Employers · UK

New starter checklist: what an employer must do, and when

Before someone starts, check their right to work. Get their P45, or have them fill in HMRC’s starter checklist if they have none. Register them with HMRC through payroll on or before their first payday, give them the principal written statement on their first day, and enrol them in a workplace pension if they qualify.

Last updated 16 Oct 2026 · Joel Lister, founder of Radar

Printable new starter checklist: tick boxes, one page, ready to print or save as a PDF.

Who this is for: UK employers, especially small ones, taking on a new employee.

Who it is not for: contractors, agency staff and the self-employed, who are not taken on as employees (GOV.UK explains the difference).

WhenWhat to doSource
Before they startCheck they have the right to work in the UK: see the original documents or a share code, check them while the person is there, keep copies and the dateGOV.UK
Before the first paydayGet their P45, or the starter checklist if they have no P45 or you need more information than it gives, plus their date of birth, gender, address and start dateGOV.UK, HMRC
On or before the first paydaySet them up in payroll and register them with HMRC through a Full Payment Submission; check for a student loanGOV.UK
On the first dayGive them the principal written statement of their main terms of employmentGOV.UK
Within 2 monthsGive them the wider written statementGOV.UK
From the first member of staffA workplace pension: enrol staff aged 22 to State Pension age earning at least £10,000 a yearGOV.UK

Your first employee

Before the first person starts, you also need to register as an employer and set up PAYE with HMRC, and get Employers’ Liability insurance (GOV.UK). Your workplace pension duties begin as soon as your first member of staff starts working for you (GOV.UK).

The P45 and the starter checklist

A new employee’s P45 from their last job gives you their tax code, their pay and tax so far this tax year, and whether they repay a student loan. If they have no P45, or you need more information than it gives, they fill in HMRC’s starter checklist instead, which replaced the P46 (GOV.UK, HMRC).

Every date here is a deadline that arrives while you are busy with everything else. The company deadlines calculator has your company’s own, and the tax year dates the payroll year’s.

Printable new starter checklist

Print one for each person you take on, and tick it off as you go.

Before they start

  • Right to work checked, copies kept, date recorded
  • Offer and start date agreed
  • Registered as an employer with HMRC (first employee)
  • Employers’ Liability insurance in place (first employee)

Before the first payday

  • P45 received, or starter checklist completed
  • Date of birth, gender, address and start date taken
  • Student loan checked
  • Set up in payroll

On or before the first payday

  • Registered with HMRC through a Full Payment Submission

On the first day

  • Principal written statement given

Within 2 months

  • Wider written statement given
  • Workplace pension: enrolled if eligible

New starter checklist from putitonmyradar.com/new-starter-checklist. The rules behind each line are on that page, from GOV.UK.

What Radar does with this

  • Put a new starter on your Radar with its dates (the first payday, the written statement two months in) and each one comes round in time, on the same radar as everything else due in the next ninety days.

Radar reads the calendars, task lists and CRM you connect, and the dates you give it. It writes back only when you press a button, and it never sends anything by itself.

Limitations and status

  • Radar keeps the dates; it does not run payroll or check documents.
  • Some jobs need more, such as a DBS check: GOV.UK’s guide to employing staff lists them.
Get every Companies House and HMRC date for your company — freeLook at a sample radar — no login

Also free: Radar Lite, the habit tracker on its own, for you and anyone 13 or over in the family.

Questions

What is the HMRC starter checklist?

The form a new employee fills in when they have no P45, or when you need more information than their P45 gives, so you can work out their tax code. It replaced the P46. (GOV.UK, HMRC)

When must I tell HMRC about a new employee?

On or before their first payday, by registering them through payroll with a Full Payment Submission. (GOV.UK)

When must I give a new starter a written statement?

The principal statement on their first day, and the wider written statement within 2 months of their start. (GOV.UK)

Do I have to check a new employee’s right to work?

Yes, before you employ them. You could face a civil penalty if you employ someone without the right to work and have not done a correct check. (GOV.UK)

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Sources

Written by Joel Lister, founder of Radar · first published 16 Oct 2026. Radar is made by Neos Technologies Ltd.