There are special rules for deciding if someone is employed or self- employed. This is called their 'employment status'. If they are self employed you don’t need to worry about operating PAYE. HMRC have prepared a useful guide if you wish to be absolutely sure of...
A domestic staff member, housekeeper, carer, nanny, etc. can very quickly become someone who is heavily relied on (nobody really being indispensable, although we often use that term). When they are off sick, we generally manage or muddle through in the anticipation that they will not...
What is the Living Wage, what is the amount and do you have to pay it? There is often confusion about the differences between the National Minimum Wage, the National Living Wage and the Living Wage, so the following will clarify everything for you. The National Minimum...
The perils of flexible working requests can prove a difficult maze to negotiate; there are lessons to be learnt. As employers and prospective employers of domestic and household staff you may well be asked by an employee if they can work flexible hours. On the face...
Whenever a bank holiday, as Public holidays are termed, falls on a weekend, a “substitute” weekday becomes the bank holiday, normally the following Monday. But as an employer, do you have to allow your staff these days off? There is actually no statutory right for employees to take...
If you wish to terminate an employee’s employment, to avoid a claim for unfair dismissal, it must be for a “potentially fair” reason (as prescribed by law) and must also be reasonable. It is important that you follow a proper procedure before terminating employment to...
A new report by Age UK shows that two out of five ・ 41% of residents in independent care homes are self-funding, i.e. paying all their own costs ・ at much higher levels than state-funded residents. There is, however, a far better use of your...
As an employer of domestic/household staff it is important you understand the obligations of the Shared Parental Leave rule. The rules came into force in April 2015, and a recent case – the first of its kind - brought by a husband has shown that paying...
As an employer of domestic/household staff are you up-to-date with the new tax laws on expenses and or benefits paid to employees? New rules were introduced in 2016 concerning what counts as an expense or benefit as well as new exemptions. To stay within the rules, you...
