Member Article

Government tool to help first-time employers

Employment Relations Minister, Norman Lamb, has launched a new online toolkit, providing a step-by-step guide for employing people.

The ‘Taking on an Employee’ toolkit, found on the Business Link website, takes employers through the process of hiring their first member of staff and explains their core legal obligations when doing so.

Information on setting pay, getting the right insurance, understanding tax requirements and checking a new employee’s right to work in the UK are provided in the resources.

The Red Tape Challenge presented feedback suggesting current guidance was too complex, and that information was not readily available.

Norman Lamb said:
“For many one-person businesses there is a belief that the process for taking on their first member of staff can be a daunting and overly complicated process. And with no one easily accessible source of guidance it can really feel burdensome.

“The Taking on an Employee toolkit aims to tackle this problem and will help empower our sole-traders, our one person businesses, to take that next step.

“The Red Tape Challenge and the online toolkit we are launching today are just two of the many measures we are taking to tackle employment regulation and to make sure it doesn’t act as a deterrent in hiring staff.

“If we can provide the advice and information in a simple format, showing first-time employers that taking on staff can be a simple process, this will ultimately help in our efforts in creating jobs and encouraging growth.”

Sector champion for the employment law theme of the Red Tape Challenge, Steve Sharratt said:
“This is the first step in a whole new online service for small businesses, which is based upon the requirement to make life easier for business.

“It’s simple really, if compliance is made easier, we can focus more on growing our businesses and then everyone wins.”

In addition, a mythbusters document has been published alongside the toolkit for first-time employers, which aims to address some common misconceptions about hiring a member of staff.

The document includes advice on registering with HMRC, anti-discrimination laws, dismissal rules, setting up payrolls and probation periods.

The online tool can be found here.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .