Set up the HR you need before you need an HR team.
Your first hire creates real duties, but it does not require a 90-page handbook. Make six decisions in the right order, give each one an owner and keep the evidence somewhere the next person can find it.
- Employment duties first
- One owner for every decision
- Software only where it helps
- 1Status
- 2Terms
- 3Right to work
- 4PAYE
- 5Pension
- 6People system
What HR does a UK startup need first?
Start with the relationship: decide the person's employment status, agree the role and pay, issue the written particulars, complete the appropriate right-to-work check, and set up PAYE and workplace-pension duties. Then create one secure people record, a leave rule and a repeatable first-week plan.
The useful test is not whether you have an HR department. It is whether another authorised person can see what was agreed, what must happen next and where the evidence lives. Founder memory works until it suddenly does not.
This is practical general information, not legal advice. Use the current linked official guidance for the facts in front of you.
Build the minimum dependable people system.
Work through the decisions in order. Employment status affects the rights and duties that follow. Written particulars turn a conversation into a record. Right-to-work, PAYE and pensions each have their own official process; a shared checklist should route to those processes rather than impersonate them.
The final two decisions are operational. Define the leave year and normal working pattern before someone asks for time off, then decide how starter tasks will be owned. A short rule written before the exception is usually fairer than a detailed policy written during a dispute.
- 01
Confirm employment status and who is actually employing the person.
- 02
Agree role, pay, hours, place of work and the required written particulars.
- 03
Complete the correct right-to-work route before employment begins.
- 04
Register and report PAYE in time for the first payday.
- 05
Understand workplace-pension and employers' liability duties.
- 06
Create secure records, a leave rule and an owned starter plan.
Do not make day one carry the whole company.
Before day one, finish the checks and terms that genuinely must be ready, collect only the information you need, and make sure equipment and access have owners. On day one, give the person context: who they work with, what good work looks like and how to get help.
Use the first month for learning, feedback and gaps you could not sensibly predict. A startup changes quickly, so put a review date on the setup. That is more useful than pretending the first policy draft will survive every new role and working arrangement.
- Before day one: terms, checks, payroll route, equipment and named owners.
- Day one: welcome, safety, role context, access and a real person to ask.
- First week: objectives, ways of working, policies and job-specific training.
- First month: review what was missed and improve the checklist for the next hire.
Use software to hold the process, not to invent the answer.
A small team benefits early from one people record, working patterns, leave, documents and starter tasks. Payroll, pensions and specialist advice can stay with the right external service. Recruitment tooling, complex performance cycles and a large policy library can wait until a real need appears.
No HR system can choose the correct employment status, decide whether a right-to-work check is valid, or tell you the lawful response to a disputed case. Those decisions need current official guidance and, where the facts are difficult, qualified advice.
HollyHR organises the record. It does not become your employer of record.
HollyHR can give a small team one place for people and employment records, working patterns, leave, documents and manual onboarding tasks. It does not run payroll or RTI, validate right-to-work evidence, decide legal status, provide employment-law advice, provision external IT accounts or replace a pensions provider.
HollyHR can help with
- People and employment records
- Working patterns and leave
- Documents and owned starter tasks
Keep outside the claim
- Payroll, RTI or pensions administration
- Legal or right-to-work decisions
- ATS or external account provisioning
Check the rule where it is maintained.
We reviewed these sources on 19 July 2026. Follow the official page for the current rule, conditions and exceptions rather than relying on an old quotation.
- GOV.UK — employ someoneThe official sequence from fair recruitment through HMRC reporting.
- GOV.UK — written statementsWhat must be provided on day one and in the wider statement.
- Home Office — right-to-work checksUse the current employer guide for routes, evidence and follow-up checks.
- The Pensions Regulator — new employersWorkplace-pension duties from the first member of staff.
Questions behind the checklist.
Short answers for scanning; the practical detail and source links stay above.
When should a startup get HR software?
When sensitive records have no clear home, more than one authorised person needs the process, working patterns affect leave, or founder memory has become the control. The trigger is operational risk, not a magic headcount.
Does a first employee need a written contract?
A contract can exist before it is written, but employees and workers are entitled to a written statement of key particulars. The principal statement is due on or before the first day; use the current GOV.UK requirements for the complete contents and timing.
Can HollyHR run startup payroll?
No. HollyHR holds core HR records and supports reviewed payroll hand-offs and exports. A payroll service or software remains responsible for calculations, RTI submissions and payment.
Keep the rule, owner and people record in one calm place.
HollyHR is in early access for small UK teams. See the relevant product workflow, or tell us what you are trying to improve.