Employment legislation to consider before taking on UK employees

If you’re expanding into the UK and plan to take on UK employees, you’ll need to ensure you comply with UK employment legislation. The following tips gives you a good start to ensure you keep on the right side of the law when you start to employ UK workers.

Points to consider when taking on employees in the United Kingdom

1. You need to pay at least the statutory minimum wage to UK workers. The rates for the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage change every April. From April 2019, the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage are;
£8.21 per hour for workers aged 25 and over,
£7.70 per hour for workers aged 21 to 24 ,
£6.15 per hour for workers aged 18 to 20,
£4.35 per hour for workers under the age of 18,
£3.90 per hour for Apprentices.

2. It is important to check whether potential employees have a legal right to work in the UK.

3. If your job vacancy entails working with vulnerable members of society or has security issues, you may need to register your employee for a DBS check prior to taking them on.

4. You will need to organise an Employers’ Liability Insurance just as soon as you engage your first employee.

5. If you intend to take on employees for longer than one month, you will need to issue them with a written statement of employment which confirms all the terms and details of their job.

6. You should register for PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn, which includes National Insurance and Income Tax) with HM Revenue and Customs at least four weeks before you pay your first employee.

7. Find out whether if all new staff will need to be automatically enrolled in a workplace pension scheme.

Goodwille provides a variety of services to companies planning to expand into the United Kingdom. We can help you with all the above issues and more to make sure you fulfil your duties as a UK employer. Read more about our HR Services here or contact us to find out more.