Your first hire: a practical document checklist

Hiring your first employee changes the way a business makes commitments. A conversation about hours or flexibility can become an expectation long before the final documents are ready. Preparing the paperwork together helps everyone start with the same understanding.

Use this guide to organise a first hire and identify questions for the appropriate adviser. Employment status, location and the nature of the work can affect the requirements; a document label alone does not resolve them.

1. Start with the work

Write a role brief before drafting an offer. Describe the tasks, reporting relationship, working location, proposed hours and tools or access the person will need. Separate essential responsibilities from work you hope to add later.

The GOV.UK first-employer guide distinguishes employing someone from engaging people under other arrangements. If you are uncertain about status, raise that question before adapting an employee or contractor template.

Decisions to capture

• Who will manage the person and approve changes?
• Where will they work, including any agreed remote working?
• What working pattern are you actually offering?
• What training and equipment will be available?
• Are there proposed conditions to the offer that need advice?

Keep these decisions in one place so that recruitment messages and formal documents remain consistent.

2. Bring the offer and written particulars together

Compare the proposed offer, employment contract and written statement. Check that names, role, pay arrangements, hours, location and start date agree. Record unresolved points rather than leaving alternative wording in the final version.

GOV.UK explains that a written statement of employment particulars is distinct from an employment contract. Its guidance covers the main statement and wider information, including when they must be provided. Use the current official list when reviewing completeness and timing.

For your preparation file, group the questions into role and location, working time, pay and benefits, leave, training, notice and workplace procedures. Ask your adviser which information belongs in the statement and which can appropriately sit elsewhere. A welcome email should not be your only record of an important commitment.

3. Give checks a named owner

Create an onboarding tracker with an action, responsible person, due date and completion record. Include the right-to-work check, any relevant references or role-specific checks, and arrangements for secure handling of the information.

Follow the current GOV.UK right-to-work guidance, including the appropriate checking method and record requirements. Do not assume that collecting a passport image completes the process. Apply checks consistently and seek advice where the evidence or circumstances are unclear.

Keep operational questions separate from immigration advice. Where a hire raises a UK immigration question, regulated advice is provided through Skyie Global Immigration Advisors Ltd, subject to assessment and its authorised scope.

4. Prepare the everyday policies

Think about questions the new employee is likely to ask in their first month. How do they report absence? Request leave? Raise a concern? Use equipment? Report a lost device?

Make a policy index showing the document name, owner, current version and where employees can access it. Check that a policy describes how your business will actually operate. Avoid importing references to departments or approval processes you do not have.

Separate documents intended for employees from internal manager instructions. Arrange appropriate review of employment, equality, health and safety, and data protection content before relying on it.

5. Build the first-week handover

Prepare a short welcome schedule covering introductions, access, training and the first review conversation. Give the manager a checklist for explaining key documents and recording questions that need follow-up.

Alongside the people paperwork, confirm who handles payroll, pensions, insurance and workplace safety. These subjects appear in the official first-employer guide and may involve different advisers. Keep them on the same project tracker so that they are not lost between teams.

Your next step

Contact Fairbourne with your role brief and existing documents to discuss non-reserved workplace document support. We can help organise the review and clarify its scope. For an immigration-related enquiry, visit our immigration page to understand the service provided through Skyie.