If you are an employer thinking of taking on your first member of staff, you have a number of responsibilities. These range from setting up a variety of schemes that will work for you and your employee, contacting pension providers, and reporting duties to HMRC, to name a few.
In my 30+ years of working with business owners — and now running my own business — I have learnt that when it comes down to payroll and taking on your first member of staff, there are two main factors you need to be sure to take into consideration before taking that plunge.
Accountancy and Financial/Legal Aspects
This is more aimed towards aspects such as the impact on the profitability of your business.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What position is the company in?
- Am I in a position to be able to afford to take on an employee right now?
- Will I be taking this person on as a full-time or part-time employee?
- Will I need to outsource my payroll services?
- What are the pros and cons of outstanding payroll?
You also need to think of the impact it will have on you, the business owner, such as staff management, delegation of tasks, training, etc. All of these responsibilities take time to incorporate into your business, and you will also need to ensure that your employee is satisfied with your management to ensure retention.
HR Legal Aspects
You also need to be very conscious of HR legal aspects. This has to be seen holistically because of financial and legal implications and the impact on the business owner.
So, you may be asking yourself, “What do I need to do before employing someone?”
Gov.uk has a useful step-by-step guide to refer to for setting up payroll that your HR team will appreciate being able to refer to.
What Happens Next?
Once the initial set up is done there follows repeatable — but essential — responsibilities relating to processing. This includes keeping updated on new starters, any leavers, how much to pay and when. And then there’s your auto-enrolment responsibilities. It may seem time-consuming, but it is essential when keeping your business running AND maintaining happy employees.
With payroll becoming an ever-increasing burden for business owners, not having someone with the knowledge of these aspects can make an impact on how you run your business. That’s why I provide services to ensure everything is up to date with any changes in legislation. So your new employee is confident in being paid correctly and on time, which you can learn more about here.
If payroll services make your head spin or you’re looking to take on that first employee and are nervous about this step, book a 30-minute introductory meeting with me. We can discuss you and your business and how I can help you find solutions to these questions.
