Hiring Employees
While you may not need to hire employees at first, chances are you'll have to at some point, particularly as your business grows. It is important to understand the responsibilities you take on when you become an employer.
Government Standards
As an employer, it's your responsibility to know what employment and workplace health and safety standards you're required to follow. These standards are covered in four Acts administered and enforced by the Ministry of Labour:
- Employment Standards Act
- Pay Equity Act
- Occupational Health and Safety Act
- Smoking in the Workplace Act
Recruiting
The quality of the people you recruit will have a great impact on your company - its ability to serve customer needs, its growth and its profitability. Hiring mistakes can be costly. Before you hire anyone, you should:
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think carefully about your needs so you can be clear about what qualifications and skills you're looking for and prepare detailed job descriptions - review your core values and look for the kind of people who will best fit in
- determine how and where you'll find candidate
- prepare a list of questions to cover in a job interview
- consider pre-employment testing that will help you choose the right candidate
- determine whether or not training will be required and, if so, how you'll arrange for it
- investigate Human Resources and Skills Development programs or provincial government programs that might help cover some of the costs. Also investigate Employment Ontario programs to locate and recruit skilled and talented workers
- establish policies for things like performance evaluations, wage increases, bonuses, vacations and ongoing training
Compensation and Benefits
Determining compensation can be a delicate balance of satisfying employee expectations and keeping you profitable. Consider the base compensation, any commissions, bonuses or profit sharing, and benefits. In determining what the job is worth, check on industry standards by calling around.
Beyond the mandatory benefits, such as vacation pay, maternity and parental leave, worker's compensation insurance and contributions as an employer to employment insurance and the Canadian Pension Plan, you can offer other benefits like dental, drug, long-term disability and life insurance, and a pension plan.
When estimating the actual cost of an employee, use the 1.2 rule: take the employee's salary and multiply it by 1.2. This will compensate for days off for illness, vacations and statutory holidays.
