Onboarding Christmas Temps in the UK: Checks, Tax, Pay and Holiday
Christmas temps start in a rush. You take on twenty people in a fortnight, some of them start on a Saturday, and every one of them needs the same checks and paperwork done before their first shift or their first payday.
This post covers what the rules say for short-term seasonal staff in the UK: right to work, tax and National Insurance, the written statement, pensions, holiday pay, minimum wage, young workers and zero-hours contracts. Then it shows how to get the paperwork in from one link per person, so nobody fills in forms on their first shift. The full list for any new employee is in our new starter checklist for UK employers.
Before day one
Right to work, with no exception for short-term staff
You must check that someone is allowed to work in the UK before they start. This is UK-wide, and there is no exception for someone who is only with you for six weeks. The Home Office employer's guide says to check everyone the same way, British citizens included.
Since 1 October 2026 the duty also covers many people on a worker's contract, not only employees, so temps you take on as workers are in scope too. The three ways to check, and how long to keep the record, are in our guide to right to work checks in the UK.
The civil penalty for employing someone who isn't allowed to work, without a correct check, is up to £60,000 per worker. A seasonal rush is when checks get skipped, so book them in before the start date.
Tax and National Insurance
P45 or starter checklist
To put someone on payroll you need their P45 from their last job. If they don't have one, they fill in HMRC's starter checklist instead. HMRC asks for the checklist when there is no P45. Many Christmas temps are students or people with a second job, so expect a lot of checklists.
Emergency tax codes
Someone who starts without a P45, and whose earlier pay records you don't have, may go on an emergency tax code. These end in W1, M1 or X, for example 1257L W1. Tax is then worked out as if they earn the same every week or month, so it can be wrong. HMRC updates the code once it has the details from both employers, which can take up to 35 days from the start date. On a six-week job that is most of the job, so getting the P45 or checklist in before day one matters.
National Insurance number
It is usually on the P45 or the starter checklist. Someone who doesn't have one yet can still start work if they can prove their right to work.
The written statement from day one
In Great Britain, employees and workers get a written statement of the main terms when they start work. The principal statement is due on the first day, with the wider statement within two months. There is no minimum length of employment, so a temp on a four-week contract gets one on day one. For a seasonal temp, the statement should say how long the job is expected to last or the date it ends.
Northern Ireland has its own employment law. There, the right is to a written statement within two months of starting, for an employee employed for more than one month.
Pensions: postponing for short-term staff
Automatic enrolment applies across the UK, temps included. A worker aged 22 to State Pension age who earns over the earnings trigger (£10,000 a year, £833 a month or £192 a week) must be put into a pension. A full-time Christmas temp can pass the weekly figure in their first week.
The Pensions Regulator lets you postpone for up to three months, and lists seasonal or temporary staff who will leave within that time as a reason to. The rules:
- Postponement can start from their first day of employment.
- You write to each person within six weeks of the day after postponement starts.
- If they ask to join during postponement, you must put them in.
- If they are still with you at the end, you assess them then. If they are eligible, you enrol them straight away.
Most Christmas temps leave before the three months are up, so postponement means no enrolment and no contributions for them. It doesn't remove the letter.
Holiday pay
Temps build up holiday like anyone else. Zero-hours workers are entitled to statutory annual leave and the minimum wage in the same way as regular workers.
Irregular-hours workers in Great Britain
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, workers whose paid hours are wholly or mostly variable are irregular-hours workers. Zero-hours and casual contracts are the government's examples. For them, two methods are available:
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Accrual | Holiday builds up at 12.07% of the hours they actually work in each pay period |
| Rolled-up holiday pay | You pay 12.07% of their pay in each pay period, at the same time as the pay for the work, shown as a separate item on each payslip |
The 12.07% assumes the statutory 5.6 weeks. Rolled-up holiday pay is optional, and it is not allowed for anyone outside the irregular-hours and part-year definitions. Tell workers before you use it, and check whether their contracts need to change. A temp on fixed hours for six weeks is not an irregular-hours worker, so their 5.6 weeks are worked out pro rata in the usual way.
These rules apply in England, Wales and Scotland only. Northern Ireland has its own working time rules, so check nidirect there.
When they leave
Any statutory holiday built up and not taken is paid when the job ends. Leaving is the only time you can pay in place of statutory leave. With rolled-up holiday pay, they have already been paid for it.
Minimum wage rates now in force
These are the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates from April 2026. They apply across the UK.
| Age | Hourly rate |
|---|---|
| 21 and over (National Living Wage) | £12.71 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.85 |
| Under 18 | £8.00 |
| Apprentice | £8.00 |
The rates go up in April 2027, after the Christmas season. The rate depends on age, so collect each temp's date of birth.
Young workers
Workers above school leaving age and under 18 can't work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. They get a 30-minute break when they work more than 4.5 hours, 12 hours' rest a day and 48 hours' rest a week. Long Christmas shifts need planning around these limits.
School-age children have tighter rules. Children can usually work part-time from 14, and most councils say you must apply for a child employment permit before they start. Ask your local council's education department.
The Employment Rights Act 2025
The Employment Rights Act 2025 comes in over several years. Most of it covers Great Britain. As of 5 November 2026, the government's timeline puts these in force:
- Statutory Sick Pay from day one. Since 6 April 2026, SSP has no waiting days and no lower earnings limit. A temp on low hours who is off sick can now be due it.
- Sexual harassment. From 30 October 2026 employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, including by third parties such as customers. That covers temps on the shop floor and at the Christmas party.
- Tribunal time limits. Since 1 October 2026 most claims can be brought within 6 months instead of 3.
Not in force yet: the rights to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and pay for shifts cancelled at short notice have no date. The duty to tell workers they can join a trade union, and the 6-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal, are set for 1 January 2027.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and some differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so check GOV.UK, Acas or nidirect for your situation.
What WorkZerk does for a seasonal intake
- Each temp fills everything in on their phone from a private link, with no account or password.
- The Staff onboarding (United Kingdom) pack asks for proof of the right to work, an emergency contact, an optional DBS certificate, the P45 or starter checklist, the National Insurance number and bank details.
- Right to work documents, the P45 or starter checklist, the National Insurance number and the account number arrive marked sensitive: stored encrypted and viewable only by admins.
- Automatic reminders chase anyone who hasn't finished.
- The Requests screen shows who has finished, who is part way and who hasn't started, so you know who you can put on the rota.
- When the season ends, closing the portal keeps every document and takes everyone off your usage.
What it does not do: WorkZerk is not payroll. It doesn't report to HMRC, work out tax codes or holiday pay, enrol anyone in a pension or send the postponement letter. It doesn't do the right to work check either. A photo of a passport is not a right to work check: you still run the online check, check the original documents with the person present, or use an identity service provider.
Setting it up in WorkZerk
1. Turn on two-factor authentication
Asking people to upload documents needs two-factor authentication on your account. Set it up under Account, then Two-factor authentication (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab).
2. Add the UK staff pack
Open Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab), click Request packs, and open Start from a template. Pick United Kingdom and click Add this pack on Staff onboarding (United Kingdom). It becomes a pack of your own that you can edit. See starter request packs.
The pack doesn't ask for a date of birth. Click + Insert and add a Fields request with a Date field for it, so you can set the right minimum wage band and spot under-18s.
3. Add the written statement
If the written statement is a PDF, add a Sign PDF request so each temp signs it in their portal. Put the end date of the job in it.
4. Hand over the pension and holiday information
If you postpone automatic enrolment, or pay rolled-up holiday pay, add a Choice request with a single option, such as "I have read this", and attach the letter or a short note with Attach a document, link or YouTube video. Each person's tick is recorded against the request. See attaching a document or video to a request. You still need to send the postponement letter in the form the rules require.
5. Create a portal for the season
Open Portals (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab), click New portal, and name it something your temps will recognise, such as "Christmas temps 2026". Add your pack to its Requests panel.
6. Get your people in
Pick whichever fits:
- You have a list. Use Import people from CSV on the portal to put everyone on it at once, then Email their invites to queue a batch. See importing contacts from a CSV and batched invite emails.
- You are still hiring. Turn on the portal's self-registration link and put it in the job advert or the offer email. Anyone who opens it enters their name and email and is emailed their own link.
Send links early enough to finish the right to work check before each person's first shift.
7. Let the reminders chase
The Outstanding requests reminder in Automations (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) is on from the start and emails anyone who hasn't finished after 7 days. Christmas hiring doesn't have 7 days to spare, so shorten it. Remind everyone not finished on the Requests screen chases the whole portal at once. See onboarding that runs itself.
8. Review, approve and check who is ready
Open Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab). Uploads wait under Needs review: check each one, approve it, and copy what payroll needs into your payroll software. The Waiting on section splits the portal into Finished, In progress and Not started, and By person lists exactly what each one still owes. See Reviewing uploads.
9. Close the portal after the season
When the season is over, open the portal's settings and close it. Their links stop working, the self-registration form stops taking sign-ups, and automated emails to them stop. Every document stays on file. See portal lifecycle.
Closing also takes everyone off your usage. Your plan includes 25 active people, and anyone above that is charged by the day, only while they hold a live link on an open portal. Keep the 2-year right to work rule in mind before you delete anything.
Next November, reopen the same portal. The same links come back to life, so returning temps don't need a new invite.
Getting started
Start a free WorkZerk trial at workzerk.com, then work through the steps above before your first temp starts. If you get stuck, the getting started guide walks through a first portal end to end, or email us at [email protected].