Hiring Christmas temps - What are the rules?

Christmas is often the busiest time of the year for many businesses, so the extra support from temporary staff, ‘Christmas temps,’ around this time, is often appreciated. As an employer, however, it is important you know the rules inside out to keep you on the right side of employment law.

The basics – pay

In the UK, there are minimum wages that all workers, regardless of their employment status, must receive. You cannot offer them a wage lower than this on the basis of them being temporary workers. This changes depending on the age of the individual, but at the time of writing, the minimum wage for each age group stands at:

• £9.50 for those aged 23 years old and above,
• £9.18 for those aged 21-22 years of age,
• £6.83 for those aged 18-20 years of age,
• £4.81 for those aged 16-17 years of age.

It is a legal requirement that all workers receive this pay rate or above.

National Living Wage

The National Living Wage is a legal requirement for all those aged 23 years old and above. It is not a requirement to pay staff outside this age bracket £9.50. However, if you are looking to grow your business’s reputation as an employer, it may be beneficial to consider this, as it is seen as good corporate social responsibility.

Employee and workers’ rights

Under employment law, there are certain rights that all staff have, and you, as an employer, have to ensure they receive them. This includes:

• Ensuring the maximum 48 hour working week is respected (unless the worker has signed an opt out agreement).
• Ensuring rest breaks are provided to all staff at the appropriate time intervals.
• Giving every paid member of staff a payslip detailing how much they have received in wages, their tax and National Insurance (NI) deductions, and any other deductions .
• Understanding that discrimination laws and whistleblowing laws are applicable to all staff from day one. Everyone in the UK has protections under the Equality Act 2010 or the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1996, and as an employer, you can be challenged for making discriminatory decisions or treating someone detrimentally for making a whistleblowing disclosure.

Fixed-term contracts

To protect you and your business, all Christmas temps you hire should receive an employment contract; it is also a legal requirement that this is provided on day one of employment. When hiring for a period like Christmas, the contract offered is likely to be for a fixed term, so if this is the case make sure that the contract makes this clear. You can end a fixed term contract early, but only if it is stated within the contract that this can be done and the notice period outlined is followed.

Holiday pay

Even on a temporary, fixed-term contract, Christmas temps are entitled to holiday pay. It is important that you, as their employer, calculate this entitlement and keep track of any annual leave taken. Following the decision in Brazel v Harper Trust, it’s also worth noting that all employees who are part year workers are entitled to 5.6 week’s holiday regardless of how long they are employed. This decision may apply to you where you have Christmas temps, so be sure that you understand what entitlement to holiday your Christmas temp has.

 

if you need any advice on employment law rights then our team are here to help.