New starter checklist for small employers: every legal date

A new starter's first week can quickly fill with introductions, access requests and questions. If employment administration has no clear owner, the important steps become a last-minute chase, and some of them have legal deadlines attached.

An onboarding checklist is useful when it makes three things visible: what has to happen by when, who is responsible, and what record shows it was done. This new starter checklist sets out the items with a legal date on them for a small employer in England, Scotland and Wales, as checked on 13 September 2026. The full Employment Rights Act timetable is on our key dates page.

Give the documents a deadline

Employees and workers are entitled to a written statement of their main terms. GOV.UK states that the principal statement must be given on the first day of employment and the wider written statement within two months, and that changes must be notified within one month. GOV.UK on the written statement.

Two details catch small employers out. The statement is for workers as well as employees, so casual staff engaged as workers get one too. And if any of those terms change later, the person must be given a written statement of the change within one month, which means the template needs an owner after day one as well as on it. Section 4, Employment Rights Act 1996.

The principal statement carries the terms people ask about first: pay, hours, holiday, sick leave and pay, notice, and any probation period with its conditions and length. Acas lists what belongs in it and what may follow within two months, such as pension arrangements and the disciplinary and grievance procedures. Acas on what the written statement must include.

This is not paperwork for its own sake. If an employee later wins a different tribunal claim and the statement was never given, the tribunal must, unless exceptional circumstances make it unjust, add two weeks' pay and may add four, using the capped statutory week's pay. Section 38, Employment Act 2002.

One item is scheduled to join the day-one pack. From 30 October 2026, employers are due to give each new worker a written statement of the right to join a trade union, alongside the statement of particulars. The government says guidance is expected in September 2026, and the date and content can still change. Add a placeholder to your template now and fill it when the guidance arrives. Government guidance on trade union reform.

Keep right-to-work checks distinct

A completed starter checklist does not establish a person's right to work. Its purpose is payroll: it lets you set the tax code and tell HMRC when there is no P45. GOV.UK starter checklist.

The right-to-work check is a separate process with three routes: an online check using the applicant's share code, a check of original documents with the applicant present, or an identity service provider using identity document validation technology.

The check must happen before the person starts. Record the date you made the check, and keep the copies for the whole employment and for two years after it ends. If permission to work is time-limited, diarise a further check before it expires. Check a job applicant's right to work.

The consequences are the reason this needs a named owner. The civil penalty is up to £60,000 for each illegal worker, and it does not apply where the employer can show the correct checks were made. GOV.UK on penalties. A file upload or a photocopy taken after the start date is not the prescribed process.

Set up pay and pensions in the first month

If the person has a P45, use it. The starter checklist is for when there is none, or when payroll needs more information, and getting it before the first payroll cut-off avoids a wrong tax code that the employee then has to sort out with HMRC. GOV.UK starter checklist.

Check the offered rate against the current minimums before the offer letter goes out. From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for those aged 21 and over.

The National Minimum Wage is £10.85 for 18 to 20 and £8.00 for under-18s, and the apprentice rate is £8.00 for apprentices under 19 or in the first year of their apprenticeship. The rates change every 1 April. GOV.UK minimum wage rates.

Pension duties start on the first day of employment for any worker, but you can postpone the assessment for up to three months and a day. The catch is the notice: the Pensions Regulator's guidance says the worker must be told in writing no later than six weeks and a day from their first day, or the postponement does not stand. Put that date in the checklist next to the payroll cut-off. The Pensions Regulator on postponement.

Know the rights that start on day one

Several entitlements no longer wait for a qualifying period. Since 6 April 2026, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are available from the first day, and statutory sick pay is paid from the first day of sickness with no lower earnings limit, at £123.25 a week or 80 per cent of normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower. GOV.UK on statutory sick pay. Government implementation timetable.

From the same date, records of holiday taken, holiday carried over, holiday pay and any payment in lieu must be kept for at least six years, so decide where that record lives before the first holiday request. Acas on keeping holiday records.

Looking ahead, protection from ordinary unfair dismissal is scheduled to start after six months' service where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027, under regulations made in May 2026. The government notes that future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes. Commencement regulations, SI 2026/559. The practical answer is a probation process with dated reviews, which our probation checklist for the six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period sets out.

Give each handover an owner

The items above fit on one page. A one-page version names the deadline, the owner and the record for each.

Scroll across the table if needed.

One starter checklist shared with the people who need it does most of the work. The manager sees when the person is expected, payroll sees which information is ready, and the administrator sees which records are still outstanding.

Keep access proportionate. Employment records contain personal information. The ICO's guidance on keeping employment records covers keeping records for a purpose, telling workers how their information is used, and limiting who can see what; the ICO notes that this guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act.

A checklist can show that a step is complete without showing every underlying document to every manager. ICO guidance on keeping employment records.

Once the administration is organised, plan the human part: a named contact, clear expectations and time to ask questions, including where to raise a concern. For a question about an individual's right to work or their personal information, check the current GOV.UK and ICO guidance and seek appropriate advice. Then, before closing the onboarding task, book the first probation review.

Common questions

Do I have to give a new employee a contract on their first day?

You have to give the principal statement of employment particulars on the first day, and the wider written statement within two months. GOV.UK describes the statement as a separate document from the employment contract, so check that the contract or offer letter covers every required item before treating it as the statement. GOV.UK on the written statement.

Is the HMRC starter checklist a right to work check?

No: the starter checklist sets up payroll and the tax code. The right-to-work check is a separate prescribed process that must be done before the person starts, with copies kept for the employment and two years after. Where no correct check was made, the civil penalty is up to £60,000 per worker. GOV.UK on checking right to work; GOV.UK on penalties.

Can I delay pension auto-enrolment for a new starter?

You can postpone the assessment for up to three months and a day from the first day of employment. The worker must receive a written postponement notice no later than six weeks and a day after that day, or the postponement does not stand. The Pensions Regulator on postponement.

What changed for new starters in 2026?

Since 6 April 2026, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are day-one rights and statutory sick pay is paid from the first day of sickness; holiday records must be kept for at least six years. Government implementation timetable; Acas on keeping holiday records. From 30 October 2026, a written statement of the right to join a trade union is scheduled to be given with the statement of particulars. Government guidance on trade union reform.