The caretaker complains that there are occasions when they need extra help, especially after a big event in the hall, and suggests that their neighbour would be happy to help for £5.00 per hour:
- The committee agree that this would be a very practical way of dealing with the issue and agree to use the person as 'casual labour' at £5.00 per hour
- The committee accept the offer but increase the amount paid to be equal to the national minimum wage
- The committee agree that provided the person concerned submitted an invoice for the work done as a contractor then they would be happy with the situation
Two issues to address in this scenario; casual labour and employment legislation.
These days there is no such thing as casual labour! Giving someone £20.00 in cash, asking them to sign a receipt and accounting for it as casual labour is now in breach of employment legislation and should never be done. Option 1 is a definite 'NO! NO!'.
The difficulty comes, though, in deciding who is an employee. This would generally be anyone with whom you have a regular and established contract to undertake certain tasks. The caretaker in this situation is clearly an employee and must be treated as such. The helper is not, they help out on a 'casual' basis. Arrangements subject to employment law must,obviously, comply with all aspects of the law and that includes the minimum wage legislation.
If you choose not to employ someone to carry out a task you can bring in a paid contractor to do it. Contractors are not employees, contractors quote a rate for the job and if that is an acceptable rate to you, the purchaser, then you can go ahead and enter in to an agreement to buy that service. The minimum wage does not come in to it as far as the hall is concerned.
Option 2 might appear to overcome the concerns on the minimum wage but still leaves open the 'casual labour' difficulties. Therefore the correct procedure here is to treat the helper as a contractor and get them to provide an invoice for their services, they thereby take on themselves tax, NHI and all the other issues. They are also traceable should the Inland Revenue decide to do some checking up!
There is a third issue here, but one we won't dwell on. If one is contracting out for temporary cleaning help should the trustees go out to tend rather than accept a casual offer!