Contract types and employer responsibilities

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Agency staff

As an employer, you can hire temporary staff through agencies. This means:

  • you pay the agency, including the employee’s National Insurance contributions (NICs) and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
  • it’s the agency’s responsibility to make sure workers get their rights under working time regulations
  • after 12 weeks’ continuous employment in the same role, agency workers get the same terms and conditions as permanent employees, including pay, working time, rest periods, night work, breaks and annual leave
  • you must provide the agency with information about the relevant terms and conditions in your business so that they can ensure the worker gets equal treatment after 12 weeks in the same job
  • you must allow agency workers to use any shared facilities (for example a staff canteen or childcare) and give them information about job vacancies from the first day they work there
  • you are still responsible for their health and safety
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Part of Get your business ready to employ staff: step by step

  1. Step 1 Decide what type of employee you need

    1. Check whether you need full time or part time staff
    2. Check the different types of employment status

  2. and Check you can afford to take on employees

    1. Check how much the National Minimum Wage is
    2. Find out how much National Insurance you need to pay for your employees
    3. Check how much sick pay your employees are eligible for
    4. Check how much you need to pay towards your employee's pension
    5. Check how much Maternity Leave you need to pay your employees
    6. Check how much Paternity Leave you need to pay your employees

  3. Step 2 Make your workplace safe and accessible for employees

    1. Prevent discrimination
    2. Make your workplace accessible for employees with disabilities or health conditions
    3. Keep employee information and data safe
    4. Find out about fire safety
    5. Find out about health and safety on the Health and Safety Executive website

    You also need to make checks when you recruit and employ someone.

    1. Find out what you need to check when you employ someone

  4. Step 3 Register as an employer and set up PAYE

    You need to register with HMRC so you can pay tax and national insurance for your employees.

    1. Register as an employer and set up PAYE
    2. Choose how to run payroll
    3. If you decide to run payroll yourself, choose payroll software

  5. Step 4 Check your responsibilities around workplace pensions

    1. Understand your pension responsibilities as an employer

  6. Step 5 Get Employers' Liability insurance

    1. Find out about Employers' Liability insurance

  7. Step 6 Recruit and employ staff

    1. Employ someone