These information sheets have been provided as a guide only and should not be used as substitutes for specialist advice. We try to keep them updated, however, this cannot always be guaranteed.
Key Points
• Most employees have the right to receive a Payslip when they are paid. Payslips should show gross pay, deductions made and the net pay, together with employees personal details. You can, instead, provide your employee with a Standing Statement. See below for more details.
• Those that do not have the right to a payslip include people who are self employed, some contractors, some trainees. (See Note below).
• When appointing staff you should discuss with them their terms and conditions of work, including rates of pay and other financial matters.
• You must pay your staff a fair wage for the work they are do. This must be equal to or above the statutory minimum wage. You will need to decide what you think is a fair wage for the job and may need to review the rate and give a pay rise. You may want to pay extra for working unsociable hours, weekends and bank holidays.
• You must make sure you deduct Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions from your staff's pay where applicable. A Information sheet on tax and national insurance can be found by clicking here.
• In certain circumstances, you may need to pay Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). More information on this can be found by clicking here.
• You must give your staff at least four weeks and four days holiday leave (pro-rata for those not working a five day week) a year on full pay. This will increase to five weeks and three days from 1 April 2009. For a form to record your employees holiday click here.
Note : Sometimes a personal assistant will tell you they are self employed. The Inland Revenue has criteria that it uses to decide each case, e.g. it looks at whether a worker is paid for a period of time, or for a job, whether a worker risks his own money, who has control over when, how and where a job is done. It is rare that a PA coming into your home will be accepted as self-employed.
It is advisable to write to the Status Inspector and get a written ruling begore treating anyone as self employed. It is important to be clear about the status of your Personal Assistant since you could be held responsible for unpaid tax and national insurance.
Standing Statements
Instead of providing all the details about fixed deductions every pay period, an employer can give an employee a ‘Standing Statement'. It must be in writing and must be issued at least every twelve months. It must show the amounts of, and reasons for, each deduction and the intervals at which each deduction will be made (such as weekly, monthly or quarterly). If there are any changes, the employee must be told in writing or given a new standing statement. A P60 can serve as a Standing Statement.
FEDS
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