PEO & Employer of Record in the United Kingdom (UK)

Expand Your Business With Our United Kingdom PEO

GlobalPEO delivers a top tier employer of record service for clients that are looking to recruit, hire, and operate payroll services without first setting up their own subsidiary in the United Kingdom.
How it Works: Our UK PEO hires your candidate while abiding by local labor laws and cultural customs. The newly hired employee will communicate directly with your company and perform all job functions as if they were your own employee. We act as your in-country HR department and handle the entire onboarding, payroll, and benefits process in strict accordance to the UK’s regulations.

Why Choose our UK PEO?

Market Entry Cost Savings

Without needing to setup a local entity in UK, companies save thousands when expanding with GlobalPEO. From $400 USD.

Quicker Time to Hire

Scale and onboard your workforce in days, not months by using our local entities and experts in UK.

Mitigate Risk

Minimize risk by ensuring your company is compliant with local laws and cultural customs and protecting your business from potential fines and legal fees.

Convenience + Flexibility

Streamlined process for managing your payroll, benefits, and HR responsibilities with full flexibility to make changes at any time.

United Kingdom PEO & Employer of Record

Hire, onboard, and manage employees in the United Kingdom quickly and easily with GlobalPEO. Working with our UK PEO and Employer of Record solution eliminates the headaches that come with establishing a foreign legal entity and guarantees full compliance with local regulations.

Local Employer of Record

Your employees based in the United Kingdom will sign a local employment contract with GlobalPEO's in-country entity. Labor contracts are available in English, with employee payments processed in the local Pound Sterling currency. As the local Employer of Record, GlobalPEO operates with full compliance to the laws and regulations of UK's Bureau of Labor.

Payroll Processing

GlobalPEO's complete payroll processing includes:

- New employee setup
- Social Insurance contributions
- Individual income tax declaration
- Expenses declaration
- Payslip provision
- Dedicated payroll officer
- Support for standard employment documents

Employee Onboarding

After officially hiring your local candidate, our UK HR team will schedule an onboarding conference call with both the candidate and client. The onboarding process typically takes between 3-5 days.

Legal Liability Coverage

Our PEO solution covers the following functions to take legal liability as the local employer of record:

- Obligatory social and pension insurance enrollment.
-Employee income tax withholding
- Liabilities of early-termination, including severance calculation and mediation.
- Onsite health and safety liability coverage, which is shared with the client

Termination Guidelines

In the event a client decides to pause or end their presence in the United Kingdom when employing staff through our PEO and Employer of Records service, there are no termination fees to be paid as long as the client adheres to the 60 day termination-notice period.

#1 - Fast Facts For Hiring in the UK

Understand EU Data Protections

The EU Data Protection details the legal requirements that secures your foreign employees' personal data and regulates the way employment information is shared between EU countries and the United States.

Termination is Tricky

Terminating an employee is not as straightforward of a process as it is in the US, so understand the risks involved before having a prospective employee agree to a contract.

Know the Non-Compete Legislation

If you are wanting to include non-compete language into an employee contract, understand that the United Kingdom favors employees over employers when there is a disagreement. Be cautious and specific when including non-competing clauses in UK contracts.

#2 - Working Hours in the UK

UK law permits a maximum of 48 working hours per week, which is typically averaged over a 17 week period. Keep in mind that employees have the option to opt out of this restriction, and decide to do so quite often

#3 - UK Employment Contracts

Employment contracts in the United Kingdom must clearly state the employees’ responsibilities, compensation details, benefits, grievance procedures, and requirements for termination. All offer letters, compensation details, and any document where employee income is discussed should be stated in British pounds. Most contracts also specify provisions relating to employee confidential information and non-compete restrictions. GlobalPEO includes all these services along with everything else in the jurisdiction of international expansion in the UK through our Employer of Record service.

#4 - UK Holidays

The United Kingdom celebrates eight national holidays, including New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday, Summer Bank Holiday, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland all observe slightly different holidays, so be mindful of your employee’s specific practices depending on the country where they are located.

#5 - Bonus Payments in the UK

Similar to the way bonus payments are applied in the U.S., the employer has complete control over whether or not they wish to offer bonus incentives to their employees. Bonus structures are typically based around performance-related incentives.

#6 - Employment Benefits in the UK

The standard employer’s offering to the UK’s National Insurance Contribution is around 13.8% in addition to total compensation to their employees. The NIC is a national social security program where both employers and employees contribute to the public health care system. It is the employer’s duty to automatically deduct the employee’s contribution. Companies employing workers in the UK also have the option to provide additional benefits, including medical, vision, dental, and life insurance for all full-time employees. 75% of UK companies provide these benefits to their employees. GlobalPEO’s UK PEO service offers an optional supplementary benefit package to companies looking to hire in the United Kingdom. Full-time employees in the UK are legally granted an annual leave of 28 days of paid vacation per calendar year. Employers have the option of providing as few as 20 days of paid vacation with paid time off allocated to the 8 public holidays.

#7 - Sick Leave in the United Kingdom

As long as employees who are absent from work for more than 1 week provide a doctor’s note, people working in the UK have the right to obtain Statutory Sick Pay for up to 28 weeks. This is paid for by the employer. Sick pay starts once the employee has been absent from the workplace for more than 4 consecutive days and is currently paid at £88.45 per week.

#8 - Maternity + Paternity Leave in the UK

The United Kingdom offers progressive maternity and paternity paid leave to its citizens and workers. Female employees are granted up to 1 year of maternity leave. Employees on leave receive statutory Maternity Pay for up to 39 weeks.

For the first six weeks of maternity leave, female employees’ are guaranteed 90% of their average weekly earnings, before tax, as part of their maternity leave. These employees are then granted £139.58 per week for the following 33 weeks of their leave.

Partners are traditionally allowed 1 to 2 weeks of paid paternity leave.

If the mother wants to share her 52 weeks of maternity leave with her partner, she is able to do so under UK law. This allows her to return to work earlier without sacrificing the benefit of paid leave offered to her household.

The legal allotments of time for maternity/paternity leave are similar for those who choose to adopt.

#9 - Termination & Severance in the UK

Unlike in the U.S., the employer must give the employee notice before terminating their employment. There is statutory notice, which is federally mandated by law, and the period of notice initially disclosed in the original employment contract.

If not otherwise states, employer’s must provide one week’s notice for employees serving between 1 and 24 months of service, and then an additional week’s notice for each year from 2-12 years of service to the same company. The traditional practice in the UK is to provide one month’s notice for entry and mid level employees and as long as three months for more tenured employees. Employer’s also have the right to pay in lieu of granting their employee with prior notice of their dismissal, if stipulated in the employment contract.

The UK has set in place anti-discrimination laws that protect all employees from being terminated unfairly, with special considering payed to employees with more than two years of work with a single company.

GlobalPEO communicates directly with our clients to help expedite these processes and handle cases surrounding termination gracefully and with full compliance to UK business law.

#10 - UK Tax Laws

It is the responsibility of the employer to deduct personal income tax and the national insurance contribution from their employees earnings through a nationally mandated system called Pay As You Earn, or PAYE.

Why Choose GlobalPEO?

Global expansion is a great step for your business – and now it’s easier than ever. Setting up your own entity in each country where you wish to operate can be expensive, complicated, and requires deep knowledge of the specific rules and regulations. Let GlobalPEO take care of everything. From International PEO & EOR, Global Payroll and International Recruiting we deliver our exceptional services at an affordable price.