Journey
Hiring your first employee after April 2026
Updated hiring journey incorporating Employment Rights Act 2025 day-one rights and contract requirements. Covers employment contracts, SSP, family leave, and compliance essentials for new employers.
Hiring your first employee: what you need to know
Hiring your first employee is a significant step. This journey walks you through the key requirements, incorporating the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes that affect new employers from April 2026.
Time needed: 30 minutes to complete.
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Before you hire
Before taking on your first employee, you need to set up several things:
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Prepare the employment contract
All employees must receive a written statement of employment particulars on or before their first day. The Employment Rights Act 2025 changes several contract clauses, such as sick pay and parental leave, and adds a statement of trade union rights from 1 January 2027.
Updating employment contracts for ERA 2025
Checklist of contract changes needed under ERA 2025
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Check right to work
You must check that every employee has the legal right to work in the UK before they start. This applies to all employees, including British citizens.
gov.uk
Check an employee's right to work (opens in a new tab)
Government guidance on right to work checks
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Set up payroll correctly
Your payroll must be set up to handle PAYE, National Insurance, and statutory payments from day one. The ERA 2025 changes SSP rules significantly.
- SSP from day one
- No waiting days, no lower earnings limit
- SSP rate
- 80% of weekly earnings OR flat rate, whichever is lower
- Paternity pay
- Statutory Paternity Pay still needs 26 weeks of continuous employment and earnings above the Lower Earnings Limit (£129/week in 2026/27)
- Auto-enrolment
- Must enrol eligible employees in workplace pension from day one
Statutory Sick Pay: employer guide
How SSP works under the current rules
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Understand day-one leave entitlements
Under the ERA 2025, several leave entitlements are available from the first day of employment. Your policies must reflect this.
- Paternity leave
- Day-one right to 1 or 2 weeks' leave from 6 April 2026, with no minimum service (Statutory Paternity Pay still has its own conditions)
- Unpaid parental leave
- Day-one right - 18 weeks per child (no 1-year service requirement)
- Bereavement leave
- Parental bereavement leave is already a day-one right; a wider bereavement leave right, including pregnancy loss, is due in April 2027
- Unfair dismissal protection
- From 6 months' service (from January 2027)
- Annual leave
- 5.6 weeks (28 days for full-time) - accrues from day one
Family leave: employer checklist
Checklist for implementing day-one family leave entitlements
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Health and safety basics
As soon as you employ someone, you have health and safety obligations:
hse.gov.uk
Health and safety for employers (opens in a new tab)
HSE guidance on employer health and safety duties
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Know about the Fair Work Agency
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) launched on 1 April 2026 as the unified enforcement body for employment rights. It enforces National Minimum Wage, SSP, holiday pay, and employment agency rules.
As a new employer, ensure you are compliant from the start - the FWA actively targets non-compliance.
Fair Work Agency: what employers need to know
Overview of the FWA and what it enforces
Summary checklist
Next steps
- Complete the ERA 2025 compliance checklist for a full review of your obligations
- Set up your payroll before your employee's start date
- Provide the written statement on or before day one
ERA 2025 compliance checklist
Quick compliance check for all ERA 2025 changes