Becoming an employer in the UK brings a set of responsibilities with it. Below is an outline of legal requirements, most points linking to a page where you can find out more. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with what’s involved.

It all may seem extremely daunting and an awful lot to think but the beauty of Enable Payroll is that we can take care of the majority of this for you as well as advise you on other areas.

Yes, there are a lot of legal obligations but it’s our job to worry about them, not yours. All you have to do is act upon our instruction, when we inform you.

These obligations also apply:

• In short-term employment (i.e. a week or longer)


• To any employment taking place in the UK - irrespective of the country of origin of the employee or employer

All these obligations (aside from Employer’s Liability Insurance) are taken care of when you subscribe to Enable Payroll.

What are the alternatives?

You could do it yourself
But it’s not easy. You will have to liaise with HMRC as well as master their tax tables and with several tax bands currently in force, this can be confusing if you’re not used to working with tax every day. You need good working knowledge of tax and employment law, be on the ball with liabilities payment dates and keep a keen eye open for legislation changes.

You could use an accountant
But they may work out to be far more expensive. Plus if you find yourself needing employment law advice and support, you can add to that the cost of a solicitor. You could find it all amounts to much more than the cost of an Enable Payroll annual subscription.

Remember!
Whatever you decide you must always be aware that not declaring someone in your employment to avoid tax is a criminal offence. This can result in heavy penalties and it also affects the future state benefits of your employee such as pension and entitlements.