The Christmas season is almost upon us again. For many this is an exciting occasion, however for business owners it can bring its own added stress. The festive season might mean more customers, which is great, until you find that you are so busy you are struggling to keep up. In this situation you may turn to adding some extra helping hands to your company until things go back to normality. But do you know the rules around hiring short-term or temporary staff? Keep reading below to find out everything you need to know.
Why should I hire temporary workers?
There are many perks to hiring temporary or short-term staff. In business you may find that demand in your workplace can fluctuate, and rather than hire and fire permanent staff, which can be time consuming and detrimental to morale, bringing in extra workers as and when is needed can be a very effective solution.
Bringing on temporary staff during busy periods can help with overall staff morale. A short-term employee can take some of the burden from permanent staff who may otherwise find themselves having to work longer hours and take on more responsibilities they may find difficult to handle. The process of hiring temporary or short-term staff can also be very cost effective in comparison to permanent hires, however you should always do the sums first to ensure that a temporary hire is the right decision for you and your business.
What do I need to consider?
If you employ staff whose hours vary, pay fluctuates, are seasonal workers or are on temporary or short-term contracts, then the legal duties will still apply to you. What duties you will have towards them will depend on their age and earnings.
From your duties start date, or a member of staff’s first day of employment, you must work out whether you need to put them into a pension scheme based on their age and how much they earn. Even if the number of people you employ varies, or if they have fluctuating hours and pay, you must assess them individually each time you run your payroll.
Any staff that are aged from 22 up to state pension age and earn over £192 per week or £833 per month must be put into a pension scheme which you must contribute towards.
You can delay working out who to put into a pension scheme for some or all of the people you employ for up to three months. This is known as ‘postponement’. You must write to staff individually to tell them what you are doing and how automatic enrolment will apply to them within 6 weeks from the date after postponement starts. At the end of the postponement period, you must enrol any staff who are still working for you, if they meet the age and earnings thresholds.
If you are hiring agency staff over the Christmas period or any other time, you should be aware of the recent changes to the law on agency workers. The new regulations entitle workers to the same working and employment conditions as permanent staff after 12 weeks.
If you would like more information on anything discussed above, then please contact us for further details.
