What Documents Are Required When Hiring an Employee in the UK?

Before anyone starts, an employer needs to complete a handful of distinct tasks, each with its own paperwork. According to GOV.UK, the core steps cover checking the person can work in the UK, putting the terms in writing, registering for PAYE, and arranging insurance. These are legal obligations, not best-practice suggestions, and most carry penalties for failure.

It helps to think of the documents in two groups. The first group establishes that you can lawfully employ the person at all: the right to work evidence and your insurance. The second group sets up the working relationship and the payroll behind it: the contract, tax details and onboarding forms.

Below, each stage is set out in the order most employers will need it, so nothing is left until after the start date when it may be too late to fix without consequence.

The single most important check is confirming the person's right to work in the UK. You must do this before employment begins, and the check must be completed correctly to give you a "statutory excuse" against a civil penalty. There are three valid methods set out by GOV.UK:

1. Online share code check. Most non-UK and Irish citizens prove their immigration status using a share code, which you verify on the Home Office online service alongside their date of birth. This is also the only valid method for holders of a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP): physical BRP cards can no longer be accepted as proof of right to work — the individual must generate a share code from their UKVI account instead.
2. Manual document check. For British and Irish citizens without a share code, you check original documents — such as a UK or Irish passport or passport card — in their presence and keep clear, dated copies.
3. Digital Verification Service (DVS). A certified provider can digitally verify British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport or passport card, replacing the manual document check.

Whichever method applies, keep a dated record of the check for the duration of employment and for two years afterwards. The employer carries the legal responsibility here, and the consequences of an illegal working penalty fall on the business, not the worker.

Some right to work checks require an additional step through the Employer Checking Service (ECS), run by the Home Office. You must contact the ECS when a prospective employee cannot provide evidence of their status because their application or appeal is pending, or because they hold an Application Registration Card. The service returns a Positive Verification Notice, which gives the employer a statutory excuse for six months.

For employees who have applied under the EU Settlement Scheme, the process works differently. Those granted settled status (indefinite leave to remain in the UK) or pre-settled status (limited leave to remain) do not receive a physical document. Their immigration status is confirmed entirely online via the Home Office's digital checking service, using a share code they generate from their UKVI account. Employers must not ask EU, EEA or Swiss citizens for a physical document — the online check is both sufficient and required.

It is equally important to distinguish between indefinite leave to remain and limited leave to remain. Workers with indefinite leave to remain have no time-limited right to work and do not require a repeat check. Those with limited leave — including pre-settled status and certain visa categories — will need their right to work re-verified before their permission expires. Build a system for tracking these expiry dates from the outset.

Once the right to work is confirmed, the next document is the employment contract. As set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996, most new starters must receive a written statement of their main terms on or before their first day. This includes pay, hours, holiday, notice and place of work, among other particulars.

The exact contract depends on the role. A standard salaried hire needs a permanent agreement, while project or seasonal work may call for a different structure. If you are unsure which to use, this comparison of fixed-term, temporary and freelance agreements sets out how the obligations differ so you choose the correct one from the start.

Issue the contract in good time, ideally before the start date, so the employee has a genuine opportunity to read and sign it rather than rushing through paperwork on day one.

Before the first payday you must register with HMRC as an employer and operate PAYE to collect Income Tax and National Insurance. You generally need to register before the first payday, and you cannot register more than two months in advance. The full PAYE guidance on GOV.UK sets out the process step by step.

To run payroll you will need specific information from the new starter. The table below shows the key documents and details to collect.

Most employees must be auto-enrolled into a workplace pension if they meet the age and earnings thresholds, so factor this in from the first payroll run rather than treating it as an afterthought you deal with later.

You must also ensure the rate of pay meets the National Minimum Wage for the employee's age group. Rates are updated by the government each April and vary depending on whether the worker is an apprentice, under 18, aged 18–20, or 21 and over. Underpaying — even unintentionally — can result in HMRC enforcement action, public naming, and a penalty of up to 200 per cent of the unpaid wages, capped at £20,000 per worker.

As soon as you become an employer, you must hold Employers' Liability insurance. The law requires cover of at least £5 million from an authorised insurer, and you can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured. You can also be fined £1,000 if you do not display or make the EL certificate available to staff.

Beyond the legal minimum, most employers should also prepare core workplace policies. These do not all have to be signed, but they should be accessible to staff from day one:

• Health and safety policy, which is a legal requirement if you have five or more employees.
• Disciplinary and grievance procedures, which the written statement must reference.
• Data protection notice, explaining how you handle employee personal data under UK GDPR.
• Equality and anti-discrimination policy, supporting your duties under equality law.
• Working Time Regulations policy, setting out rest breaks, maximum weekly hours and the right to opt out of the 48-hour average working week where applicable.

The final group of documents brings the new starter into the business: signed contract, policy acknowledgements, pension forms, and any role-specific agreements such as confidentiality terms. Handling these on paper is slow and easy to lose track of, especially when several need signing at once before a start date.

This is where digital onboarding earns its place. Electronic signatures are legally valid for these documents, and a simple electronic signature is sufficient for most HR paperwork. Bringing the steps together through employee onboarding automation means a new hire can complete everything from one secure link before they walk through the door.

The core documents stay the same for most hires, but certain situations add requirements that catch employers out. Knowing them in advance saves a scramble later.

• Hiring your first employee. This is the trigger for several one-off tasks: registering as an employer with HMRC, setting up PAYE, and arranging Employers' Liability insurance. None of these existed as obligations until you took on staff, so build in time for them.
• Employing someone under 18. Additional rules apply to working hours, rest breaks and the type of work permitted under the Working Time Regulations. You may also need to check local authority requirements for younger workers.
• Part-time and flexible staff. Part-time employees are entitled to the same core documents and must not be treated less favourably than comparable full-time staff. The contract should set out pro-rata pay and holiday clearly.
• Workers with limited leave to remain. If the employee holds pre-settled status or another time-limited permission, set a reminder to re-verify their right to work before it expires. Continuing employment after the expiry date — even unknowingly — is a repeat breach and carries the higher £60,000 penalty.
• Roles needing a DBS check. Positions involving children or vulnerable adults require a Disclosure and Barring Service check before the person starts, in addition to the standard right to work check.
• Sponsoring an overseas worker. If the individual needs a visa, you will usually require a sponsor licence and must issue a Certificate of Sponsorship, which sits on top of the normal hiring documents.

Because the paperwork varies by situation, a simple internal checklist is one of the most effective compliance tools a growing business can have. Run every new hire through the same steps, and nothing depends on memory.

Hiring in the UK rewards employers who treat the documents as a sequence rather than a last-minute checklist. Confirm the right to work, issue the contract, register for PAYE, arrange insurance, and complete onboarding — in that order — and you cover every legal duty before the new starter's first day arrives.

The risks of getting it wrong are real, from illegal working penalties to uninsured trading, but none of them are hard to avoid with a clear process. Collect the right information once, document each step, and keep secure records you can produce if asked. A business that handles its hiring paperwork well does more than stay compliant. It gives every new employee a confident, professional start — which is exactly the impression you want to set from the beginning.