Hiring employees in the UK – what you need to know

Here are some current and important legal concepts and employee rights to be familiar with when hiring employees in the United Kingdom.

• Employment status: Different rights and obligations under UK employment and tax law apply to an “employee”, a “worker”, or a “self-employed contractor”. Employees enjoy the most legal protection.
  
  
• Maximum working week and annual leave: Most employees cannot be required to work more than an average of 48 hours a week. Employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave (28 days – including eight public holiday days – for a full-time employee).
   
• Family-related leave: Employees have the right to paid time off for antenatal or adoption appointments and for maternity, adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave. They also have the right to unpaid time off in certain circumstances to care for dependants.
  
  
• Sick pay: Employees are entitled to receive "statutory sick pay" (SSP) when they are off sick (after the first three days of absence). Entitlement to SSP ceases after 28 weeks of illness absence in any three-year period. 
  
  
• Entitlement to notice: After one month's employment, employees are entitled to receive notice 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: After two years’ service, employees are protected from unfair dismissal. That is, they may only be dismissed for one of five prescribed reasons (e.g. redundancy), and only after a fair process. Compensation for unfair dismissal is loss-based but capped at the lower of a year’s pay or an amount set out in statute (currently GBP 115,115). Compensation for certain dismissals, such as those in connection with discrimination 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. 
  
  
• Whistleblowing: Employees are protected against dismissal and being subjected to detrimental treatment (such as being overlooked for promotion/a pay rise) as a result of having raised concerns about particular categories of wrongdoing. 
  
  
• Pension provision: Employers are required to automatically enrol eligible workers in a pension scheme and make minimum contributions into the scheme on their behalf. 
  
  
• Data protection: Employers (as data controllers) must process their employee records “fairly, lawfully and transparently”. They must provide employees with information about how their data will be processed and the lawful basis for this in a privacy notice. 
  
  
• Immigration: It is unlawful to employ someone who does not have the right to live and work in the UK. Employers must carry out "right to work" checks on all prospective employees before the employment starts.
  
  
• Employer’s liability insurance: This is mandatory for all UK employers.

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Emmanuelle Ries specialises in cross-border employment issues. She advises on secondments and contractual arrangements and on workplace investigations and disputes. She serves on the Advisory Council of the French Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain.