Welcome on board: hiring new employees
Even the best store cannot run without hard-working employees. They are a company’s greatest asset and should be chosen carefully. Who becomes part of the team is in the hands of the employer, because they decide with whom they want to write a success story in the future.
But before an employment relationship is established, it’s not just the applicants who have to prepare well and impress in the interview. Employers also have a lot of to-dos on their agenda that need to be fulfilled before hiring new employees.
Onboarding made easy with a checklist!
From applying for a company number to the obligation to register with the health insurance and pension insurance companies to drawing up the employment contract – the recruitment process involves a number of requirements. For example, new employees can be employed as mini-jobbers, midi-jobbers or full-time employees; the desired employment relationship can be temporary or permanent. And what about remuneration?
The minimum wage goes without saying. Depending on the industry you work in, a collective agreement may also apply. To make sure you don’t forget anything, we recommend that you take a look at and download our checklist for hiring new employees.
Hiring new employees: Nothing works without these three numbers
Let’s first take a look at what requirements you as an employer must fulfill in order to be able to hire new employees. Before you go through your very first recruitment process, you must obtain a number from the tax office, the Federal Employment Agency and the relevant employers’ liability insurance association.
Don’t worry, this step is only required once. Once you have your tax, membership and company number, they will be valid for all future interactions with the institutions. But what exactly do these three numbers stand for?
The company number
Regardless of whether you are hiring a mini-jobber or a full-time employee, the company number is necessary in order to comply with the obligation to register a new employee with the health insurance fund.
It must also be provided when employees deregister. The company number is applied for at the Federal Employment Agency – this can even be done online at bno.arbeitsagentur.de. The company number consists of eight numbers.
The tax number
To communicate with the tax office, you need your company’s tax number. You will receive this when you register for income tax.
The membership number
Companies that are members of an employer’s liability insurance association receive a letter upon registration containing both the membership or customer number and the corresponding PIN. Employers’ liability insurance associations are accident insurance providers and come into play when employees have an accident at work or suffer from an occupational disease.
Registration of new employees
Have you been successful and found a suitable candidate for your advertised position? Congratulations! Then, in the next step, you will need a whole range of information and documents from the new colleague.
Save yourself and future employees unnecessary extra work and go through the required documents using a checklist. This way, you and the new employees will have everything together quickly and won’t lose time unnecessarily due to follow-up questions and reminders.
As an employer, you need these documents, numbers and proofs from your new employees before you can draw up the employment contract and calculate the correct wage tax:
- a copy of your identity card
- completed personnel questionnaire containing personal details, bank details, income tax, social security and other employment relationships)
- Social security or pension insurance number
- Tax identification number and details of tax class, allowances and religious denomination
- Membership certificate from the health insurance company
If available or relevant, the following evidence must be added to the documents:
- Work and residence permit
- Severely disabled person’s pass
- Vacation certificate from the last employer
- Certificates of capital-forming benefits
- Health certificates
- Driving license for professional vehicles
- Additional qualifications and certificates (e.g. forklift or welding license)
What types of employment are there for employees?
A five-day week and a “9-to-5” working day? Fortunately, this arrangement is becoming a thing of the past in more and more employment relationships. Many companies are adapting their working hours to the needs of their employees. Whether it’s marginal employment, such as a mini-job or midi-job, part-time or full-time – there are different options depending on the industry.
Regardless of which working hours model you and your future employee agree on, two things should not be missing from any employment contract: remuneration and the definition of working hours. Please note: The minimum wage applies to all employees in your company, including working students.
Which points should not be missing from any employment contract?
As mentioned above, remuneration and working hours are important components of an employment contract. However, for this to be legally valid, a number of minimum details are required in addition to individual agreements. These include
- Name and address of both the employer and the employee
- Indication of the place where the employment is carried out
- Description of tasks and work content
- Date on which the employment relationship begins
- In the case of fixed-term contracts: also state the duration of the employment relationship
- In the case of a probationary period: specify the duration (maximum six months)
- Definition of working hours (for flexible working hours: define the time frame)
- Determination of notice periods
- Number of vacation days (minimum: 24 working days)
- Amount of remuneration, explanation of composition if applicable
You can download sample employment contracts from the Internet and adapt them to your requirements.
Reporting obligations when hiring new employees
As soon as both parties have signed the employment contract, you must register the new employees with the tax office, social security and the employers’ liability insurance association. Depending on the type of employment and industry, there may be deviations with regard to registration obligations.
However, as an employer, you are obliged to submit a notification in most cases. Failure to do so can be very expensive, which is why registering new employees with the necessary authorities should be one of your first official acts after the successful recruitment process.
Registration with the health insurance company
Statutory insurance is compulsory for almost all occupational groups in Germany. This means that employees are generally covered by health, long-term care, pension and unemployment insurance. As an employer, you pay part of the social security contributions.
These are non-wage labor costs which, in contrast to salary payments, are indirect labor costs. To ensure that the health insurance fund knows who is the collection point for the social security contributions due, all new employees who are compulsorily insured must register. This must be done no later than six weeks after taking up employment. A different rule applies to mini-jobbers: they do not have to be reported to the health insurance fund, but to the mini-job center.
Attention! For certain economic sectors, such as construction, passenger transportation and catering, there is an immediate obligation to register. For new employees in these occupational groups – including marginally employed persons (mini-jobbers, etc.) – registration with the social security authorities must take place before the start of the employment relationship at best and on the first working day at the latest.
Registration with the employers’ liability insurance association
The employers’ liability insurance association is the statutory accident insurance for employees. You must therefore register new employees – including mini-jobbers – with your relevant employers’ liability insurance association immediately after hiring them. As the employer, you are responsible for the contributions. These are calculated from the payroll totals that you transmit digitally to the accident insurance fund.
Registration with the tax office
There is also an immediate obligation to register new employees with the tax office, as it naturally has a great interest in ensuring that income tax is paid on time. This registration can easily be done digitally via the ELSTER electronic tax return.
You will need both the date of birth and the tax identification number of the new employee. If the assignment of the tax class is unclear, the tax advisor can help. Employees who do not know their tax ID can obtain it from the Federal Central Tax Office.
Registration with the public health department
In food processing industries, for example in the catering industry, new colleagues are required to register with the public health department. For this registration, the future employee must provide you with a clearance certificate issued by a public health officer.
Summary: Checklist for hiring new employees
If you have a competent and reliable team around you, you should hold on to it and avoid constant fluctuation, because we all know that: Good staff are rare. However, hiring new employees also brings a breath of fresh air to your company and is the logical consequence when a company is on course for success and expansion. The recruitment process, including job advertisements and interviews, can take a lot of time. You should also take this time to find suitable colleagues for a long-term collaboration.
On the other hand, you can save on the time and effort involved in drawing up employment contracts and registering future employees with the various authorities and insurance companies. With the help of our checklist, you will be well prepared, won’t forget any important points and will save both yourself and your new employees unnecessary questions and repeated visits to the authorities.
Personnel planning software such as Teamhero also supports you with applicant management as well as resource planning, employee communication, time recording and payroll accounting.
Checklist for hiring new employees
