Most shop owners hire with two pieces of paper: an agreement the new attendant signs, and a form signed by someone who vouches for them. Usually both were copied from another shop, and nobody is sure what half the lines are for.
Each document does a different job. Here is what belongs in each, and what you shouldn't expect either of them to do.
This is general information, not legal advice. For anything unusual, or for a role that handles large sums, have a lawyer draft or check your documents.
The agreement
The law already tells you part of what goes in it. Under section 7 of the Labour Act, an employer must give a worker a written statement not later than three months after they start. It has to state:
- the name of the employer and the business
- the worker's name and address, and the place and date they were engaged
- the nature of the job
- the end date, if the job is for a fixed period
- the notice either side must give to end it
- the wage, how it is worked out, and how and when it is paid
- hours of work, holidays and holiday pay, and what happens when the worker is sick or injured
- any special conditions
That list is the skeleton. A shop should add the things that are specific to handling goods and money, because those are where arguments start:
The records the job includes. For example: writing every sale in the sales book with your initials, issuing a receipt for every sale, and signing for deliveries you receive.
How the day is closed. Who counts the cash, who checks transfers against the alerts, and who signs the page.
Where payments go. One sentence saying that customer payments are made only in cash to the till, to the shop's POS, or to the shop's bank account, and never to a personal account.
How stock is counted. That counts happen regularly and without notice, and that the attendant takes part.
What happens when a count is short. Describe a process, not a punishment: recount, check records, discuss. Be careful here. Section 5 of the Labour Act does not let an employer fine a worker, and a deduction for loss caused by a worker's wilful misconduct or neglect needs the prior written consent of an authorised labour officer. Total deductions in a month can't exceed one-third of that month's wages. A clause saying "any shortage will be deducted from salary" promises something the law doesn't simply hand you.
Notice. Section 11 sets minimum notice periods: one day in the first three months, one week after that up to two years, two weeks from two to five years, and one month from five years. Your agreement can state these.
Write it in plain words, go through it together on the first day, and give the attendant a signed copy. Staff who were told the rules at the start take a stock count far less personally than staff who meet one for the first time during a disagreement.
The guarantor form
A guarantor form is a statement by a third person that they know your new attendant, vouch for them, and accept some responsibility if the shop loses money through that person's dishonesty.
A useful one contains:
- the guarantor's full name, home address, phone number and occupation, with their work address
- how they know the attendant, and for how long
- a copy of a government ID, and a passport photograph
- a clear statement of what they are guaranteeing
- a limit, if there is one, on the amount
- their signature and the date, with a witness
Checking the guarantor
The form is only as good as the person behind it, and the checking is the part most owners skip.
Meet the guarantor yourself. Don't accept a form that was taken away and brought back signed. Visit the address, or at least the workplace. Call the number while they are standing in front of you. Ask them, in your own words, whether they understand what they have signed. Keep the ID copy with the form.
Be wary of a guarantor who has only known the applicant for a few weeks, or who is a relative with no income of their own.
What these papers can't do
A guarantor becomes useful after a loss. The form doesn't stop one. Whether you can actually recover money from a guarantor depends on how the document was written and on the facts, which is a question for a lawyer when the time comes.
The agreement sets expectations. It doesn't check that they are met.
What prevents losses is routine: a sale written down with a name against it, a day that is closed and signed, and a count nobody was warned about. Those are covered in how to stop staff stealing from your shop. The paperwork supports that routine. It doesn't replace it.