PAY AND BENEFITS


The law guarantees certain pay and conditions for employees and workers, for example:


 the national minimum wage applies to workers from age 16 upwards and the rate increases at ages 18 and 21


 eligible workers must be enrolled in a pension scheme and your business must make pension contributions for them unless they choose to opt out


 holiday entitlement and working hours are closely governed by statute.


CASH AND EQUITY INCENTIVES


As your business grows, you may want to look at ways of incentivising and rewarding key people, either with cash bonus plans, or with equity-based arrangements such as share awards, growth shares or share options. These are specialist areas on which we can advise you so that you understand the ownership and tax consequences.


PENSIONS AUTO-ENROLMENT


All employers in the United Kingdom must automatically enrol eligible jobholders in a qualifying pension scheme. Key points to note are as follows:


 you can use an existing or new occupational pension scheme or personal pension scheme, provided it meets certain statutory requirements


 alternatively, you can enrol eligible jobholders in NEST, a central scheme set up by the government


 once auto-enrolled, workers can opt-out of the scheme, but bear in mind that you will need to re- enrol them in the scheme every three years


 while they remain an active member of the scheme, you will be required to pay a minimum level of pension contributions on their behalf.


Wedlake Bell’s Key Knowledge Guide to Employment Law for New Businesses


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