5 steps to ensure you’re legally compliant when employing your first member of staff

Starting a business and employing your first member of staff can be an exciting time. You go from business owner to employer instantly and start to build up a team of people that can help you progress your business. It brings with it more responsibility too as you have someone else’s wage and job to think about. But it means your business is thriving and growing. But there are some important things to consider when you’re employing someone for the first time. So it is a good idea to get some employment practices and policies in place before you start the process to make sure that you’re legally compliant when hiring.

If you’re not sure where to start, here are some things to consider when hiring staff. First, of course, you wouldn’t want to have any of them deal with a deportation lawyer or worse. So here are the steps to make sure you’re employing legally to make things run much more smoothly than before.

Check the Minimum Wage

In most countries, there is a minimum wage that you need to stick to. It can vary by age, with under 18s and under 21s having less than over 21s. But it is still important to check what the deal is where you live and where you will be employing. You will need to know this to make sure that you’re employing legally. It will also attract the right people to the role when the wage is fairly represented. So take time to think how much the job you’re advertising for deserves.

Check Legal Documents

You need to check that the person applying for the job has the right to work in the country that you’re in. Whether it is a passport, birth certificate, or green card, you need to check some legal documentation. If they can’t show you anything like that, then alarm bells should start ringing. Never offer someone employment without seeing their legal right to work in the country that you’re in.

Take Out Insurance

When you have staff, it is good to have extra insurance to cover yourself for anything that could happen. For example, if an accident happened at work, then you will want to make sure that you’re covered with employer’s liability insurance, for example. This will also cover if you have staff that are sick or injured and can’t work. Check you’re getting insurance from an authorized insurer and that it is for the right amount. Around $5m is a good starting point for businesses.

Write a Contract

Each and every staff member that you employ will need a contract to sign. It says what you are hiring them for, what you’re paying them for, and the terms of the employment. It can be used to terminate employment if they do anything to violate the contract and protect you if they feel something is unfair. But most of all, it points out basic terms everything they need to know about being employed by you. State your policies there, such as vacation time, sickness, and other leave.

Think About Employee Schemes

If you have employees, you become more attractive as an employer if you offer incentives or enrol your team in some employee schemes. Take a pension scheme, for example. Check what you need to do to enroll your employees in things like this. In some places like the UK, it is a requirement to pay 1% of their wage before tax into a pension scheme. So check what legal things you have to adhere to, as well as other schemes or benefits that you’d like to offer them.

While there is a lot to think about when hiring a new staff member, it shouldn’t put you off. On the contrary, once you’ve got everything set up first, it will make hiring people much easier in the future. If you don’t have a basic understanding of employment law, then it can be a good idea to read up on that so that you know the basics of it all. You can also outsource some payroll or human resource admin if you need to. You just need to make sure that all you are doing is legal.

In all of the admin and busyness of hiring and employing people, then it is important to take a step back and think about how much your business is growing. Some people want to work for you! Just make sure that you’re employing the right people for the job, as well as the legal people of the job.