Understanding employment law

Use this series of pages to understand your core legal responsibilities to your employees. For information about an employer's responsibilities to its volunteers, read our guidance on involving volunteers.

This page is not a substitute for legal advice and doesn’t cover every aspect of employment law. For legal advice, contact an employment lawyer or human resources (HR) specialist.

Employment law sets out an employer’s legal responsibilities to their employees. It covers every stage of employment, from recruitment through to resignation, redundancy or retirement.

Regardless of what’s included in a written employment contract, employees and employers are expected to abide by certain general obligations.

As an employer, you must:

• provide a written statement of employment particulars
• pay agreed salaries and the National Minimum Wage
• provide work
• provide a safe workplace
• provide adequate rest breaks and annual leave
• provide fair treatment
• pay out-of-pocket expenses
• follow legislation and good employment practices
• maintain the relationship of trust and confidence by behaving reasonably towards the employee
• let HM Revenue and Customs know when you employ your first member of staff – see GOV.UK’s support for new employers
• adhere to data protection principles
• comply with regulations on gender pay gap reporting if you employ more than 250 people – see GOV.UK’s guidance on gender pay gap reporting.

An employee must:

• render faithful service to the employer and not compete with the employer
• obey lawful and reasonable orders (consistent with their contract)
• exercise reasonable care and skill
• provide a personal service
• maintain confidentiality
• maintain the relationship of trust and confidence by behaving reasonable towards the employer.