No. of employees

kngc · Post by **kngc** » Sat Dec 07, 2019 9:18 am

We all know the rule for 5 or more employees BUT ........ and here comes the possibly daft question!

Does this apply when you have 2 full time staff and then take on say 4 seasonal staff through the winter only?

Thx K

stephen1974 · Post by **stephen1974** » Sat Dec 07, 2019 11:53 am

IMO yes, and even if it was no, you are bringing in temporary workers for a busy period who are going to be inexperienced and I bet your 2 full time members do not have the time to properly train and supervise them and thefore written procedures for risk assessments, safe systems of work, emergency procedures etc etc are pretty important to ensure their safety.

abarnett · Post by **abarnett** » Mon Dec 09, 2019 1:50 pm

I would also say yes and agree totally with the point stephen makes. concentrating solely on the law, the requirement is set out as an absolute one and there is no derogation set in to the legislation for different contract types. Therefore, if you have more than 4 employees then you must have the information in written form - even if that staffing level is only on a seasonal basis.

witsd · Post by **witsd** » Mon Dec 09, 2019 4:41 pm

I would say absolutely yes.

On top of that, If you employ more than one person and you aren't writing down your RAs (remembering that you have to complete them no matter what, it's only the recording that is mandated by hitting 5), then you are asking for trouble unless you are confident that you could reel them off – from memory – in a courtroom.

They don't have to be huge, but I'd pretty much always want them in writing!