Employing staff can be a challenging exercise, advertising, interviewing, reference checking all before you even start to sort the necessary paperwork. 

The Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment website (www.employment.govt.nz) is a great place to start when looking at your contractual requirements and for sourcing template documents.  However if time is of a premium, then talking to a specialist Human Resources (HR) advisor is a great option.  We recommend Gerard Stack from Applied HR, whom will help you complete the key documents (letter of offer, employment contracts, house rules, etc) to protect you and your business.

Then there are the Inland Revenue forms as well.  Firstly you need to be a registered employer, and then get the forms ready for the staff such as tax code declarations and kiwisaver contributions. The team here at All Accounted For can assist you with these.

You also need to be careful when engaging personnel as contractors.  There are rules around the differences between employees and contractors, such as consistent hours, place of work, the way work is undertaken, etc.  If in doubt contact the team here at All Accounted For to provide some guidance; getting this one wrong could cost you holiday pay, sick pay and fines.

Managed to complete all the necessary paperwork and documents?  Well unfortunately you now need to pay the staff, keep annual leave records, track sick leave, etc.  Thankfully there are a number of great online payroll providers that take the hassle out of this part of the process.  We recommend and use Smart Payroll (www.smartpayroll.co.nz) to manage this process.  They are cost effective, online, provide free training and the system interfaces with Xero.  The team at All Accounted For is more than happy to help facilitate any discussions with Smart Payroll.

Payroll is a tricky area, littered with pitfalls and fish hooks; we have seen numerous incidents where employers have incurred significant fines where they have failed to follow due process or don’t have the necessary documents in place.  Make sure you utilise the appropriate experts and get the process right from the start.

Written by Gracie Miles