3 March 2026 · 7 min read · Bruce Thomas
Payroll is where employment law, pension regulation and tax meet, and where errors are noticed immediately by the people they affect.
Before the first payday
- Register as an employer with HMRC and obtain a PAYE scheme
- Check the right to work in the UK for every new starter
- Issue a written statement of employment particulars on or before day one
- Obtain a P45 or complete a starter checklist
- Arrange employers' liability insurance
- Set up a qualifying pension scheme for auto enrolment
Real Time Information
A Full Payment Submission must reach HMRC on or before the date employees are paid. Late submissions attract penalties that scale with the number of employees, and repeated lateness increases them further.
Auto enrolment
Eligible workers must be assessed and enrolled into a qualifying scheme, with minimum contributions from both employer and employee. Postponement is permitted within limits, and there is a re-enrolment duty roughly every three years along with a declaration of compliance.
Missing the re-enrolment duty is one of the most common compliance failures among small employers, largely because it arrives three years after anyone last thought about it.
Statutory pay and holiday
Statutory sick, maternity, paternity and adoption pay each have their own qualifying rules. Holiday pay for workers with variable hours must be calculated using the correct reference period — a frequent source of claims in the trades and in shift-based industries.
The National Minimum and Living Wage rates change annually and apply by age band. Rates should be reviewed every April, and again whenever an employee has a birthday that moves them into a new band.
Common errors
- Filing the FPS after payday
- Failing to operate the correct tax code from a coding notice
- Paying an apprentice a rate that has ceased to apply
- Treating a worker as self-employed when they are not
- Missing pension re-enrolment and the declaration of compliance
This article is general guidance for business owners in the UK and does not amount to advice for your particular circumstances. Tax rules change and the right answer depends on your figures — please take specific advice before acting.
