Onboarding a new employee: what has to happen, and when
Two obligations have hard deadlines and both are commonly missed in shift-based hiring: the right to work check belongs before the first day, and the written statement of particulars is due on it.
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Key takeaways
- The right to work check happens before the first day — done in week one, it no longer gives you a statutory excuse
- The written statement of particulars (the principal statement) must be given on or before the first day of work
- Some further terms can follow in instalments, but no later than two months after the start
- Auto-enrolment assessment starts from the first pay period: the 2026/27 earnings trigger is £10,000, with qualifying earnings from £6,240 to £50,270
Before the first day
The right to work check is the one thing that genuinely cannot be caught up later. Carried out correctly before employment begins, it gives you a statutory excuse against a civil penalty of up to £45,000 for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat breaches. Carried out in week one, it does not.
Apply it to every candidate at the same stage, in the same way — selective checking based on a name or an accent is race discrimination regardless of the compliance motive. The three valid methods and the records to keep are in how to carry out a right to work check.
Anything else the role legally requires belongs here too: a DBS check where the work calls for one, a personal licence, a food hygiene certificate, an SIA badge. Each has an expiry date, and the date is the part that gets lost — certification tracking holds it against the employee rather than in someone's calendar.
The written statement of particulars
The principal statement is a day-one right, for workers as well as employees. It has to be given on or before the first day of work — not when the signed contract comes back, and not at the end of the first month.
| The principal statement must set out | Easy to get wrong because |
|---|---|
| Start date and the date continuous employment began | They differ where previous service counts |
| Pay, and how often and when it is paid | Shift premiums and overtime rates need stating too |
| Hours and days of work, and whether and how they can vary | Variable-hours roles need the variation explained, not just implied |
| Holiday entitlement, and how holiday pay is worked out on leaving | Whether bank holidays are included must be explicit |
| Sick leave and pay, and any other paid leave | SSP has been payable from day one since April 2026 |
| Place of work and any relocation requirement | Multi-site staff need the sites named |
| Notice required from both sides | Cannot be less than the statutory minimum |
For shift-based teams the hours row deserves real attention. "Hours as required" is not a description of how hours may vary, and it sits badly alongside the Employment Rights Act shift-notice duties. Say what the normal pattern is, how much notice of a shift someone can expect, and how changes are communicated. The holiday row matters just as much: whether bank holidays form part of the 5.6 weeks is a contractual choice, and one you have to state — see bank holiday entitlement.
What can follow within two months
Not everything has to be in the principal statement. Some particulars may be given in instalments, or in a separate document the person has reasonable access to — the intranet is expressly contemplated — provided they arrive no later than two months after the start. Pensions, training entitlements and disciplinary and grievance procedures usually fall here.
"Reasonable access" is doing work in that sentence. A policy on a shared drive nobody has been shown is not accessible in any meaningful sense — which is one reason the staff handbook is worth building properly and issuing as part of onboarding rather than mentioning in passing.
Payroll and pension set-up
Payroll needs a P45 from the previous employer or a starter declaration, a National Insurance number, and bank details. Without one of the first two the person lands on an emergency tax code — recoverable, but a poor first payslip. Our P45 definition covers what it contains.
Auto-enrolment from the first pay period
Assessment starts immediately. For 2026/27 the earnings trigger is £10,000 a year, and qualifying earnings run from £6,240 to £50,270. For variable-hours staff, eligibility can change from one pay period to the next as earnings move across the trigger, so the assessment is not a one-off task at hiring.
Getting the pay rate right at the outset matters more than it appears, because the National Minimum Wage rate depends on age and apprentice status, and a birthday moves someone into a new band mid-employment. A rate set at the minimum on the day of hiring is a rate that will be wrong within the year.
The first fortnight
Legal compliance and a good start are not the same project, though they share a checklist. People who leave early in shift-based roles rarely cite the work — they cite not knowing who to ask, not being able to see their shifts, and not knowing how to say they are unwell.
- Show them the rota and how to see their own shifts on their phone.
- Explain how to request holiday and what notice is expected — the rules are in handling holiday requests.
- Explain how to report sickness, and who to.
- Show them how clocking in works and why it matters for their pay.
- Name the person they go to on shift when something is wrong.
RosterElf's onboarding keeps the sequence in one checklist with the documents attached, digital HR records holds the statement and the check evidence against the employee for the retention periods that apply, and the mobile app means their first question about shifts answers itself.
Start people properly, in one checklist
Right to work evidence, the written statement, certificates with expiry dates and rota access — held together instead of chased separately.
This guide summarises UK onboarding obligations in general terms and is not legal advice. Requirements vary by role, sector and immigration status. Check GOV.UK or Acas, or take advice, before relying on it for an individual hire. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
Onboarding questions
- A written statement of employment particulars — the principal statement — on or before their first day of work. It is a day-one right for both employees and workers, not something that can wait until the contract is signed and returned.
- The start date and the date continuous employment began, pay and how often it is paid, hours and days of work including whether and how they can vary, holiday entitlement and how holiday pay is calculated on leaving, sick leave and pay, other paid leave, the place of work, and notice periods.
- Some can follow in instalments — pensions, training entitlements and disciplinary procedures among them — but no later than two months after employment starts. The principal statement itself cannot be deferred.
- Before employment starts. A check done after the first shift does not give you a statutory excuse against a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per worker — see how to carry out a right to work check.