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SALARY PAYMENT IN British Pound (GBP, £)
CONTRACT LANGUAGE English
PAYROLL TAX 8.25%
PAYROLL CYCLE Monthly
TIME TO HIRE 12 hours
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Horizons is a global employment organization which offers a range of solutions to empower client companies hiring internationally. The Horizons UK Employer of Record (EOR) solution allows you to hire a UK-based team, without needing to set up a local legal presence.
This saves you time and money, and significantly reduces the risk of non-compliance, fines and penalties.
Through Horizons, international companies can legally hire in the UK — without the need for an expensive local subsidiary.
Through the Horizon EOR solutions, new employees in the UK can be hired, with onboarding initiated, within 24 hours.
Experts in UK labor and employment tax law ensure you are fully compliant with all applicable laws.
Horizons ensures accurate salary and payroll processing for all UK-based employees. The Horizons EOR platform makes income tax withholding and expense management easy.
Horizons ensures that all UK-based employees are welcomed onboard with compliant labor documentation and contracts.
Horizons ensures that employment in the UK is compliant, and deals with any legal and compliance issues as they arise.
With a UK EOR solution, you save up to 85% of the total cost of hiring in the UK.
Hire and pay talents
with Horizons in
180+ countries
An Employer of Record (EOR) is a professional compliance and HR company, specializing in employment services.
EORs enable their client companies to enter new markets without the need to set up a local subsidiary or entity. The EOR serves as the legal employer, taking responsibility for ensuring compliance with local laws across all aspects of the employment process; from hiring & onboarding, to employee benefits, payroll, and taxation: A UK EOR is an organization that provides this solution to businesses looking to hire local employees in the United Kingdom (similar to the concept known as an umbrella company).
As mentioned above, at the most basic level a UK EOR acts as the legal employer, responsible for maintaining compliance with UK employment legislation and processing employee payroll and employer/employee taxes, such as social security contributions.
The leading global Employers of Record go further, providing EOR solutions that cover the entire international expansion process. These types of solutions include comprehensive HR & recruitment services, including;
This allows for a simpler, more streamlined expansion process with hiring often completed in hours and days, rather than weeks, months or quarters.
Businesses are attracted to the UK primarily due to its business-friendly regulatory environment and predictable legal system. In the World Bank’s most recent Ease of Doing Business report, the UK ranked 8th out of 190 countries. Other pull factors include the UK’s highly-educated workforce, and physical and digital infrastructure. Additionally, the UK is home to the world’s most widely spoken language; and the UK’s capital city, London, sits on the Greenwich Meridian or Universal Time Zone, further benefiting communication.
As you’ll see below, instead of legal compliance and time-consuming administrative tasks, a competent UK EOR enables their client companies to focus on revenue generating functions and top-level oversight of their distributed workforce
When compared to embarking on the process of entity/subsidiary set-up, using a UK EOR brings a number of key benefits:
At this point, it’s worth noting that the specific benefits of using a UK EOR will depend on the circumstances and needs of your business, as well as the EOR services offered.
Employers of Record operating in the UK can support businesses in a number of ways. This includes;
Your UK EOR administers the benefits for all of your UK-based workforce. This covers compulsory and add-on employee benefits, from leave management and holidays, healthcare and pension contributions.
In terms of annual leave, most employees in the UK receive at least 28 days of annual leave, including 8 public holidays. In the UK, statutory paid holiday entitlement is limited to 28 days. Note that, employers do not have to give Bank or public holidays as paid leave. However, most employers choose to include bank holidays as part of an employee’s statutory annual leave.
The UK has a range of public holidays that are celebrated on an annual basis.
| Date | Holiday name |
|---|---|
| 1 Jan Sunday | New Year’s Day |
| 2 Jan Monday | New Year’s Day observed |
| 7 Apr Friday | Good Friday |
| 1 May Monday | Early May Bank Holiday |
| 8 May Monday | Bank Holiday for the Coronation of King Charles III |
| 29 May Monday | Spring Bank Holiday |
| 25 Dec Monday | Christmas Day |
| 26 Dec Tuesday | Boxing Day |
Note that, if a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a ‘substitute’ weekday becomes a bank holiday, normally the following Monday.
In the UK, Statutory Maternity Leave entitles expectant mothers to take up to 52 weeks of leave. This is divided into two segments, with the first 26 weeks known as ‘ordinary maternity leave’ and the second 26 weeks known as ‘additional maternity leave’.
Eligible employees are also entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay. SMP is paid by the employer and covers the mother for up to 39 weeks – Gov.uk has more detailed information on SMP. Note that it’s mandatory for mothers to take a minimum of 2 weeks maternity leave after the birth of their baby.
To qualify for Statutory Maternity Leave, employees must:
To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, employees must:
In the UK, Statutory Paternity Leave applies to the partner of the expectant mother or primary carer (if a same-sex couple).
UK employees may qualify for Statutory Paternity Leave and Statutory Paternity Pay if they and their partner are:
Employees can choose to take either 1 week or two consecutive weeks of Statutory Paternity Leave. Paternity leave cannot be taken before the birth of a child. It can only be taken: on the actual date of the birth; an agreed number of days after the birth; or an agreed number of days after the expected week of childbirth. Furthermore, Statutory Parental Leave must end within 56 days of the birth/expected due date.
Statutory Paternity Pay is provided by the employer at a rate of £156.66 per week, or 90% of the gross salary, whichever is the lower figure.
To qualify for Statutory Parental Leave and Pay, employees must:
New parents can also choose to take Shared Parental Leave (SPL) with Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP). Under this arrangement, end of the pre-agreed maternity leave, the second parent can take what’s left of the 52 weeks of maternity leave.
Note that this also includes the remaining portion of the 39 weeks of maternity pay. Under Shared Parental Leave, the financial allowance/payment conditions are the same as those granted for statutory maternity pay.
To qualify for SPL and ShPP, both employees must;
Employer pension contributions in the UK depend on the type of pension scheme the employer has chosen. However, most employers in the UK offer the auto-enroll workplace pension scheme, which requires them to contribute a minimum of 3% of an employee’s salary into the pension pot.
Note that some employers choose to contribute more than the minimum requirement.
In the UK, employers are also required to make National Insurance Contributions (NICs). NICs can help employees (and self-employed individuals) earn certain entitlements and benefits, such as the State Pension.
The UK enforces a progressive taxation system. Employees in the United Kingdom must pay the applicable rate of income tax, based on their location and level of income.
As of 2023, the UK tax brackets are as follows.
Employees located in England, and Northern Ireland:
Employees located in Scotland:
Employees located in Wales:
As an example, an employee in England earning £65,000 over the course of the tax year pays approximately £13,432 in income tax. The first £12,570 is known as the ‘personal allowance’ and is tax free; the employee pays 20% or £7,540 on the next £37,700 and then 40% or £5,892 on the remaining £14,730.
The UK’s publicly-funded healthcare system – the National Health Service (NHS) – is the largest employer in the UK. Despite the pandemic and instances of overstretched staff, the NHS provides comprehensive healthcare to all in need.
Whilst employers may choose to offer private healthcare as a benefit to their employees, there is no legal obligation to do so. Note that private healthcare is a popular employee benefit in the UK, as it provides shorter waiting times for medical appointments, more choice in terms of specialists, and access to private hospitals.
Although private healthcare can be expensive, some Employers of Record offer group or company healthcare plans.
UK EOR solutions simplify the process of hiring local employees in the UK; guaranteeing quick hires and full compliance with local laws.
For more information on Horizons’ UK EOR solution, contact us for a no-obligation consultation with one of our UK hiring experts.
A UK Employer of Record (EOR) is the legal employer of your team in the UK. They become legally responsible for your payroll, tax withholding and social contributions.
An UK PEO usually provides an EOR solution but also offers other services, such as visa support and recruitment.
Usually, the easiest way for global companies to hire in the UK is through a UK Employer of Record (EOR) solution. This ensures that employees are onboarded quickly, at low cost, and in compliance with local laws and regulations.
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Headquarters – Singapore
71 Robinson Road #13-153
Singapore 068895
+65 3105 1170
Skalitzer Str. 85/86
10997, Berlin
+49 30 3119 9653
1700 S. Lamar Blvd Suite 338
Austin, Texas 78704
+1 (737) 265-6065
See more locations
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