{"id":10947,"date":"2026-10-28T14:44:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T14:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/country-guide\/united-kingdom\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T16:59:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T16:59:25","slug":"united-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/country-guide\/united-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiring in the United Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-padding-top:0px;--awb-padding-bottom:0px;--awb-margin-top:0px;--awb-margin-bottom:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1372.8px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:0px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><style>.cpw{width:100vw;margin-left:calc(50% - 50vw);font-family:Inter,system-ui,sans-serif;color:#0B1B33;background:#fff}.cph{background:radial-gradient(ellipse at 70% 30%,#16305A 0%,#0B1B33 60%,#060F1F 100%);color:#fff;padding:72px 0 56px}.cpin{max-width:1180px;margin:0 auto;padding:0 40px;box-sizing:border-box}.cpbc{font-size:13px;letter-spacing:2px;color:#C9A24D;font-weight:600;margin:0 0 14px;text-transform:uppercase}.cpbc a{color:#C9A24D;text-decoration:none}.cph h1{font-size:clamp(34px,4vw,52px);line-height:1.1;margin:0 0 16px;color:#fff;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:-.5px}.cph p.cpl{font-size:18px;line-height:1.6;color:#B9C6DA;max-width:760px;margin:0 0 36px}.cpfs{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(4,minmax(0,1fr));gap:14px}.cpf{background:rgba(255,255,255,.06);border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.12);border-radius:14px;padding:16px 18px}.cpk{font-size:12px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#9FB0C9;margin-bottom:6px}.cpv{font-size:17px;font-weight:600;color:#fff;line-height:1.35}.cpb{display:grid;grid-template-columns:240px minmax(0,1fr);gap:48px;padding:56px 0 24px}.cpnav{position:sticky;top:110px;align-self:start;display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:2px;border-left:2px solid #E6EAF0}.cpnav a{font-size:14px;color:#5A6B85;text-decoration:none;padding:7px 14px}.cpnav a:hover{color:#0B1B33;border-left:2px solid #C9A24D;margin-left:-2px}.cps{margin:0 0 44px;scroll-margin-top:110px}.cps h2{font-size:28px;font-weight:700;margin:0 0 16px;color:#0B1B33;letter-spacing:-.3px}.cps h3{font-size:19px;font-weight:600;margin:22px 0 8px;color:#0B1B33}.cps p,.cps li{font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;color:#33415C}.cps ul{padding-left:20px;margin:0 0 12px}.cpt{width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;margin:8px 0 16px;font-size:15px}.cpt th,.cpt td{border-bottom:1px solid #E6EAF0;padding:11px 12px;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;line-height:1.5}.cpt th{width:42%;font-weight:600;color:#0B1B33;background:#F6F8FB}.cpt td{color:#33415C}.cpcta{background:#0B1B33;color:#fff;border-radius:20px;padding:36px 40px;display:flex;gap:28px;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between;margin:12px 0 44px}.cpcta h3{color:#fff;font-size:24px;margin:0 0 8px}.cpcta p{color:#B9C6DA;margin:0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6}.cpcta a{flex:none;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:1.2;padding:15px 28px;border-radius:30px;background:#C9A24D;color:#0B1B33;font-weight:700;text-decoration:none;font-size:15px}.cpsrc{border-top:1px solid #E6EAF0;padding:24px 0 64px;font-size:13px;color:#5A6B85;line-height:1.7}.cpsrc a{color:#1E4A86;word-break:break-word}@media (max-width:900px){.cpfs{grid-template-columns:repeat(2,minmax(0,1fr))}.cpb{grid-template-columns:1fr}.cpnav{display:none}.cpin{padding:0 20px}.cpcta{flex-direction:column;align-items:flex-start;padding:28px}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"cpw\">\n<div class=\"cph\">\n<div class=\"cpin\">\n<p class=\"cpbc\"><a href=\"\/zh\/country-guide\/\">\u56fd\u5bb6\u5408\u89c4\u767e\u79d1<\/a> \u00b7 Europe<\/p>\n<h1>Hiring in the United Kingdom<\/h1>\n<p class=\"cpl\">A practical guide to employing staff in the UK \u2014 contracts, working time, leave, termination, payroll and employer costs for the 2026\/27 tax year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cpfs\">\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Currency<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">Pound sterling (GBP)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Payroll cycle<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">Monthly (weekly also common)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Employer NIC<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">15% above \u00a35,000 \/ year<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Minimum wage<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">\u00a312.71 \/ hour (21+)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Annual leave<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">5.6 weeks (28 days)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Tax year<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">6 April \u2013 5 April<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Language<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">English<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpf\">\n<div class=\"cpk\">Truerix presence<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpv\">Own entity (London)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cpin\">\n<div class=\"cpb\">\n<nav class=\"cpnav\"><a href=\"#contracts\">Employment contracts<\/a><a href=\"#hours\">Working hours<\/a><a href=\"#pay\">Minimum wage<\/a><a href=\"#leave\">Leave and holidays<\/a><a href=\"#termination\">Probation, notice and termination<\/a><a href=\"#payroll\">Payroll and employer costs<\/a><a href=\"#benefits\">Benefits and practice<\/a><a href=\"#truerix\">Hire with Truerix<\/a><\/nav>\n<div>\n<section id=\"contracts\" class=\"cps\">\n<h2>Employment contracts<\/h2>\n<p>Every employee and worker must receive a written statement of employment particulars on or before their first day. It must cover pay, hours, holiday, notice, job title, place of work and any probation period.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Permanent<\/strong> contracts are the norm; <strong>fixed-term<\/strong> employees must not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent staff, and after four years of successive fixed-term contracts they usually become permanent.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Right to work:<\/strong> employers must check and record every worker&#8217;s right to work in the UK before employment starts. Fines for illegal working are up to \u00a360,000 per worker.<\/li>\n<li>Contracts can be in English only; there is no requirement to register them with any authority.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"hours\" class=\"cps\">\n<h2>Working hours<\/h2>\n<table class=\"cpt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Maximum working week<\/th>\n<td>48 hours averaged over 17 weeks (employees can opt out in writing)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Daily rest<\/th>\n<td>11 consecutive hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Weekly rest<\/th>\n<td>24 hours per week or 48 hours per fortnight<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breaks<\/th>\n<td>20 minutes if the working day is longer than 6 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Overtime pay<\/th>\n<td>No statutory premium \u2014 set by contract, but average pay must not fall below minimum wage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"pay\" class=\"cps\">\n<h2>Minimum wage<\/h2>\n<p>National Minimum Wage rates from 1 April 2026:<\/p>\n<table class=\"cpt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>National Living Wage (21 and over)<\/th>\n<td>\u00a312.71 per hour<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Age 18\u201320<\/th>\n<td>\u00a310.85 per hour<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Age 16\u201317 and apprentices<\/th>\n<td>\u00a38.00 per hour<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"leave\" class=\"cps\">\n<h2>Leave and holidays<\/h2>\n<table class=\"cpt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Annual leave<\/th>\n<td>5.6 weeks per year (28 days for a full-time 5-day week). Bank holidays can be included in this.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Public (bank) holidays<\/th>\n<td>8 in England and Wales, 9 in Scotland, 10 in Northern Ireland<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Statutory Sick Pay<\/th>\n<td>\u00a3123.25 per week (or 80% of normal weekly earnings if lower), payable from the first day of sickness from 6 April 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Maternity<\/th>\n<td>Up to 52 weeks&#8217; leave; 39 weeks&#8217; statutory pay \u2014 6 weeks at 90% of earnings, then \u00a3194.32 per week or 90% if lower<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Paternity<\/th>\n<td>2 weeks \u2014 a day-one right from April 2026; statutory pay \u00a3194.32 per week (26 weeks&#8217; service still required for pay)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Shared parental leave<\/th>\n<td>Up to 50 weeks shared between parents<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Unpaid parental leave<\/th>\n<td>18 weeks per child up to age 18 \u2014 a day-one right from April 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"termination\" class=\"cps\">\n<h2>Probation, notice and termination<\/h2>\n<p>Probation periods are contractual (commonly 3\u20136 months). Statutory minimum notice from the employer is one week after one month&#8217;s service, then one week per complete year of service, up to 12 weeks. Employees must give at least one week.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Unfair dismissal:<\/strong> employees currently need two years&#8217; service to claim; under the Employment Rights Act 2025 this falls to six months from 1 January 2027, and the cap on compensation is removed.<\/li>\n<li>Dismissal must be for a fair reason (conduct, capability, redundancy, statutory restriction or some other substantial reason) and follow a fair procedure, including the Acas Code for disciplinary cases.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Statutory redundancy pay<\/strong> applies after two years&#8217; service, based on age, length of service (up to 20 years) and a weekly pay cap of \u00a3751 from April 2026.<\/li>\n<li>Collective consultation is required when proposing 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"payroll\" class=\"cps\">\n<h2>Payroll and employer costs<\/h2>\n<p>Payroll runs through PAYE with Real Time Information (RTI): every payment must be reported to HMRC on or before payday, and tax and National Insurance are paid to HMRC monthly.<\/p>\n<table class=\"cpt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Employer National Insurance<\/th>\n<td>15% on earnings above \u00a35,000 a year (\u00a3417 a month)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Employer NIC relief<\/th>\n<td>0% up to \u00a350,270 a year for employees under 21 and apprentices under 25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Employment Allowance<\/th>\n<td>Up to \u00a310,500 a year off the employer NIC bill (eligibility rules apply)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Workplace pension<\/th>\n<td>Auto-enrolment for workers aged 22 to State Pension age earning over \u00a310,000; minimum 8% of qualifying earnings (\u00a36,240\u2013\u00a350,270), of which the employer pays at least 3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Apprenticeship Levy<\/th>\n<td>0.5% of pay bill above \u00a33 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Employee income tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)<\/h3>\n<table class=\"cpt\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Personal allowance<\/th>\n<td>\u00a312,570 (tapered away above \u00a3100,000)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Basic rate 20%<\/th>\n<td>\u00a312,571 \u2013 \u00a350,270<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Higher rate 40%<\/th>\n<td>\u00a350,271 \u2013 \u00a3125,140<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Additional rate 45%<\/th>\n<td>Above \u00a3125,140<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Employee National Insurance<\/th>\n<td>8% between \u00a312,570 and \u00a350,270; 2% above<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Scotland sets its own income tax bands. Student loan repayments are deducted through payroll where applicable.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"benefits\" class=\"cps\">\n<h2>Benefits and practice<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>There is no 13th-month salary or statutory bonus.<\/li>\n<li>Private medical insurance, enhanced pension contributions and life cover are common market benefits.<\/li>\n<li>Benefits in kind are reported through payrolling or form P11D and attract Class 1A employer NIC at 15%.<\/li>\n<li>Employers must keep annual leave records for six years from April 2026.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"truerix\" class=\"cps\">\n<div class=\"cpcta\">\n<div>\n<h3>Hire in the United Kingdom with Truerix<\/h3>\n<p>Truerix employs your UK staff through our own London entity \u2014 contracts, RTI payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and HMRC compliance handled for you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"\/zh\/contact\/\">\u83b7\u53d6\u56fd\u5bb6\u62a5\u4ef7<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"cpsrc\"><strong>Last reviewed:<\/strong> October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rates and thresholds change regularly; Truerix confirms the current position before every hire.<br \/><strong>Sources:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/national-minimum-wage-rates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOV.UK \u2013 National Minimum Wage rates<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOV.UK \u2013 Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/holiday-entitlement-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOV.UK \u2013 Holiday entitlement<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/statutory-sick-pay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOV.UK \u2013 Statutory Sick Pay<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/handing-in-your-notice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOV.UK \u2013 Notice periods<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blakemorgan.co.uk\/april-2026-key-dates-for-employers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blake Morgan \u2013 April 2026 key dates for employers<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hiring in the United Kingdom: employment contracts, 2026\/27 National Living Wage, employer National Insurance, holiday, sick pay, notice and payroll rules \u2014 and how Truerix employs your team compliantly.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9826,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10947","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10947"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10984,"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10947\/revisions\/10984"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.truerix.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}