Employer guide

1. Minimum wage (from 1 April 2026)

Source: GOV.UK – National Living Wage £12.71

2. Right to work checks

• Check that every new person has the right to work in the UK before they start, whatever their nationality.
• Keep a dated copy of the check.
• If you skip it and the person can't legally work, the fine can be up to £45,000 per worker (£60,000 for a repeat).

Source: GOV.UK – Check a job applicant's right to work

3. Sick pay

• Since 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay is paid from the first day of sickness, with no minimum earnings.
• It's £123.25 a week, or 80% of the person's average weekly pay if that is lower, for up to 28 weeks.

Source: GOV.UK – Statutory Sick Pay

4. Holiday for shift and casual staff

• Everyone gets paid holiday, including casual and zero-hours staff.
• For irregular hours, holiday builds up at 12.07% of the hours worked.
• For irregular-hours and part-year workers only, you may add holiday pay to each payslip ("rolled-up holiday pay"), shown as a separate line.

Source: GOV.UK – Holiday pay for irregular hours workers

5. Workers aged 16 and 17

• No more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week.
• A 30-minute break if they work more than 4.5 hours, and 12 hours' rest between working days.
• Normally no work between 10pm and 6am (or 11pm and 7am if their contract allows work after 10pm). Some jobs, such as hotels and restaurants, have limited exceptions.
• NearTask lets you mark a shift as adults only.

Source: Acas – Young workers

6. Coming in 2027: shift rules

The Employment Rights Act 2025 plans new rights for zero-hours and low-hours workers, expected in 2027 (details still under consultation):

• an offer of guaranteed hours that reflect the hours they regularly work;
• reasonable notice of shifts and of changes;
• payment when a shift is cancelled, moved or cut short at short notice.

Good habit now: post shifts on NearTask well ahead and keep changes to a minimum.

These shift rules apply in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own employment law and is planning its own changes, so businesses there should check nidirect.

Source: GOV.UK – Employment Rights Act timeline

7. Paying people

• If you take someone on as staff, you pay them through your payroll (PAYE) with a payslip.
• Agree pay, hours and what to bring in the NearTask chat before the shift, so both sides have it in writing.