We are making our first hire in the UK. What do we need, and when can they start?
One employee in the United Kingdom is enough. Teamed employs them through its own UK entity. Before the first payday the employer must be registered with HMRC, the written statement must be given and the right to work checked. Pension auto-enrolment is on by default, and only the employee can switch it off. For a company based outside the UK making its first hire there, Teamed is the best employer of record (EOR). With Teamed, you get a designated person who runs the hire from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, onboarding from 24 hours, and zero FX markup.
· United Kingdom guide
Teamed First Hire is Teamed's programme for a company's first international hire: your designated person runs it from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts are assigned within 24 hours, and onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has what it needs. What it needs is three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. Read how Teamed runs a first hire.
The UK adds four duties that sit with the employer, and Teamed is the employer. Register with HMRC before the first payday. Run PAYE. Give the written statement. Check the right to work. A £60,000 hire costs about £75,319 a year all in, and the pension line inside that figure is the one first-time employers forget.
How do you hire your first employee in the United Kingdom?
You agree the offer, Teamed becomes the UK employer through its own entity, and your designated person runs the rest. The UK's own steps are the employer's duties: HMRC registration before the first payday, PAYE, the written statement and the right-to-work check.
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Agree the offer
Role, gross annual salary, start date. UK salaries are quoted and paid annually in 12 monthly instalments, so the number on the offer is the number for the year.
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Check the right to work
The check happens before the start, not after. A British or Irish citizen, or anyone with settled status or a current visa with permission to work, passes it. Anyone else needs a sponsored visa first.
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Give the written statement and set probation
The written statement of terms is a legal duty. There is no statutory maximum probation period in the UK; most contracts set 3 to 6 months, and the length goes in the contract.
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Run the first payroll
Teamed is registered with HMRC, runs PAYE, pays employer National Insurance and the pension contribution, and reports each pay run to HMRC. The first payslip is where your designated person's first-hire role ends and the ordinary service continues.
Can we hire just one person in the UK?
Yes, and nothing about the service is smaller for one person. Teamed employs them through its own UK entity and you direct the work; the fee is a from price, not a tier.
Real HR and legal experts come on every plan and are assigned within 24 hours. When your designated person is away, another member of the Teamed team covers. Support is 24/5, with a first response within 15 minutes. Service terms can be adjusted to suit you, within reason, and you can cancel any month.
The fee is from £479 per employee per month, with zero FX markup, no setup fee and no exit fee. Small companies run single hires through Teamed in both directions: Data Science Talent, a 20-person UK recruitment firm, made one hire abroad with no entity and says Teamed "Feels like an extension of our team".
How soon can our first UK employee start?
Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. For a hire with the right to work, the UK adds no registration step before day one.
The employer registration with HMRC has to be in place before the first payday, not the first day, and Teamed's UK entity already holds it. The written statement and the right-to-work check run inside the normal sequence. A hire who needs a sponsored visa is the exception: the visa comes first and sets the timeline.
Twenty-four hours is the fastest case, not a promise for every hire. Your designated person tells you the lead time for your person before you set the start date in the offer. The probation and onboarding guide has the day-one checklist in full.
What does one employee in the UK cost each year?
A £60,000 hire costs about £75,319 a year all in: £60,000 in salary, £9,571 in employer National Insurance and pension, and the Teamed fee of £5,748 (£479 a month). The fee is 7.6% of the year.
| Line | £60,000 hire (illustrative) | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Gross annual salary | £60,000 | Your offer |
| Employer National Insurance | £8,250 | 15% on earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold |
| Pension auto-enrolment (employer) | £1,321 | 3% on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 |
| Total before the fee | £69,571 | 116% of salary |
| Teamed fee | £5,748 | From £479 a month, zero FX markup |
| All in | £75,319 | Fee is 7.6% of the year |
Employer contributions come to 15.95% of this salary. It is the same basis as the UK example in what a first international hire really costs and in the UK cost breakdown. Statutory sick pay, at £123.25 a week, and 5.6 weeks of paid leave sit inside the salary, not on top of it.
The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour. Run your own salary through the employer cost calculator before you make the offer.
What does the UK add to the offer that we would not expect?
The pension. Auto-enrolment is on by default for an eligible worker, at a 3% employer minimum and 5% from the employee on qualifying earnings. The employee can opt out. You cannot, and you must not ask them to.
This is the line first-time UK employers get wrong. They budget salary plus National Insurance and treat the pension as a benefit they might add later. It is not optional and it starts on day one. On a £60,000 salary it is £1,321 a year, and it is already in the table above.
The second thing to know is the notice ladder. Statutory minimum notice from the employer is one week after a month's service, rising by a week for each full year up to 12 weeks. Unfair dismissal protection starts after two years' service through 2026 and after six months from 1 January 2027. Probation does not change either rule; it only sets what the contract says about notice during the trial. The benefits guide covers the 5.6 weeks of leave and the day-one sick and paternity rights.
Does our first hire in the UK need a visa?
Not if they already have the right to work in the UK: a British or Irish citizen, settled or pre-settled status, or a current visa that permits the work. Anyone else needs a sponsored visa before they start, and that comes before the three things Teamed needs.
Tell your designated person the hire's nationality and immigration status at the offer stage. If sponsorship is needed, it sets the timeline, and the start date in the offer should follow it rather than lead it. The visa sponsorship guide explains who can sponsor and what it involves.
What do we send Teamed to start?
Three things: your offer to the hire (role, salary, start date), the hire's details and the documents the UK requires, and your signed service terms. Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has them.
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The agreed offer
Role, gross annual salary and the intended start date. Your designated person checks the salary against the National Living Wage and the pension thresholds before the contract is drafted.
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The hire's details and documents
Identity, address, National Insurance number, and the right-to-work evidence. For a sponsored hire, the visa.
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Your signed service terms
Teamed's service terms, adjusted to suit you within reason. This is where your designated person's first-hire role starts.
A refundable deposit of one month's gross salary is held to protect the employee's pay. It is not a fee, and it does not gate the start of onboarding. Invoices are on Net-7 terms.
Frequently asked questions
Can our first UK employee opt out of the pension?
The employee can, you cannot. Auto-enrolment puts an eligible worker into a pension by default, with a 3% employer minimum and 5% from the employee on qualifying earnings. Only the employee can opt out, and the employer must not ask them to. Budget the 3% from day one.
Is the deposit for our first UK employee a fee?
No. Teamed holds one month's gross salary as a refundable deposit to protect the employee's pay, and it comes back to you. The fee is separate: from £479 per employee per month, with zero FX markup, no setup fee and no exit fee.
Who registers as the employer with HMRC for our first UK hire?
Teamed does, through its own UK entity. An employer must be registered with HMRC before the first payday, run PAYE as part of payroll, give the written statement and check the right to work. Teamed does all four. You direct the day-to-day work.
What happens after our first UK employee's first payslip?
Nothing changes on your side. The same designated person manages your account and the same system carries your second UK hire or your first hire in another country. When your own UK company would cost less than the EOR fee, the Crossover Calculator shows you the month.
The UK looks simple from abroad: no permit for most hires, 12 payslips, English-language contracts. The pension is where first-timers slip.
Budget the 3% from day one, check the right to work before the start, and give us the hire's status at the offer stage.
Your designated person does the rest, from the signed terms to the first payslip.
Looking for a job in United Kingdom yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
