[craig jwc]

Does anybody employ anyone on a Zero Hour Contract.

IR tell me that i can pay someone £90 per week without paying any tax or the person you employ paying tax. I just have to pay them and make a note of it for the tax man.

Acas tell me that if i offer 16 hours work each week then it's not a zero hour contract.

The thing is the Zero Hour Contract gives people on there own with kids more flexibility and this sort of contract would suit me and the person i am thinking of.
It would give them about £30 a week more than Unemployment money.

Anyone give me any advice.

[mr merson]

When can I start ?

[Paul Coleman]

Does anybody employ anyone on a Zero Hour Contract.

IR tell me that i can pay someone £90 per week without paying any tax or the person you employ paying tax. I just have to pay them and make a note of it for the tax man.

Acas tell me that if i offer 16 hours work each week then it's not a zero hour contract.

The thing is the Zero Hour Contract gives people on there own with kids more flexibility and this sort of contract would suit me and the person i am thinking of.
It would give them about £30 a week more than Unemployment money.

Anyone give me any advice.

So how much are you going to pay me for working zero hours?   
I'm sure that's not what you mean though.  What the heck is a zero hour contract?

[craig jwc]

Zero Hour Contract means you do not state any amount of hours to work.
Basically you offer so many hours (which can vary) to the person when you have the work.
It is a contract that you can use, and like i said it suits some people that have family commitments.
 

[scud]

  If you pay them £87 per week then you don't even get into NI contributions either which are at a slightly lower threshold than the tax threshold

  You do not state hours on a Zero Hour Contract, you pay a set amount for a job to be done.

[Wayne Thomas]

Craig,
If you employ a temporary worker, they can only work a max of 16 hrs otherwise they lose out big style on their benefits. If you go down that route, then you're best staying below the N.I stamp level to keep paperwork very simple with accountant.

[mr merson]

I think it might work if you had a set minumum of hours like 16 hours , but not if you couldnt guarentee at least a set amount .   Thinking about it you could always ask for " semi retired " 

[Wayne Thomas]

Around my way there are loads of old fuddy duddies who are glad of the extra pittance of extra pay delivering leaflets for self-employed tradesmen who would welcome the opportunity of part time, flexible work, regardless of how few hours was offered. OAP's basic state pension doesn't go far in these economic times.

[craig jwc]

So does anyone employ someone on a temp/flexi contract or the one i mentioned.

Just wanting to know what i need to do and how to go about it, & if it is going to cost me. I have work coming in every other day so i'm not too worried about enough work.

I spoke to IR,Business Link,Acas and the job centre but none of them would give me any advice that helped and just passed me from one to the other, as none of them seemed to know. The IR in my town is a complete waste of time & have spent time wasted in the past going in to talk to them.
 

[Paul Coleman]

Zero Hour Contract means you do not state any amount of hours to work.
Basically you offer so many hours (which can vary) to the person when you have the work.
It is a contract that you can use, and like i said it suits some people that have family commitments.
 

So basically you employ someone on an ad hoc basis then (i.e. as and when required?).

[craig jwc]

That's right.
You are not responsible to provide regular work for them, but if they turn it down there's nothing you can do about it.
That's why it's a liked contract for people who have family commitments.
This sort of contract is for when it suits you and when it suits them.
This sort of contract would be ideal for me at the moment as far as i can see, but speaking to a bloke at ACAS he wasn't very helpful and just confused things.
IR said if i paid no more than £90 per week, the person didn't have a 2nd job, i can't remember the 3rd question now, but if you answered all question "NO" then i wouldn't have to registar as an employer.
IR said all i had to do was pay them there money, keep a record of it for the tax return and that was it.

[poleman]

A Zero Hour Contract is a recent type of contract under which an employer does not guarantee the employee a fixed number of hours per week; rather, the employee is expected to be on call and receive compensation only for hours worked.

[CC Windows]

A Zero Hour Contract is a recent type of contract under which an employer does not guarantee the employee a fixed number of hours per week; rather, the employee is expected to be on call and receive compensation only for hours worked.

Good wikipedia quote there poleman