employment with you or on their first day of work, otherwise known as the duties start date.

Draft an Employment Contract

When you hire a new employee, you will have an employment contract. The employment contract sets out your new employee’s responsibilities, duties, and obligations towards them and their employer.

However, you must give your new employee some of the terms of the written statement of employment particulars before or on the first day of their employment in the ‘principle statement’ These terms include:

• you and your new employee’s names;
• your address and the address where your employee will work;
• how much you will pay them and why;
• the job title for your new employee or a job description; and 
• information on paid leave, such as sick pay and holiday pay.

The terms in your particulars which you can provide later but no longer than two months from the beginning of employment, include: 

• pension arrangements;
• disciplinary and grievance procedures; and 
• training details.

Key Takeaways

Each time you employ a new staff member, you must carry out specific actions regarding the new employee. Many of these are required by law, such as checking their right to work in the UK, where you can receive a hefty fine if you fail to do so. You are also, for example, required to let HMRC know that you have a new employee. You must also provide your employee with a written statement of employment particulars, part of which is due before or on their first day of work with you.

If you need help understanding what to do when a new employee starts in your English business, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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