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What do I legally have to do when someone new starts?

New starter checklist: what UK employers must do before and on day one

The legal steps for taking on a new employee in the UK: right to work, written statement, payroll, pension assessment and insurance, in order.

Last reviewed

In short

  • Right-to-work checks must be done before employment starts
  • The written statement of main terms is due on or before day one (since April 2020)
  • Every new starter must be assessed for workplace pension automatic enrolment
  • Employers' liability insurance is required from the first employee, minimum £5 million cover
  • Keep right-to-work evidence for the length of employment plus two years

Before they start

Two things have to be done before the first shift, not during it. Getting the order wrong is the most common onboarding mistake small employers make.

  1. Check their right to work in the UK and keep a copy of the evidence. The check must happen before employment begins; a check done after they've started does not give you a statutory excuse against a civil penalty.
  2. Make sure you have employers' liability insurance. Most employers must hold it from the day they take on their first employee, with cover of at least £5 million.

On or before day one

Employees and workers are entitled to a written statement of their main terms on or before their first day. This has applied since 6 April 2020; before then employers had two months.

The day-one statement has to cover the essentials: names of employer and employee, start date, pay and how often it is paid, hours and days of work, holiday entitlement, job title or description, place of work, notice periods, probation, and any training the employer requires. A few items, such as pension arrangements, can follow within two months.

  1. Issue the written statement of particulars (most employers do this as the employment contract).
  2. Collect payroll details: their P45 from a previous employer, or a completed HMRC starter checklist if they do not have one.
  3. Register them with HMRC through your payroll software on or before their first payday.

Within the first weeks

Every employer has workplace pension duties. You must assess each new starter for automatic enrolment from their first day, and enrol anyone who is eligible. Eligibility depends on age and earnings, and the earnings trigger is reviewed each tax year, so check the current figure on GOV.UK.

You can postpone assessment for up to three months, but only if you write to the employee to tell them, within six weeks of the date you are postponing from.

  1. Assess the new starter for automatic enrolment and enrol them if eligible.
  2. Give them a health and safety induction relevant to the job.
  3. Diarise the end of probation if the contract sets one.

Keep the records

Right-to-work evidence must be kept for the whole of employment and for two years after it ends, in a form that can't be altered, and produced quickly if the Home Office asks. Payroll records must be kept for at least three years from the end of the tax year they relate to.

Crewkind runs this sequence as an onboarding checklist for each new starter: right-to-work evidence with expiry reminders, the contract issued for e-signature before day one, and payroll details captured once and exported to Sage, BrightPay or Xero.

Sources

Related

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rates and thresholds change, so confirm current figures on GOV.UK before relying on them.

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