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GOV.UK sets out worker entitlements including the National Minimum Wage, protection against unlawful deductions from wages, a statutory minimum level of paid holiday, statutory minimum rest breaks, a limit of 48 hours average per week with an opt-out, protection from discrimination and whistleblower protection.

Employees additionally have Statutory Sick Pay, statutory redundancy pay, the family leave and pay entitlements, minimum notice periods before employment ends, protection against unfair dismissal, the right to request flexible working and time off for emergencies. GOV.UK notes some of these require a minimum length of continuous employment.

GOV.UK describes a self-employed person as someone who runs their business for themselves and takes responsibility for its success or failure, is not paid through PAYE, and does not have the rights and responsibilities of an employee. It also warns that HMRC may regard someone as self-employed for tax purposes even if their status in employment law is different. Reviewing the reality of the arrangement, rather than the label on the contract, is the core of this work.

GOV.UK states that an employer must give employees and workers a document stating the main conditions of employment when they start work. The principal statement is due on day one; the wider written statement must follow within 2 months of the start of employment.

The principal statement must include the employer's name, the individual's name, job title or description of work, the start date, pay amount and frequency, hours and days of work and whether and how they may vary, holiday entitlement, work location and any relocation possibility, expected duration or fixed-term end date, probation period length and conditions, other benefits, and any obligatory training including whether the employer pays for it. For employees, it must also state the start date of any earlier job counting towards continuous employment.

This is the single most common gap an HR consultant finds in a small British employer. It is cheap to fix and expensive to leave, because the written statement is the document everything later is measured against.

Acas publishes a Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures which mainly applies to anyone legally classed as an employee. Acas states that the procedure an employer follows, and an employee's actions, will be taken into account if the case reaches an employment tribunal.

Practically, that means the sequence matters as much as the decision: investigate first, put the allegations in writing, hold a hearing with the right to be accompanied, give the outcome in writing and offer an appeal heard by someone not previously involved. Compressing those steps is what turns a defensible dismissal into an indefensible one.

Where the relationship is ending by agreement rather than by decision, Acas sets out what makes a settlement agreement valid: it must be in writing, the worker must get advice from a relevant independent adviser who is insured, the agreement must name the adviser, it must relate to a specific complaint or claim, and it must state that the legal conditions have been met.

Acas states that an employee usually has the right to make an unfair dismissal claim if they have the legal status of employee and have worked for their employer for 2 years. Acas also notes a change: protection from unfair dismissal will become a right after 6 months in a job from January 2027. Employers making dismissal decisions in the meantime should be planning for that shift rather than relying on the current position indefinitely.

Acas is equally clear that an employee does not need 2 years' service to claim automatically unfair dismissal, giving reasons including pregnancy, trade union membership, whistleblowing, health and safety, jury service and asserting a statutory right such as the minimum wage. Discrimination claims connected to a protected characteristic do not require the qualifying period either.

The time limit is short. Acas states the time limit for making a claim to an employment tribunal is usually 3 months minus 1 day, and that a worker must first notify Acas. Acas describes early conciliation as voluntary, in that both sides choose whether to take part, but the notification step itself comes before a claim can be made.

GOV.UK states you must check that a job applicant is allowed to work for you in the UK before you employ them, and describes the process as verifying original documents, checking their validity with the applicant present, and keeping copies with the date of the check recorded.

GOV.UK states the civil penalty for employing an illegal worker can be up to 60,000 pounds for each illegal worker, and that you will not have to pay it if you can show you made the correct right to work checks. The check, done correctly and evidenced, is the protection.

Build it into the offer process rather than the induction, apply it consistently to every hire to avoid discriminating, and diarise any follow-up check where permission to work is time-limited.