Know UK employment regulations
You'll need to be aware of UK employment law and your duties as a UK employer.
You'll need to be aware of UK employment law and your duties as a UK employer.
If you’re employing staff in the UK, you will have tax and employment responsibilities under UK law. These depend on the type of contracts you give your staff, and their employment status.
Read about UK contract types and get an overview of employer responsibilities on GOV.UK
The UK's National Insurance system funds certain benefits and the state pension.
As an employer you’ll have to pay Employers' National Insurance Contributions, calculated as a percentage of the salary paid to your employees. In addition, your employees will pay a percentage of their wages, if they’re earning over a certain amount per week.
Find information on current rates of national insurance contributions on GOV.UK.
The UK operates a National Minimum Wage for workers under the age of 21, to encourage people to work and prevent businesses from using low wages to compete unfairly. Employers must pay the National Minimum Wage no matter how small a company is.
Read an overview of the National Minimum Wage on GOV.UK.
Learn about minimum wage amounts for different types of work on GOV.UK.
There's also a National Living Wage, which is higher than National Minimum Wage and applies to workers aged 21 or over.
View the National Minimum Wage and living wage calculator for employers on GOV.UK.
You should be aware of your pension responsibilities as a UK employer. You can read more about this on the UK Pensions Regulator website.
In addition, you’ll need to be able to fund sick leave, maternity leave and paternity leave. Find out more in these employer guides on GOV.UK:
PAYE (“pay as you earn”) is the UK's system to collect Income Tax and National Insurance from employment. As an employer, you normally have to include PAYE as part of your payroll. PAYE is operated by the UK's tax, payments and customs authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
You will need to register as an employer with HMRC when you start employing staff or using subcontractors for construction work.
You must register even if you’re only employing yourself, for example as the only director of a limited company.
You must register before the first payday. You cannot register more than 2 months before you start paying people.
As an employer, you'll have a responsibility under UK law to:
Read a step by step guide to get your business ready to employ staff on GOV.UK.
You must get Employers’ Liability (EL) insurance as soon as you become an employer. Your policy must cover you for at least £5 million and come from an authorised insurer.
EL insurance will help you pay compensation if an employee is injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for you. You can be fined £2,500 every day you are not properly insured.
You may not need EL insurance if you only employ a family member or someone who is based abroad.
You may want expert advice on employment law or human resources, to make sure you’re prepared to set up in the UK.