Taking on a new employee

In the retail and hospitality industry many employers take on temporary workers to help them cope with Christmas. However, employers need to be aware of the issues of employing seasonal staff and their legal obligations.

Recruitment: It can be a time-consuming task to employ large numbers of seasonal employees so remember to carry out pre-employment checks on all employees.

Terms and Conditions: Most seasonal staff will be temporary and will be employed for a fixed period. However you must remember that fixed term employees cannot be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees in terms of pay and benefits unless it can be justified.

Communicate: Ensure that all temporary employees are aware of and understand your policies. Remember you are liable for the acts of temporary employees in the same way as you are for permanent employees.

Training: Consider how you train temporary employees, cutting it down often leads to an increased need for extra supervision.

Working Hours: Employers often want staff to work long hours over Christmas. The 48 hour maximum working week still applies to temporary workers. If you want employees to work beyond this maximum, each employee needs to sign an opt-out agreement.

Work breaks: All employees working more than six hours are entitled to a rest break of not less than 20 minutes. This also applies to temporary workers.

Young workers: Seasonal staff are often young workers, if you employ young workers (i.e. less than 18 years old) remember they can only work 40 hours a week and rest breaks must be 30 minutes every four and half hours.