[MAX Carpets]

Morning men!

Does anyone know the correct rules for employing casual labour. I have been offered a couple of small cleaning contracts, not sure if its worth the hassle. I do not want to get into PAYE just for a few hours per week.

Cheers


J

[Joe H]

I would search the internet for "casual labour" or variants of.
There is loads of info but it can be a minefield so make sure you get it right.

[slioch]

We have used casual labour.

Try to avoid agencies - you pay their fees and usually get a clock watcher who needs constant supervision.  The next day you get someone else who knows nothing and you start again.

We used a couple of guys we knew - no fees and you knew what you were getting.  We were lucky - quick learners, reliable, good workers.

A word of caution - be careful with employment and tax regs. especially if you use them for a while.  Make sure they invoice you and avoid cash in hand.

[clinton]

Think joes right and dont forget to check your staff out as its all on trust and some dont repect that..

[Griffus]

This is a minefield.

You seem to be edging towards using self employed individuals. The laws around this are very tight (to avoid exploitation / loop holes).

Why not go for zero hours contracts?

Take a look at business links website. It's a good starting point.

[MAX Carpets]

Am I right in thinking a Zero hours contract does not help with NI and income tax, would I still be liable for this?

[derek west]

under 16 hours and you don't need to do ewt. just pay em.

[Simon Gerrard]

Derek,

Oh yes you do.
You need their name, DOB, address & NI number and should have them complete a P46.
My book keeper is a stickler for the law on these things and makes certain we comply.

Simon

[martin19842]

hi there

yes casual labour seems to be a thing of the past, or at least it is getting that way.

s/e there are a number of questions that the HMRC apply to determine whether the person is an employee or a s/e

there has to be an element of risk, ie no guaranteed work etc,
some of the questions are
does the person regularly work for a number of different clients
can the person employ others to do the work
can the person choose which hours they will work

etc
etc

regards

martin

[derek west]

Derek,

Oh yes you do.
You need their name, DOB, address & NI number and should have them complete a P46.
My book keeper is a stickler for the law on these things and makes certain we comply.

Simon

sorry
what i meant was you don't need to pay tax or NI for them and they can still claim dole and rent relief.

[Simon Gerrard]

Derek,

As long as they don't earn more than I think it is £100 in one week.

Simon

[happy mondays]

Your not paying anything for them, your just deducting it from their gross pay and being trusted to hand it over to the revenue every month... but..... when they gross over £110 pw (i think it is) you then have to pay 11% employers NI on anything above this figure, so this is when it costs you a few bob, this would entitle the employee to ssp, smp which you would then offset from your paye payments each month, so all it actually costs you is holiday entitlement which they still accrue at a min of 5.6 weeks pa including bank hols, which is a right old con for you if someone is long term sick and your a small company    I sub out wages to a payroll company as its well worth the small cost. Tax is tax, simple, its worked out on their earnings, you just collect it for free  and pay it to the revenue.

[Ricky M]

westy is about right there , we have a contracted full time and some subies , if you bring folk in as self employed then its up to them to sort there tax NI etc but they can come and go as they pls.

As more and more people are getting laid off these times now favour the employers 

[Joe H]

There is loads online -like this

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/employing-someone.pdf

[absolutecleaning]

Even if they are under the earnings threshold (which is lower that the £110/wk figure by a bit) and you are getting them to fill out a p46 you probably still are required to register as an employer with HMRC.  Then if they were ever to go over the ET you would send the p46 they completed originally.

Also with evening jobs it is going to be a second job for most people so you would have to deduct tax at basic rate on all of their earnings (but no NI as that is seperate for each employment).

Simon