Looking for practical guidance on all aspects of managing employees?

Moss HR Limited - Your partner in managing people

Looking for practical guidance on all aspects of managing employees?

Moss HR is an independent HR consultancy based in rural Suffolk. We work with small to medium-sized businesses across the East of England including, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Essex and beyond.

We believe that working in collaboration with you will get the best results and will consult with you to understand your organisation, its strengths, and obstacles to get the success you want. There’s never a one size fits all when managing people!

Business booming but not enough time in the day? Thought about taking someone on but don’t know where to start? Moss HR provide straight-forward advice for small to medium sized

Organisations. Contact us for our Simple Steps tool kit for taking on your first employee.

How do you know you’re ready to take on your first employee?

Ask yourself these questions:

Do I want to grow my business?

Do I need help to achieve my business objectives?

Am I using freelancers consistently throughout the year?

Is the work stable?

Can I afford it?

If the answer is Yes to these, then maybe it’s time. There is a lot to think about, and you don’t know what you don’t know, right? Luckily there’s support on hand every step of the way.

First off – what would you want that person to do? Write a list of the jobs you currently do (or don’t get time to do) that are essential for your business and its growth. This is the basis for your job description, but bullet points

will do for now. How long will each of these tasks take? Bear in mind that someone completely new to your business may not complete these as quickly as you. Add up the hours, are there enough hours to justify paying someone else to do the work?

If you’re already using freelancers, look at the invoices over the past year months, look at the number of hours vs how much you have paid out and consider if it’s going to be more economical to employ someone directly.

Once you’ve made the decision to employ someone, here’s the next lot of considerations:

Premises – this needs to be a safe and secure place of work. The HSE  provide excellent guidance for employers, including what you need to do as a minimum.

Insurance – you will need Employer’s Liability Insurance.

HMRC – register with HMRC as an employer. You can register as a sole trader and needn’t be a limited company, for example.

Register for PAYE with HMRC. You can set up your own payroll, or use a third party for this. In any case, it will be worth speaking to your accountant, if you have one, for advice.

Recruit well – we’d suggest taking advice on this or using a recruitment consultant if you’re inexperienced. Employment legislation applies even before you take someone on and you do not want to fall foul before you get started!

Contracts – employees must have a contract of employment in place on or before their start date - it’s a breach of employment law not to! There are key pieces of information that MUST be included so I’d suggest taking professional advice, rather than just using Google.

This is just the beginning, with good management, you’ll have an engaged employee who will help to grow your business in no time!

Written by Joanne Moss of Moss HR - People Management Made Simple.