Clearview National December 2019 - Issue 217 | Page 72

BUSINESSNEWS
Dodging the employment law minefield
Employment law can be a pain. There is a lot of detail and traps
for the unwary. Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now provides some
thoughts on how to make it work for installation businesses.
» IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THE
following story, but not only is it true, it
happened recently. My friend worked for a
large law firm. According to their web site they
have an “award-winning employment team
specialising in all aspects of employment law”.
My friend held a fairly senior position and
one day was called to a meeting with his boss
and the HR Director. Expecting to be asked
about someone in their team, they were stunned
when they were told that they were being made
redundant.
It might have ended there. But if there is more
than one person doing the same role, the law says
that there must be a consultation period before
any redundancies are made. Everyone in the role
must be included.
A few months earlier, someone much more
junior had been recruited with the same job
title as my friend. But there had been no
consultation, so the employer hadn’t followed the
law. It gets better. What was my friend’s wife’s
job? Senior employment lawyer at a rival firm.
You couldn’t make this up.
The last time I saw my friend was over a cup
of coffee. He seemed relaxed, as anyone tends
to be who has received 12 months salary mostly
tax free in a settlement. Their employer seemed
very generous but was actually avoiding a very
embarrassing employment tribunal.
72 » DEC 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
THE TOP LEGAL POINTS
There are a whole host of legal requirements
when it comes to employing people. Here is a
quick summary:
• Check all employees have the legal right
to work in the UK before they start work
plus keep copies of the documents e.g.
passport, work permit, proving it.
• Provide a basic statement of terms and
conditions of employment within two
months.
• Register as an employer with HM Revenue
& Customs (HMRC) before the first pay
day of your first employee.
• Run a payroll and issue employees with a
payslip detailing earnings before and after
itemised deductions including tax and
National Insurance i.e. operate PAYE.
• Report your payroll information to
HMRC electronically each time you pay
anyone.
• Pay all tax and NI owing to HMRC
according to their timetable.
• ‘Auto-enrol’ eligible employees into, and
contribute towards, a workplace pension.
• Treat employees fairly.
• Do not hold back salaries of staff.
• Pay at least minimum wage.
• Act responsibly towards the health and
safety of all employees.
• Do not discriminate on the grounds
of sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity,
race, religion or belief, disability, age,
gender re-assignment, marriage or civil
partnership, pregnancy or maternity.
• Do not discipline anyone who is
standing up for health and safety
standards.
• Provide pregnant employees paid
time off for ante-natal care, including
parenting and relaxation classes.
• Provide a minimum of 28 (including
public holidays) working days paid
holiday per annum.
• Pay a minimum of Statutory Sick Pay
(SSP) if an employee is ill for four or
more days including weekends. Note
there is no legal compulsion to pay
beyond SSP although many employers
do.
• Provide maternity leave of up to 52
weeks, 39 weeks of which the employee
will be entitled to Statutory Maternity
Pay (SMP) which is 90% of the
employee’s average weekly wage for the
first 6 weeks and then £148.68 per week
(as at 2019) for the remaining 33 weeks.
• Allow pregnant women returning to work
to come back in the same or a similar
role.