Employing Staff - Diocese of Chichester

This section covers the following:

Becoming an employer for the first time

Employer’s liability insurance

Health and Safety considerations

Determining employment status

Registering for HMRC

Payroll

Pension obligations

Statutory rights of employees

Employee records

Becoming an employer can seem daunting but the key is to get the basics right. The Government has produced some useful guidance on Employing staff for the first time together with a helpful step-by-step guide to employing someone. HMRC has a ‘New Starter Checklist’ here.

The ACAS website has useful template letters, forms and policies and the ACAS code of practice on all aspects of employment.

The Church of England and Parish Resources websites provide guidance on employing staff, working with volunteers, governance and finance, health and safety and safeguarding.

When the PCC becomes an employer, it will need to obtain employer’s liability insurance. This is usually included within a PCC’s standard insurance policy, best practice is to copy the certificate provided in your renewal pack and display in the parish office or workspace.

As an employer, you must protect your workers and others from getting hurt or ill through work. This includes managing risks and taking practical steps to protect workers and others from harm.

Managing risk is just one part of health and safety management. You must also have arrangements in place to:

make the right plans, implement those plans, check they are working, act if they are not
By doing this, you should be able to ensure: your risks stay controlled and you provide a safe working environment for workers and others

For most small, low-risk businesses you don’t need a formal management system. By following a simple Plan, Do, Check, Act approach you can effectively manage health and safety in your workplace.

You can find more information about managing Health and Safety here.

When you engage people to work in your parish, it’s important to understand what their employment status is. This affects their rights, your responsibilities, and how they should be paid.

The HMRC employment status checklist is a useful tool for checking employment status.

Employees: Employees work under a contract of employment. They are part of the day‑to‑day life of the church, are paid through PAYE, and the parish must offer them work. In return, the employee is expected to carry out the work set out in their contract.
Workers: Workers carry out occasional or ad‑hoc tasks. The parish does not have to offer them work, and they do not have to accept it. Their agreements may use terms like casual or freelance. The parish will usually provide equipment and deduct tax and National Insurance from their pay.
Self‑Employed Contractors: Self‑employed individuals provide specific services and invoice the parish for their work. They pay their own tax and National Insurance and do not receive employment rights such as holiday pay. However, they are still entitled to a safe and healthy working environment.
Limited Companies: Some people work through their own limited companies. In these cases, the parish pays the company rather than the individual. Because different tax rules apply, it’s wise to check the details with HMRC if someone says they work this way.

The PCC should register with HMRC as an employer when you start employing staff. This is so you can pay tax and national insurance for your employees. You can do this online, usually under “other types of business”.

You must register for PAYE if any of the following applies to an employee in the current tax year:

they’re paid a certain amount each week (check the HMRC website)
they get expenses and company benefits
they’re getting a pension
they’ve had another job
they’ve received Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit

Minium Wage

It doesn’t matter how many people you employ or how big your church is, by law as an employer you have to pay the correct minimum wage. This is the minimum amount a worker should get depending on their age and if they are an apprentice.