Do I need HR Documentation?
No employment contract? No problem!
3 reasons your business needs HR paperwork.
You’ve started a business, sales are rocketing, you need more staff, you hire them… but what about the associated people paperwork? We often come across startups and small business owners who have employed a team but haven’t sorted their terms and conditions of employment. That’s not good.
Sometimes the founders have put ‘something’ in place, but they have reused an employment contract template from their old job. But… it’s out of date and references other documents, which don’t even exist in the new startup. That’s really not good.
Here’s why you should give all your new employees the right paperwork when they start:
You legally have to! Giving employees (who will be employed for more than 1 month) written terms and conditions of employment within 8 weeks of their start date is a legal obligation. If you don’t, an employee could take you to a tribunal and the penalties range from 2 – 4 weeks pay (update: with the introduction of the good work plan these now need to be issued from day 1 of employment)
Terms and conditions of employment aren’t just written. They’re actually made up of both written and unwritten agreements. The more unwritten agreements you have, the more opportunity there is for misunderstanding and confusion down the line. For example, an employee thought you said during the interview that they get 6 weeks holiday but nothing was written down – they’ve gone and booked all their flights only to find themselves in an awkward conversation when you don’t approve the time off, because you only offer 28 days holiday.
It’s good PR. Put yourself in the shoes of your new joiners for a moment. Wouldn’t you want to see written details of the job you are joining? Would you feel valued if your boss didn’t take the time to organise a contract for you? Retaining people is so important (for continuity and cost) and whilst this may seem small to you, it can really impact your employees’ commitment to your business
Getting these basics right from day one is vitally important, so we have recreated the Startup HR kit. A low cost package of all of the basic HR documentation you need, which we tailor to your business so you don’t have to. See, no problem! Get in touch to find out more.
We're more than your typical HR Consultants. We work with SMEs to provide forward thinking and results orientated HR services across London.
Working with like-minded businesses, we help you attract and retain the best people. Our goal is to work in partnership with you, to create great places to work, whilst ensuring you're compliant with your legal obligations.
We keep the human in HR.