Hi all,

I am in the process of starting up a rather unique type of company.

To comply with separate requirements, all those who work for us must be classed as 'employees'.

The company is hoping to do work for both private/corporate clients as well as a lot of charities. With that in mind, the employees may not always be paid for their work (as the company won't be).

Is there a zero-hour type contract out there that would allow the company to pay employees a variable salary potentially based on volunteering (i.e. unpaid)?


Thanks very much in advance.

B

Hi Bee

A zero hours contract might be best here, with a clause setting out when the employee might be called on to do voluntary work.

One thing to look out for is that if you are paying close to the national minimum wage, the unpaid hours will work to bring down the average wage for the earned hours, which could mean you are paying less than the national minimum wage. Once any pay is due, the national minimum wage provisions will kick in for all hours worked. There may be a way round this by engaging employees on two separate contracts, but this would need detailed research before proceeding to ensure that this is lawful.

Best wishes

Karl

Thanks, Karl.
The advice I've been getting so far is very much to ensure I get it all sorted properly - i.e. hiring an HR consultant. Is that the best thing to do? It is clearly a rather complicated set up and something that we need to get right first time.

The company is hoping to do work for both private/corporate clients as well as a lot of charities. With that in mind, the employees may not always be paid for their work (as the company won't be).

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