Jobs: First-time employers given help to take people on

SMALL businesses can get advice on hiring people for the first time through new online support.

The Taking on an Employee toolkit, found on the Business Link website, takes employers through the process of hiring their first member of staff and explains legal obligations when doing so.

Information includes information on setting pay, getting the right insurance, understanding tax requirements and checking a new employee’s right to work in the UK.

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The government’s employment relations minister, Norman Lamb, said: “For many one-person businesses there is a belief that the process for taking on their first member of staff can be a daunting and overly complicated process. And with no one easily accessible source of guidance it can really feel burdensome. The Taking on an Employee toolkit aims to tackle this problem and will help empower our sole-traders, our one person businesses, to take that next step.”

First-time employers are led through step-by-step guide through their obligations when taking on a member of staff.

The toolkit has been created after research found that information on hiring people was too complex.

John Walker, national chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Taking on an employee can be a daunting, expensive and risky process and 13 per cent of FSB members have said one-to-one support would help them take on staff. Having a one-stop-shop to get quick access to all the information needed to recruit will help firms that want to grow.”

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Institute of Recruiters’ director general, Azmat Mohammed said: “Business owners have numerous simultaneous challenges in growing their business, and making it easier to take people on will have a significantly positive impact on Britain’s economy.”

This year the government is running the Business in You campaign to encourage more people to start or grow their business throughout 2012 using a range of existing support services. More information is available at www.businessinyou.bis.gov.uk.

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