Many businesses will find themselves in the positive position of their business growing nicely and needing an extra pair of hands (or several). As your mind turns to taking on employees it is common to wonder – where do I start?

Hiring staff and learning to navigate employment law can be fairly daunting. You could easily cause problems for your business without the right foundations in place to get an employment relationship off on the right foot.

Here are some crucial steps of the process and things to consider when starting this new journey in your business.

What is the process?

There are many ways to recruit staff into your business such as:

• Word of mouth
• Social media posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc
• Recruitment agencies
• Online job platforms such as Indeed
• Forging relationships with colleges or apprenticeship providers

The best method will depend on your business and what you are looking for. However, regardless of which route you take to recruit staff, your recruitment process should always take into account the following:

• Ensure your hiring practice isn’t discriminatory in any way
• Avoid discriminatory job advertisements
• Conduct fair and non-discriminatory interviews
• Conduct any “right to work” checks that might need to be done
• Safeguard personal data in line with GDPR requirements

Contract of employment

Having a well drafted contract of employment ready for your new recruits is absolutely crucial. A contract of employment is not only legally required but contains the provisions that underpin your contractual relationship with an employee. This will include things such as start date, pay details, working hours, holiday allowance and notice periods. A contract can also contain a wide array of other provisions, and can be specific to include matters that are important to your individual business. For example, in industries where competition is a concern you would include some restrictions to minimise the ability of a departing employee taking your business with them.

It is also important to consider other types of contracts that might be required such as zero hours contracts, using self-employed contractors, agency staff etc. There are different types of contracts applicable, depending on the status of a worker so taking legal advice and having the correct type of contract properly prepared is important to give your business the best possible protection.

Handbook and policies

An employee handbook is essentially a collection of your business’ policies and procedures that employees should follow and need to be aware of. This can include many things such as:

• Sickness absence procedure
• Annual leave policy
• Maternity leave/pay policy
• Disciplinary procedures

A business employing staff should have a staff handbook which the contract of employment can refer to. It will usually be appropriate to have this prepared by a legal adviser at the same time as your contracts so that the two sets of documents are consistent.

HR support

There is often the need for HR support in businesses but not all businesses will have this “in house”, particularly small companies with only a small number of employees. There are external HR support companies you can engage to provide you HR support when needed or alternatively you can always consult an employment lawyer. The best advice is always to seek advice if a HR issue comes up you are unsure about, to make sure you don’t fall foul of employment laws.

How could things go wrong?

There is always going to be the possibility of something going wrong in an employment relationship, it isn’t always avoidable. However, to place your business in the best possible position to deal with things going wrong you should ensure you have the basics in place from the start such as properly drafted contracts, an employee handbook and develop policies and procedures for your staff that are robust and that you follow internally. If something should go wrong, take legal advice to ensure you fully understand the legal position before taking any steps.

To learn more about taking on employees and to make sure you get your legal documents right, contact us now. Call 01302 320621 or email help@switalskis.com