Taking someone on, the written statement, pay and sick pay, family leave, dismissal, redundancy consultation, insurance, health and safety and pensions.
Describe what has happened. The checker answers only from this guide, plus what you tell it, and says so if something is not covered.
Check My Obligations →Employers in England, Wales or Scotland, and managers acting for them, who want to know their main legal duties to employees and workers. It covers:
GOV.UK lists what to do when you employ staff for the first time:
Right to work checks. The Home Office can fine you up to £60,000 for each illegal worker. You will not have to pay the civil penalty if you can show you made the correct right to work checks.
Employers' liability insurance. The minimum cover is £5 million. You must display the certificate where your employees can easily read it, or make it available to them electronically. You can be fined up to £2,500 for each day you are without suitable insurance, and up to £1,000 if you do not display the certificate or refuse to show it to an HSE inspector. Some employers are exempt. This guide does not list the exemptions: see HSE.
The written statement. You must give employees and workers the main document (the "principal statement") on their first day, and the wider written statement within 2 months. You must tell them about any change within 1 month of making it. The written statement is not the same as the employment contract.
From 1 April 2026 the minimum hourly rates are:
The rates change on 1 April every year.
Payslips. Every employee and worker must get a payslip on or before payday. It must show pay before and after deductions, any deductions that can change each time they are paid, and the hours worked if their pay depends on them.
Deductions. You can only take money out of someone's pay if the law requires or allows it (for example income tax, National Insurance or student loan repayments), they agree in writing, their contract says you can, there is a statutory payment due to a public authority, they did not work because they took part in a strike or industrial action, there was an earlier overpayment of wages or expenses, or a court has told you to take debt payments.
A deduction cannot normally take pay below the minimum wage, even if the worker agrees to it. In retail, you cannot take more than 10% of gross pay in each pay period to cover shortfalls such as a till shortage. When someone leaves, you can take the full amount owed from their final pay.
Holiday. Almost all workers, including employees, are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year: at least 28 days for someone who works 5 days a week. The statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days. Bank holidays can count as part of the 5.6 weeks. Holiday builds up while someone is off sick and during maternity, paternity or adoption leave.
Sick pay. Since 6 April 2026, statutory sick pay (SSP) has been payable from the first full day of sickness absence, for up to 28 weeks, with no waiting days and no minimum earnings. It is £123.25 a week, or 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings over the 8 weeks before the absence if that is lower. You can pay more under a company sick pay scheme.
When an employee cannot get SSP, or their SSP is coming to an end, you must fill in form SSP1 and give it to them. If they disagree with your decision, they can contact HMRC's Statutory Payment Dispute Team.
Dismissing an employee where the main reason is that they took, or wanted to take, family leave is automatically unfair. The employee does not need 2 years' service to claim.
An employee can currently claim ordinary unfair dismissal once they have at least 2 years of continuous employment. If the employment ends on or after 1 January 2027, they need at least 6 months.
You must show a valid reason you can justify, and that you acted reasonably in the circumstances. The potentially fair reasons are conduct, capability, redundancy, a legal restriction that stops the person doing the job, or some other substantial reason. Be consistent, for example do not dismiss someone for something you let other employees do, and investigate fully before dismissing.
For misconduct or poor performance, follow the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures: establish the facts, tell the employee about the problem in writing, hold a meeting, let them be accompanied, decide what action to take and tell them in writing, and let them appeal.
A tribunal takes the Acas Code into account. If an employer unreasonably failed to follow it, the tribunal can increase an award by up to 25%. The Code does not apply to redundancy dismissals or to fixed-term contracts that end without being renewed.
No minimum service is needed where the reason is automatically unfair, such as whistleblowing, pregnancy or raising a health and safety concern, or where the dismissal is discrimination.
Notice. An employee with at least 1 month's service must get at least the statutory notice: 1 week for 1 month to 2 years; 1 week for each full year from 2 to 12 years; 12 weeks for 12 years or more. Their contract can give more notice, but not less. There are some situations where you can dismiss without notice, for example for violence.
Written reasons. An employee with 2 years' service can ask for a written statement of the reasons for their dismissal, and you must give it within 14 days of the request. If you dismiss an employee who is pregnant, or on maternity or adoption leave, you must give written reasons without being asked, whatever their length of service.
An employee with 2 years or more of continuous employment is entitled to statutory redundancy pay: half a week's pay for each full year worked at 21 or under, 1 week's pay for each full year at 22 to 40, and 1.5 weeks' pay for each full year at 41 or over. Only the last 20 years count.
For redundancies from 6 April 2026, a week's pay is capped at £751 and the most statutory redundancy pay can be is £22,530. You must tell the employee in writing how you worked it out. An employee may lose statutory redundancy pay if they unreasonably turn down a suitable alternative job you offer.
20 or more redundancies. If you propose to make 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment within 90 days, you must consult trade union representatives or elected employee representatives, or the staff directly if there are none. There is no limit on how long consultation lasts, but no dismissal can take effect until at least 30 days after it starts for 20 to 99 redundancies, or at least 45 days for 100 or more.
You must give the representatives or staff written details of the reasons, the numbers and categories of employees involved, how you plan to select people, how you will carry out the redundancies and how you will work out redundancy payments.
You must also notify the Redundancy Payments Service online on form HR1: at least 30 days before the first redundancy for 20 to 99, or at least 45 days before for 100 or more. You can be fined an unlimited amount if you do not.
If you do not consult properly, a tribunal can make a protective award. From 6 April 2026 the most a tribunal can award is 180 days' pay for each affected employee; it was 90 days.
All employers must assess the risks in their workplace and control them. If you have 5 or more employees, you must write down the significant findings of your risk assessment and have a written health and safety policy.
You must display the health and safety law poster, or give each worker the approved leaflet.
HSE enforces health and safety law in many workplaces. For offices, shops, hotels and restaurants, the local council does.
You must put a worker into a workplace pension automatically, and pay into it, if they are aged 22 or over and under State Pension age, earn more than £10,000 a year with you, and usually work in the UK.
In most schemes, contributions are worked out on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year. The legal minimum is 8% in total, including at least 3% from you. You must not encourage or force anyone to opt out. If someone opts out, you must put them back in about every 3 years if they still qualify.
The Fair Work Agency was set up in April 2026. It brings together the government teams that enforce the minimum wage and other employment rights. HMRC enforces the minimum wage on behalf of the Fair Work Agency. This guide does not say when the Fair Work Agency will start enforcing holiday pay or statutory sick pay: ask Acas.
The Home Office issues right to work penalties. You can be reported to The Pensions Regulator for not following your automatic enrolment duties.
A worker can also claim against you at an employment tribunal. Before most claims they must notify Acas to start early conciliation.
Acas: 0300 123 1100 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm), acas.org.uk. Free advice for employers and employees, and early conciliation.
The Pensions Regulator: 0345 600 0707, thepensionsregulator.gov.uk. Automatic enrolment duties.
HMRC Statutory Payment Dispute Team: 0300 322 9422. Disagreements about statutory sick pay.
HSE: hse.gov.uk. Risk assessment, the law poster and employers' liability insurance.
Free advice is also available from Citizens Advice.
Citizens Advice (England): 0800 144 8848
Citizens Advice (Wales): 0800 702 2020
Citizens Advice Scotland: 0800 028 1456
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