Hiring employees in the United Kingdom

• The right to receive a written statement of their terms of employment. Employers may be liable to a fine if employees are not given such a statement, which is typically contained in a simple employment contract. 
   
• Maximum working week and annual leave entitlement. Most employees cannot be required to work more than an average of 48 hours a week unless they expressly agree otherwise with their employer. Employees can opt-out of any such agreement at any time by giving up to three months’ notice. Senior employees who have autonomous decision-making powers are not subject to this limit. Employees are also entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave (which means 28 days for a full-time employee). This can include public and bank holidays, of which there are eight a year in England.
   
• Family-related leave. Employees have the right to paid time off for antenatal or adoption appointments and for maternity, adoption, paternity and parental leave. The minimum amount that they are entitled to be paid is specified in law and increased each year. They also have the right to unpaid time off in certain circumstances to care for dependants.
   
• Sick pay. Employees are entitled to be paid when they are off sick. The amount that they are entitled to receive is known as "statutory sick pay" (SSP) and is specified in law. Entitlement to SSP ceases after 28 weeks’ sickness absence in any three-year period. However, there is no statutory limit on the amount of time employees may be off work due to sickness or injury. In other words, there is no limit on the amount of time off for sickness absence, but there is on the amount of SSP.
   
• Entitlement to notice. After one month's service, employees are entitled to notice from their employer of the termination of their employment. The minimum statutory notice period is one week, rising by one week for each year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks. 
   
• Termination of employment. Once employees have been continuously employed for a certain period (two years), they are protected from unfair dismissal. This means they may only be dismissed for one of five prescribed reasons, including redundancy, capability (i.e. performance) and misconduct and, in addition, employers must follow a fair process when dismissing an employee. Failure to dismiss for a prescribed reason or to follow a fair process could lead to a successful claim for unfair dismissal. Compensation for unfair dismissal is capped at the lower of a year’s pay or a specified amount set out in statute (reviewed each year and which is £105,707 for the period 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024). However, compensation for certain dismissals, such as those in connection with disability or whistleblowing, is unlimited.
   
• Protection from discrimination. Employees and job applicants have the right not to be discriminated against because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Compensation for breach of discrimination laws is not capped.
   
• Whistleblowing. Employees are protected against dismissal and being subjected to detrimental treatment (such as being overlooked for promotion or a pay rise) as a result of having raised concerns about particular categories of wrongdoing (whistleblowing). There is no requirement for employees to be employed for a particular period of time in order to benefit from this protection and there is no cap on the compensation that may be awarded to an employee in a whistleblowing claim. However, the law encourages individuals to raise concerns with their employer (internal disclosure) as the primary method of whistleblowing. Reporting to external parties (such as regulators) may be protected if more stringent conditions are met.
   
• Pension provision. Employers are required to automatically enrol eligible workers in a pension scheme and make minimum contributions into the scheme on their behalf. Employees may choose to opt out of this. 
   
• Data protection. Any processing of personal data carried out by a data controller must be carried out in accordance with the retained version of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The UK GDPR requires employers (as data controllers) to process their employee records “fairly, lawfully and transparently”. This means not processing the data unless there is a lawful basis for doing so. Employers must provide employees with information about how their data will be processed and the lawful basis for this in a privacy notice. In addition, special rules apply to transferring data outside of England to a country that is not in the European Economic Area. An employer's ability to monitor employees' emails and internet use is also restricted. 

• Name of employer and employee.
• Job title.
• The date on which the employment began.
• Details of any probationary period.
• Place of work Salary and intervals at which it is paid.
• Hours of work.
• Entitlement to holidays (including public holidays) and holiday pay.
• Sickness absence and pay entitlements.
• Length of notice required to terminate the employment. 
• Disciplinary and grievance procedures.
• Any training entitlement provided by the employer.
• Pension provision and provision of other benefits.

Although not a legal requirement, it is common for employment contracts to also include confidentiality provisions, provisions relating to intellectual property and, for senior or key employees, post-termination restrictions (for example, non-compete and non-solicitation clauses).

• Immigration. It is unlawful to employ someone who does not have the right to live and work in the UK, or who is working in breach of their conditions of stay. Employers must carry out "right to work" checks on all prospective employees before the employment starts by obtaining and checking the original of certain documents and making and retaining a copy of them. Follow-up checks must be carried out on employees who have a time-limited permission to live and work in the UK. Information on the documents to be checked and how this should be done can be found in Government guidance. Please also see our FAQs on right to work checks. 
   
• Other pre-employment checks. Depending on the role in question, the employer may need to: (1) check that the individual being hired has the necessary professional qualifications and regulatory approvals to carry out their role; (2) carry out reference checks; (3) carry out a criminal records check (the ability to do this is limited, depending on the sector); and/or (4) carry out a health check (only if it is necessary (such as a legal or insurance requirement).
   
• Taxation. Employers must deduct tax and national insurance contributions (known as “PAYE”, pay as you earn) at source. It is worth engaging a payroll company to assist with this.
   
• Regulatory requirements. These may apply to regulated sectors such as financial services, legal services and healthcare.
   
• Employer’s liability insurance. This is mandatory for all UK employers, no matter how large or small.

There may be a number of other factors to consider depending on the sector and role in question. What is clear, however, is that hiring employees requires careful planning to ensure that legal requirements are met and that any contract of employment contains the provisions necessary to protect the interests of the business as much as possible. It is best to seek advice on such matters at the outset of the recruitment process to ensure everything is in place by the time team members join.

further information 

If you would like any further information or advice about any of the issues explored in this article, please contact Emmanuelle Ries in our employment team.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emmanuelle Ries is recognised as a specialist of employment issues arising in cross border situations. She provides support to corporate clients with day-to-day employment law advice from recruitment, contractual and secondment documentation to issues arising at the end of the employment relationship. Emmanuelle is bilingual in English and French.