BUSINESS CLINIC


most seasoned HR/Payroll professionals have struggled getting to grips with their new obligations.


In brief: • Identify and review current engagements with intermediaries including personal service companies (PSCs) and agencies who supply workers to you;


• Create a checklist to determine the employment status of contractors – are they truly contractor or do you treat them like you would an employee such as supplying tools, dictating how and when work is carried out, etc;


• Your data platforms may need updating to flag issues - payroll software, process maps, HR management software and on-boarding processes for new workers can be modified to flag potential IR35 issues;


• If in doubt, seek advice. HMRC don’t do excuses. Ignorance of the rules is not a defence!


Ultimately, the greatest risk sits with the engaging entity so if you do use contractors and ‘self-employed’ workers, please get your house in order!


If you haven’t fallen asleep yet, well done.


There are some exclusions to what must be set out from day one such as pensions arrangements and disciplinary or grievance rules."


Part two deals with the changes to Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act (ERA). Again, from April 6th, employers will be required to issue compliant employment contracts to all new workers and when changing or issuing contracts to existing employees. The changes are the result of recommendations made in the Taylor Review, commissioned by the government to examine the contemporary labour market which includes the ‘gig’ economy, workers engaged through digital business models such as Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon who may have certain freedoms and flexibility in exchange for the statutory entitlements employees enjoy such as paid holidays and sick leave.


As a result it will be incumbent upon any organisation engaging workers to provide from day one (that’s a change from the previous two months grace period) a statement setting out some additional information.


Most employers will be familiar with the previous section 1 rules which entitled their employees to a statement setting out their pay, hours of work (even if zero were guaranteed), place of work, holiday entitlement etc. However, now the following must also be stipulated from the day they commence employment or working, even if you are not sure whether they would definitely fall within the definition of an employee: • Working schedule - the days of the week the worker is required to work, whether the working hours are variable and how any variation will be determined (this could be a rota or demand-led, for example if you provide


recycling, you may have peak period during festival season when folk abandon tents in fields);


• Paid leave - additional to annual leave and holiday pay, such as maternity leave or paternity leave;


• Details of all remuneration and benefits; all additional remuneration and benefits which aren't specifically listed in section 1(4) of the ERA such as Christmas bonus, commission, etc;


• Probationary period (if applicable and I always recommend one!) plus any specific conditions eg. if the worker is required to complete specific training to pass probation; and


• Any entitlement to training provided by the employer and whether this is


mandatory and/or paid for ie. workers must be aware if they are expected to contribute or pay for their own training.


There are some exclusions to what must be set out from day one such as pensions arrangements and disciplinary or grievance rules. I guess rather optimistically it is hoped these aren’t going to be invoked in the honeymoon period of new employment but I’m a cynic – if you can, set them out from day one!


Finally, well done for getting to the end of this piece: I doubt you were gripped with suspense. For me it has been tough to write as I tend to enjoy applying my mind to more frivolous topics, I can do that next month. If you did fall asleep or lose interest halfway through then the best advice is not to try to remember it all or dig too deeply as there are plenty of experts to help you figure out what you need to do. Drop me a line and I’ll point you in the right direction.


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