Hiring your first employee? Get the free checklist.
For UK small business owners taking on their first member of staff, or their first few. Everything to have in place before, on and after day one, on two printable pages, with each item marked as a legal requirement or good practice.
- Right to work checks, HMRC registration and employers' liability insurance
- The written statement: what's due on day one and what can wait 2 months
- Payslips, pensions, holiday and sick pay basics
- How to set your first hire up to stay, including probation
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Instant download. Updated October 2026.
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Download the checklist (PDF)Want to talk your hire through? Book Your 20-Minute Discovery Call.
What's on the checklist
Five short sections, in the order things tend to matter.
- Before you offer the job: the role, the pay and references
- Before they start: right to work, HMRC, insurance, payroll and DBS (only where eligible)
- On or before day one: the written statement, induction and key policies
- In the first weeks: payslips, pension, holiday, sick pay and records
- Setting them up to stay: probation and regular check-ins
General guidance, not legal advice. Facts checked against GOV.UK and The Pensions Regulator in October 2026. Prefer to read it online? See the blog post Hiring your first employee in the UK: the legal checklist.
Rather have it done for you?
A one-off HR Advice Session (£125) covers your hire, contract and paperwork in an hour, with a written summary and up to two ready-to-use documents. The HR Foundations Pack gives you a handbook, core policies and a contract template written around how you work.
You'll deal with me, Arrun Greaves, CIPD Level 7. How my support works.
"Arrun has been amazing, insightful and patient. He has helped me build out my HR policies for my Family Support Agency. He assisted in making sure we are fully legally compliant and making sure our policies are suitable for such a sensitive industry. Would highly recommend him!"
Talk your first hire through.
Twenty minutes, no charge. Tell me about the role and I'll tell you honestly what you need and what can wait.
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