Hire and pay employees in
the United Kingdom, hassle-free

The 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).

Starting on April 1, 2024, the National Living wage will increase to £11.44 per hour. The age at which employees are entitled to the National Living wage will decrease to 21 years (from 23 years).

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.

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.

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

• National Insurance Contributions - 13.80%
• Mandatory Private Workplace Pension - 3% 
• Apprentice Tax Levy - 0.5% of the employee's (NICable) salary

National Insurance contributions are calculated on monthly salary over GBP 758.  The minimum employer contribution for the mandatory private workplace pension is 3%, however, the rate can be increased.
The apprentice tax levy is calculated on the employee’s NICable salary.

Optional and Conditional Costs:

• Optional Private Health Insurance
  • Single employee: GBP 67.70 
  • Employee + children: GBP 98.55
  • Couple: GBP 129.40
  • Family: GBP 160.25
• Optional Life Insurance - GBP 10, GBP 20, GBP 30 or GBP 40
• Private Health Insurance Admin Fee - USD 15 per invoice with Health Insurance

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

• 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

Effective April 6, 2024, after the first 6 weeks of maternity leave, the maximum amount of statutory pay will increase from ₤172.48 to ₤184.03 per week. Employers will be able to recover a proportion of these payments from HMRC, either 92% or 103% depending on their total Class 1 National Insurance contributions.

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.

Effective April 6, 2024, the maximum amount of statutory pay will increase from ₤172.48 to ₤184.03 per week. Employers will be able to recover a proportion of these payments from HMRC, either 92% or 103% depending on their total Class 1 National Insurance contributions.

Also effective April 6, 2024, changes to the Paternity Leave Regulation will be enacted, granting fathers/partners expanded rights to paternity leave within the first year after birth/adoption. 

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.

Effective April 6, 2024, for the first 37 weeks of shared parental leave, the maximum amount of statutory pay will increase from ₤172.48 to ₤184.03 per week. Employers will be able to recover a proportion of these payments from HMRC, either 92% or 103% depending on their total Class 1 National Insurance contributions.

Employees are entitled to an unlimited number of sick days. The first 3 days of leave are paid at 100% salary by the company. After 3 days of sick leave, employees are entitled to employer-paid Statutory Pay Leave of up to 28 weeks for eligible employees. Statutory Sick Pay is £109.40 per week.

Effective April 6, 2024, the weekly Statutory Sick Pay rate applies to all employees, however the daily rate varies depending on the number of qualifying days an employee works each week. The maximum amount of statutory sick pay will increase from ₤109.40 to ₤116.75 per week. 

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

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

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

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, 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.

• New Year's Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Early May Bank Holidays
• Spring Bank Holiday
• Summer Bank Holiday
• Christmas Day
• 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 takes 7 business day after the SOW is signed. 

All Employment Agreements must include:

• Employer’s name
• Employee’s name
• Job title or Job description
• Start date
• Contract term
• End date for fixed term contracts
• Salary and salary frequency
• Working hours and days of work, if and how they may vary
• Working hours specifications if applicable (if employees will have to work on Sundays, during the ‘night period’ or take overtime)
• Holiday entitlement (and if that includes public holidays)
• Workplace and whether employees might have to relocate
• Additional workplaces if applicable
• Employer's address
• Probation period
• Any other benefits
• Obligatory training, and whether or not this is paid for by the employer
• Termination conditions
  
  For employees, it must also include the date that a previous job started if it counts towards a period of continuous employment.