Hire employees in

the United Kingdom, hassle-free

Hire employees in the United Kingdom, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in the United Kingdom. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in the United Kingdom is 2 days with Deel.

Currency

Pound Sterling (GBP)

Capital

London

Official Language

English

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Hire employees in the United Kingdom. No entity needed.

Usually, to hire in the United Kingdom, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

the United Kingdom also treats contractors differently than full-time employees, so misclassifying a contractor could lead to fines. Deel lets you hire employees in the United Kingdom quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more.

Request a Demo

All the necessary benefits for the United Kingdom
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in the United Kingdom within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Employers Liability Insurance
  • Professional Training
  • State Pension Fund
  • Private Healthcare - Freedom (optional)
  • National Insurance (Social Security)

Our quickstart guide to hiring in the United Kingdom

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in the United Kingdom

Minimum Wage Requirements

Minimum wage varies by age and working hours. For employees aged 23+ working 40 hours a week, the minimum wage is £1,806.13/month (£21,673.60/year).

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 0% to 45%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates. Multiple additional factors may impact overall rates such as the household status and the number of children.

Gross Annual Income Tax Rate (%)
Up to £12,570 0%
£12,571 - £50,270 20%
£50,271 and £150,000 40%
Over 150,000 45%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are slightly different tax rates and banding in Scotland, however, this is all taken care of by the tax authorities. Employees based from a Scottish address will have a slightly different tax code that will enable the correct taxation to be applied.

Employer Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated at 17.3% of the employee salary.

  • Employer national insurance contributions (Social Security) - 13.80% on amounts over £758 per month
  • Workplace Pension - 3.00%
  • Apprentice Levy Tax - 0.5%
  • P&I Insurance - £20.00

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard work week is from Monday to Friday. Overtime payment is not mandatory, however, an employee's average pay for the total hours they work must not fall below the National Minimum Wage.

Maternity Leave

Eligible employees can take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave: 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for eligible employees can be paid for up to 39 weeks, usually as follows:
  • first 6 weeks: 90% of their average weekly earnings (AWE) before tax.
  • following 33 weeks: £172.48 or 90% of their AWE (whichever is lower).
  • final 13 weeks of maternity leave are unpaid

Paternity Leave

Eligible employees are entitled to two weeks of paid paternity leave. The leave must be taken in one period. The employee will receive £172.48, or 90% of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) during this period.

Parental Leave

Mother and father may choose instead to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them after the first 2 weeks of compulsory maternity leave to be taken only by the mother (4 weeks if the mother works in a factory).
The first 37 weeks are paid at £172.48 a week or 90% of the employees' earnings, whichever is lower. The remaining 13 weeks are unpaid.

In addition to the standard Shared Parental Leave, employees are also entitled to an additional 18 weeks of unpaid leave that can be used up until the child’s 18th birthday.

Sick Leave

Employees receive up to 28 weeks of employer-paid sick leave. After the first 4 days of sick leave, employees are entitled to the statutory sick leave pay rate of £109.40 per week

Termination Requirements

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in the UK can be complex. There is no at-will termination in the UK for employers outside the probation period and termination must be done for just cause.

Compliant terminations include:

  • Fair dismissal
  • Unfair dismissal
  • Constructive dismissal
  • Wrongful dismissal

Notice Period

The minimum notice period is 1 week and will be increased according to the length of the employment.

  • 1 week if the length of service is 1-2 years
  • 1 week for every year of service on 2 - 12 years
  • 12weeks if the length of services is 12+ years

Severance for Employees

In the UK, all employees who are terminated due to redundancy are entitled to severance pay. Severance pay is calculated as follows.

  • 0.5 weeks pay for each year of service where the employee was below the age of 22
  • 1 weeks pay for each year of service where the employee was between 22 to 40 of age
  • 1.5 weeks pay for each year of employment where the employee was 41 and over

Paid Time Off

Full-time employees are entitled to 20 day of paid time off (PTO) a year plus an additional eight public holidays.

Please note, in the platform this is listed as 20 days of PTO and the employee will be entitled to an additional 8 days of public holiday on top of this.

PTO (Including public holidays) accrues at 5.6 weeks times the number of days a week the employee works.

Public Holidays

Public holidays, also known as bank holidays, vary by region in the United Kingdom. There are 8 bank holidays in England and Wales, 9 in Scotland, and 10 in Northern Ireland.

National Public Holidays:
January 1: New Year's Day
Good Friday
Easter Monday
First Monday in May: Early May Bank Holidays
Last Monday in May: Spring Bank Holiday 
Last Monday in August: Summer Bank Holiday:
December 25: Christmas Day
December 26: Boxing Day

Additional Regional Holidays:
January 2: Scotland Day
March 17: St Patrick's Day Northern Ireland
July 12: The Twelfth Northern Ireland
November 30: St Andrew's Day Scotland

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 2 business days after the client signs the SOW.

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in English. They must be in writing and signed by both parties. A contract must include:

  • Name
  • Start date
  • Length of the employment
  • Job description
  • Termination conditions

Probation Period

Probation periods are not mandatory. The maximum probation period is 6 months.
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Hiring in the United Kingdom, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in the United Kingdom. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing
international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

Group (8)

599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

17.3%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in the United Kingdom?

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