Employment Practice

Individuals carrying out work for an Organisation for payment are not necessarily employees of that Organisation. The distinction between the self-employed who carry out work for an Organisation under what is a 'contract for service', and employees who carry out work under a 'contract of service' is unclear. Employment legislation sometimes gives benefits and/or rights to 'workers' rather than 'employees'. All employees are workers but not all workers are employees. Determination Guidance as to whether a person is or is not self-employed and therefore not an employee, can be gained from the answers to questions such as: a. Does the person have managerial control over their own activities? b. Do they have investment control over their actions? c. Have they the right to hire and fire their own staff? d. Are they registered for VAT? e. Can the individual refuse to carry out work offered without sanction? If the answers are YES then almost certainly the pers...

Many company records need to be adequately protected and made easily accessible whilst current, and carefully stored when dead. Retention can be categorised as a statutory requirement (SR), or because it is commercially advisable or prudent, or for social/historical or general interest purposes. Payroll records are unlikely to fall into the last category although personnel/employment records, with which such records are often virtually inextricably linked, may. However, employers should consider the manner in which they preserve records since some are subject to statutory requirements not least the DATA PROTECTION Act. Retrieval and Reference The current practice of both the Inland Revenue and the Contributions Agency seeking from employers information more than 6 years old, should remind administrators of the need to check that such information is available and that there is a comprehensive 'retain, preserve and/or destroy' policy for all records, not that the preservation per...

For all employers, it is important to try and establish sustainable differentials between jobs - possibly by a process of job grading. The problem with differentials is that there is a dual perspective and the old joke is perhaps apposite: 'if I am paid more than you - that is a differential, but if you are paid more than me, that is a discrepancy.' A pay/benefits chart may also be helpful. Factors Unless there is a demonstrable process of job worth assessment, the 'seems about right ' method of determining a package may create problems. It may be difficult to substantiate differentials generated without, at least, an awareness of a number of factors. All employers should continually review their reward package which is determined by a number of factors. 1. The market rate - what other employers are paying for similar jobs in the locale. This can be determined from checking with the media, job centres, local employers' information exchange, industry wide information...

As employee rights proliferated, some employers negated their impact by restricting the numbers of employees entitled to such protection. To offset the impact of such action, legislation gives people working under 'non-standard' contracts the same or similar rights to permanent employees. There are currently two classes of workers protected by this 'comparability' legislation - Part-Time and Fixed Term employees. Commentary Under The Part Time Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 those part timers who perform comparable work to their full-time colleagues are entitled to the same rights and benefits unless the difference can be objectively justified. In this context, what constitutes 'full-time' is for each individual employer to determine, but anyone who works fewer hours than whatever is full-time is regarded as a parttimer. Thus part-time employees doing comparable work to full-timers - should, for example, be advised of vacanci...