Different types of staff

This section will help you to understand what to consider when you are deciding on your staffing needs, including an overview of different types of and their rights. It covers (including those on permanent and temporary contracts), (or self-employed ), (including zero-hours ), and , and young .

Deciding on staffing needs

  1. 1.How do I decide whether I need a new member of staff?
  2. 2.What should I consider when replacing existing or previous staff?
  3. 3.What types of staffing arrangement should I consider?
  4. 4.How do I decide what type of staff member to hire?
  5. 5.What type of staff member should I hire if I need staff on a long-term basis?
  6. 6.What type of staff member should I hire to provide cover for absent staff?
  7. 7.What type of staff members should I hire to cover ad hoc events?
  8. 8.What type of staff member should I hire to cover a short-term, specialist task?
  9. 9.What type of staff member should I hire if my business has fluctuating needs?
  10. 10.What type of staff member should I hire if I have a limited budget?

Employees

  1. 11.When is it appropriate for my business to hire a permanent employee?
  2. 12.What do I need to know about hiring a permanent employee?
  3. 13.What is an annualised hours employee?
  4. 14.Can I pay my annualised hours employee less if they don't work all of their contracted hours?
  5. 15.When is it appropriate for my business to hire an annualised hours employee?
  6. 16.What rights do employees have?
  7. 17.How much do I have to pay an employee?
  8. 18.How much time off work is an employee entitled to?
  9. 19.What hours can I ask my employee to work?
  10. 20.How easy is it to fire an employee?
  11. 21.When is it appropriate for my business to hire a temporary employee?
  12. 22.What do I need to know about hiring a temporary employee?
  13. 23.What rights do temporary employees have?
  14. 24.Can I pay my temporary employees less, or give them fewer benefits, than my permanent employees?
  15. 25.Can I fire an employee more easily if they are on a temporary, rather than a permanent, contract?

Freelancers (self-employed staff)

  1. 26.When is it appropriate for my business to hire a freelancer?
  2. 27.What do I need to know about hiring a freelancer?
  3. 28.What rights do freelancers have?
  4. 29.Can I staff my business using only self-employed or freelance staff?
  5. 30.How can I avoid self-employed or freelance staff claiming they are casual workers or employees?

Casual workers (including zero-hours workers)

  1. 31.When is it appropriate for my business to hire a casual worker?
  2. 32.What do I need to know about hiring a casual worker?
  3. 33.What rights do casual workers have?
  4. 34.How much must I pay a casual worker?
  5. 35.Are casual workers entitled to holiday and sick pay?
  6. 36.Is there a limit on how many hours I can ask my casual worker to work?
  7. 37.What is a zero-hours contract?
  8. 38.Can I staff my business using only zero-hour contracts?
  9. 39.How can I avoid the risk of staff who are casual workers and/or on zero-hours contracts claiming they are employees?
  10. 40.If my friends and family work for me, do they have employment rights?

Part-time staff

  1. 41.What do I need to know about hiring part-time staff?
  2. 42.Can I pay my part-time staff members at a lower rate, or offer them fewer benefits, than my full-time staff members?
  3. 43.What do I do if I cannot pro-rate a benefit for part-time staff eg a company car or gym membership?

Agency workers

  1. 44.When is it appropriate to hire agency workers?
  2. 45.What do I need to know about hiring agency workers?
  3. 46.What rights does an agency worker have?
  4. 47.What responsibilities does my business have towards agency staff?
  5. 48.Is an agency worker entitled to employment rights like holiday, sick pay and maternity pay?
  6. 49.What rights does an agency worker have after they have been working for my business for 12 weeks?
  7. 50.When does an agency worker become entitled to Week-12 rights?
  8. 51.Can I avoid Week-12 rights by engaging my agency worker on a series of shorter contracts?

Interns, apprentices and young people

  1. 52.What counts as an internship?
  2. 53.Do I have to pay an intern?
  3. 54.What do I need to know about taking on an intern?
  4. 55.Do I need a contract with an intern who is simply shadowing my staff?
  5. 56.Do I need a contract with an intern who is doing work for my business?
  6. 57.What rights do interns have?
  7. 58.What is an apprentice?
  8. 59.When is it appropriate for my business to take on an apprentice?
  9. 60.How do I go about taking on an apprentice?
  10. 61.How do I choose an apprenticeship standard and a provider to deliver training to apprentices?
  11. 62.Does the government fund apprenticeships and what will be the cost to my business?
  12. 63.Do I need a contract or other formal documentation with my apprentice?
  13. 64.What is an apprenticeship agreement and what must it contain?
  14. 65.What is a training plan for an apprentice?
  15. 66.What rights do apprentices have?
  16. 67.Are apprentices entitled to the national minimum wage or the national living wage?
  17. 68.Are apprentices entitled to holiday and sick pay?
  18. 69.Can I fire an apprentice?
  19. 70.What do I need to know about hiring somebody who is under 18?
  20. 71.Are there any restrictions on the hours I can ask somebody under the age of 18 to work?
  21. 72.Can I ask somebody under 18 to work longer hours or nights if nobody else is available?

Dismissal letter

This dismissal letter is your formal notification to a member of staff that they are dismissed. It includes options for you to select the reasons for the dismissal as either gross misconduct, misconduct, issues with capability or ill-health. It is usually important to be clear about your reasons for firing someone and this template letter will help ensure that you give a proper explanation for your decision. The letter of dismissal also covers the practicalities following on from the dismissal, including what happens with annual leave, final salary payments and any company property. It should help make sure that everything runs smoothly in what can potentially be a difficult and disruptive process, both for the staff member who is leaving and those within your business who are dealing with the dismissal. You can also get this letter as part of the Disciplinary toolkit .
£20 + VAT

Contract - casual worker

This casual worker contract is suitable for a casual or zero hours worker and is likely to be most suitable if your staffing needs fluctuate, for example if you have a business model that requires a bank of staff that you can call on as needed, without having to pay them if you have no work. The contract includes all the information that you are legally obliged to provide to your casual worker in writing about their terms of engagement, and is fully customisable to your individual requirements. It also includes a number of standard protections for your business, for example to guard your confidential information and ensure any intellectual property created by the casual worker belongs to the company.
£25 + VAT
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