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Do you or are you considering employing domestic help? If so are you aware of your responsibilities?
A survey by Norwich Union has revealed that over 2.5 million households in the UK regularly employ help.
If your cleaner is truly self employed, they will have their own liability insurance, and you are perfectly entitled to pay them cash in hand if you want. A truly self employed person is also responsible for their own tax and national insurance.
The survey found that nine out of ten employers of domestic help had not considered their insurance cover. Paying a cleaner, gardener or au-pair in cash does not release you from the normal responsibilities of any employer.
What would be your insurance position in the event of an accident in the house or garden? Have you taken up references before disclosing your burglar alarm code and giving a set of keys to your assistant? Is your contents cover still effective?
If your employee has other income, you might have a liability to deduct tax from any payment you make to them. The regulations apply even if you are not carrying on a business. Have you got a form P46?
National Minimum Wage regulations including 20 days paid holiday per annum also apply, including to part time workers. An employee is entitled to a contract of employment.
One way to avoid some of these problems may be to use an agency.
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