Your employer will need to know if it is legal for you to work in the UK and whether you need a work permit or visa. You will need to show proof of your right to work.
Who can work in the UK?
If you want to come to the UK to work, whether you can do so depends on who you are. Unless you're a British citizen or a citizen of one of the European Economic Area (EEA) countries, you may need a visa before you travel here.
If you have to get a visa, you'll need to be cleared by officials at a British Overseas Mission in your country of origin. Once cleared, the entry clearance certificate, or visa, will be put into your passport or travel document.
If you're from one of the new European Union member, or 'accession', states you may need to register with the Home Office under the Worker Registration Scheme within one month of starting a job. The countries affected are:
Poland
Lithuania
Estonia
Latvia
Slovenia
Slovakia
Hungary
The Czech Republic
However, you don't need to register to work in the UK if you're:
self-employed
from Cyprus or Malta
There are a few other circumstances when you wouldn't need to register if you're from one of the accession states.
If you’re an international student you may not need permission to work here when you’re studying. If your home country is in the EEA, or you’re a Swiss national, you can work without restrictions on the type or amount of work you do. Otherwise, you should check the visa stamp in your passport. If it says ‘prohibited’ you can’t work in the UK. If it grants you leave to enter or remain in the UK as a student, you can work here provided you:
don’t work more than 20 hours a week during term time, unless the employment is part of your studies or is an internship
don’t engage in business, are not self-employed and don’t provide services as a professional sportsperson or entertainer
don’t take a permanent full-time position
Highly skilled migrants
The Highly Skilled Migrant programme is designed to let highly skilled and qualified workers come to the UK to work or become self-employed. If you’re allowed to enter the UK this way you don’t need a specific job offer.
Under this scheme you are issued entry clearance for 12 months, after which you can apply to stay for longer, but must remain in work/self-employment.
If you’re from an EEA country, you’ll need to show a prospective employer your passport, national identity card or Home Office Residence Permit.
Employers can face unlimited fines if they employ illegal workers, so they need to make sure that no one they employ is working in the UK illegally. However, to protect themselves against discrimination laws they should treat all job applicants equally. So don’t be offended if you’re asked to prove your nationality, even if it’s ‘obvious’. Even UK nationals will be asked to provide proof of their nationality.
If you don’t have a passport or haven’t access to it. There are other combinations of documents that you can use as proof of your identification. Please see the article below for a list of those that are accepted.
There are a number of schemes and programmes for people who want to work in the UK. If you’re not from an EEA country or Switzerland, you’re likely to need a work permit to work here. There are six separate groups for ordinary work permit applications:
business and commercial
training and work experience
sportspeople and entertainers
student internships
general agreement on trade in services (GATS)
hospitality and food processing (sector-based schemes)
How to apply for a permit and how long it lasts for
You can’t apply for a permit yourself – you’ll need the UK-based employer who wants to employ you to do it for you. How long your permit lasts for will depend on the work you do and the type of permit applied for. For example, business and commercial work permits can be issued for up to five years, but sector-based permits are only issued for up to 12 months.
If you run a catering or hospitality businesses such as a pub, restaurant, hotel or café, where employees retain cash tips handed to them or left by customers, there are several income tax and National Insurance (NI) implications that you need to understand.
The tax situation varies depending on whether your employees are allowed to keep tips handed to them, or whether you share out pooled tips or service charges among everyone. It's essential that tips paid to your staff are properly treated for income tax and NI purposes, as this can affect your employees' future entitlement to contributory benefits.
There are various types of tips and ways of managing the process:
A tronc is a special arrangement used to pool and distribute tips. They're usually run independently from your business, often by one of your employees, who is known as a 'troncmaster'.
A tip is an unrequested spontaneous payment made by a customer either in cash, or added to a credit/debit card payment or a cheque.
A service charge is an amount added to a customer's bill before it is given to them. These can be voluntary or mandatory.
For more details about how the whole system works, contact
HM Revenue & Customs.
Networking Works For You
"Small businesses are often too quick to overlook the benefits of networking, but when they do find the time to nurture new contacts, it's never too long before they realise the part these relationships can play in their future growth and success." said the head of communications for Lloyds TSB Business.
The Atrium is planning to hold a networking event in January, where you can meet members of your local business community, as well as potential clients.
The subject will be COMPUTERISED TILLS and you can discover not only the benefits but also how little this vital asset to your business can cost.
To show your interest in this event email .
Fire Safety Regulations
The fire safety reform - you are now liable
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into force on the 1 October, puts full liability for fire hazards on the 'responsible person', which will normally be the business owner.
The ruling means current fire safety certificates will no longer be valid. Lawyers say firms should have a new fire risk assessment carried out, and document the findings so they can prove they have taken all reasonable precautions to prevent fires.
H&S Risk Assessment Sample
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is focusing on risk assessments in its new online "Myth of the Month" series. The myth for May 2007 is that, "Risk assessments must always be long and complex."
The HSE says the reality is that risk assessments should be "fit for purpose and acted upon". It says that for those who are running complex operations there will need to be a "fair amount of paperwork" but that for most other organisations, bullet points will work very well indeed.
The HSE is also keen to emphasise that, on its own, "paperwork never saved anyone". Risk assessment should be viewed as a means to an end, not an end in itself, since action is what protects people
ft by customers, there are several income tax and National Insurance (NI) implications that you need to understand.