Hiring Household Staff and Becoming an Employer
Image by Jason Briscoe
Hiring a housekeeper, nanny or gardener is an exciting prospect. You might suddenly find yourself with a whole lot of time you didn’t have before and being able to do things you never had the capacity to do, but also you may have found yourself in a position you never considered - you are an employer.
In most cases hiring private household staff means becoming an employer. Unless you are hiring household staff through an agency or they are very obviously self-employer you are classed as an employer and your staff are employees.
This is an incredible privilege but also comes with both legal and moral responsibility.
Legal Duties
As an employer of private domestic staff you are required to cover certain legal responsibilities including:
checking if the person can work in the UK
having employers’ liability insurance
registering as an employer
setting up and running payroll, or paying someone else to do it on your behalf (even if you pay the employee in cash)
paying statutory benefits, for example maternity pay and sick pay
deducting and paying the employee’s Income Tax and National Insurance contributions
The easiest way to manage payment is to use a payroll company, there are plenty that specialise in private staff. For more information visit the Government’s website.
Being an employer
Being an employer of household staff, whether that be a housekeeper, a nanny, a chauffeur, a butler or a couple mean you must be aware of the responsibilities that come with that title. As well as ensuring payroll and contracts are in place you must also ensure that you are managing your employee relations. This might include any of the following:
performance management and reviews
disciplinary
training
dismissals
These can be tricky to navigate for someone not having HR experience. Have no fear though, there are plenty of resources on sites such as ACAS or you can deal with a private HR consultant or support company if needed.
As well as employee relations there are also other things to consider such as employee wellbeing.
Employee wellbeing
Employee wellbeing is something that is not only becoming important to many employees but is also being shown to increase employee productivity. Producing a complex wellbeing strategy for one staff such as a nanny or housekeeper may seem overkill, and it probably is, but there are things you can do to help ensure that their wellbeing is taken into consideration, thing such as:
flexible working
time off for personal appointments and family commitments
time off during national holidays
providing sustenance while working
providing private space for taking breaks
Again, there are plenty of resources for employers, some can be found here.
Employing private staff for the first time can be intimidating but as long as you follow guidelines and keep communication open you can’t really go wrong and if you have the right person in the first please you are likely to have a long lasting good relationship with your staff.
To find the right person to work in your home contact us at Beauchamp Partners by calling +44 (0)20 7259 6999 or email us on info@beaucamppartners.co.uk.