Hiring a worker

Requirements:

• Right to work in the UK – British citizens, people from the European Economic Area and Swiss nationals are eligible to work in the UK. Anyone else needs a visa or a work permit. Employers should request to see the relevant documents to ensure that the applicant has proof of their right to work in the UK. An employer can be sent to prison for five years and pay an unlimited fine if they are found guilty of employing someone they knew or had reasonable cause to believe did not have the right to work in the UK. Reasonable cause means if the employer had any reason to believe they did not have this right. Employers can also be fined if they failed to carry out the necessary checks, or did not do the checks properly.
• DBS check – for some types of work (for example working with children), a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service is required. This is a background check which looks for things such as whether the applicant has a criminal record. A basic check costs £25. For more information, contact DBS.
• Qualifications – if a worker needs certain qualifications (such as a driving licence, A Levels or a university degree), then they should be asked to provide proof of these qualifications. If a worker turns out to have lied about their qualifications this is grounds for dismissal (see the Termination section).

Discrimination/Equal rights

It is important not to discriminate against individuals when hiring: the following characteristics are protected by English laws against discrimination: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. For example, it is likely to be unlawful discrimination in the UK to not hire an individual because they are a woman, or because they are of a particular race.

What to pay

Minimum wage

Every business, no matter its size, has to pay its workers the National Minimum Wage. This applies to all types of worker. The amount changes depending on how old the worker is. In order to qualify for the minimum wage, workers must be of school leaving age (currently 16).

The below table shows the National Minimum Wage per hour for different ages:

National Minimum Wage

Please note that cities like London have a recommended living wage of £10.75 per hour for adults. This is calculated independently to account for the high cost of living in London. It is not required that employers pay this higher rate, rather, it is a choice. Most employers who want to be seen as socially responsible do choose to pay this higher hourly living wage if employees are based in London.

What happens if the worker is not paid by the hour? See below for other ways to pay staff.

Annual salary

A worker can be paid a set basic number of hours each year under their contract or an annual salary in equal weekly or monthly amounts. This can be set out in their employment contract. If you divide the annual salary by the basic annual hours in the worker’s contract, this gives their hourly rate. You must ensure that this meets the National Minimum Wage for the worker’s age group.

Payroll and benefits