Hiring Your First Groundsman or Climber (2026–27)

_General information, not legal or tax advice. Checked on GOV.UK on 21 October 2026; we review it each April._

In short: before your first groundsman or climber starts, register as an employer with HMRC, take out employer's liability insurance, check their right to work and have their written statement ready for day one. Since 6 April 2026, sick pay is due from the first day off sick. From 1 January 2027, most employees can claim unfair dismissal after 6 months. In 2026–27 you pay no employer National Insurance on the first £50,270 a year of an under-21's pay, or of an apprentice under 25 on a recognised apprenticeship.

This guide is for small tree surgery firms taking on their first employee. If you're looking for work yourself, see our groundsman guide or the apprenticeships guide instead.

Employee or Self-Employed?

Decide this first, because it decides what you owe. Self-employed is for someone who runs their own business and invoices you: they decide how to do the work, use their own kit and insurance, and can turn work down or send someone suitable in their place. If you'll set their hours, supply the kit and need them personally, they're probably an employee or worker, whatever the advert says, with a right to at least the minimum wage and holiday pay. You're responsible for getting their status right: check with HMRC's employment status tool, and see GOV.UK: employment status.

A day rate doesn't change someone's status: if they're really a worker, the minimum wage applies to every hour they work.

Before Your First Employee Starts

Register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday, to get your PAYE reference. You can't register more than 2 months before you start paying people (GOV.UK: register as an employer).
Employer's liability insurance from the day you become an employer, with at least £5 million of cover from an authorised insurer. You can be fined £2,500 for every day you're not properly insured (GOV.UK). Our insurance guide covers the exemptions and the certificate.
Check their right to work before they start: online if they give you a share code (British and Irish citizens can't get one), or by the Home Office's three steps, obtain, check and copy their documents. Keep the copies while they work for you and for 2 years after (GOV.UK: check a job applicant's right to work). Employing someone who isn't allowed to work here can mean a civil penalty of up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach, and £60,000 for a repeat (code of practice). Since 1 October 2026 it can also cover individual sub-contractors, such as a self-employed climber you take on by the day for a job you've agreed with a customer (employer's guide).
A written statement: give them the principal statement of their terms on their first day, and the wider statement within 2 months. It must include any training they have to do, whether or not you pay for it (GOV.UK: written statement).
A workplace pension from their first day. Enrol staff aged 22 to State Pension age who earn at least £10,000 a year (2026–27) and normally work in the UK (GOV.UK: workplace pensions for employers). You pay at least 3% of their qualifying earnings, and at least 8% must go in altogether (GOV.UK: what you and your employer pay).
PPE free of charge: where the risk assessment says it's needed, you provide it free to employees and to limb (b) workers, though not to the genuinely self-employed (HSE). Our groundsman guide lists HSE's chainsaw kit.

What's Changed: The Employment Rights Act 2025

The government's timeline for the Employment Rights Act 2025 sets out when each change starts. It says future dates may still change.

Since 6 April 2026: sick pay from day one. Statutory Sick Pay lost its waiting period and its lower earnings limit, so it's paid from the first day of illness. In 2026–27 it's £123.25 a week, or 80% of average weekly earnings if that's lower, for up to 28 weeks (GOV.UK: rates for employers; statutory sick pay for employers). Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave became day-one rights on the same date.
Since 1 October 2026: 6 months to claim. The time limit for bringing an employment tribunal claim went from 3 months to 6 (for breach of contract claims in Scotland, from 9 November 2026).
From 1 January 2027: unfair dismissal after 6 months. The qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal falls to 6 months, for dismissals from 1 January 2027, and the cap on compensatory awards is removed. Some reasons are automatically unfair, and for those the qualifying period doesn't apply: for example whistleblowing, pregnancy, or asserting rights such as the minimum wage, working-time limits or annual leave (GOV.UK: unfair dismissal).
Later in 2027: more measures, such as the right to guaranteed hours. GOV.UK says their timings will be updated after consultation.

What It Costs: Pay, National Insurance and Holiday in 2026–27

Minimum wage from 1 April 2026: £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, £10.85 at 18 to 20, and £8 for under-18s and for apprentices who are under 19 or in the first year of their apprenticeship (GOV.UK).
Employer National Insurance: 15% on pay above £5,000 a year.
0% employer National Insurance on pay up to £50,270 a year for under-21s, and for apprentices under 25 (GOV.UK: rates for employers). The apprentice must be on a government-recognised apprenticeship, with a written agreement that gives its start and expected end dates (HMRC: employer further guide, CWG2).
The Employment Allowance takes up to £10,500 off your employer National Insurance bill in 2026–27; claim it through your payroll software. A company whose only director is its only employee paid above £5,000 a year can't claim, so taking on your first employee can change that (GOV.UK: Employment Allowance).
Holiday: 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, which is 28 days for someone working 5 days a week, and you can count bank holidays in it (GOV.UK: holiday entitlement). For irregular-hours and part-year workers you can pay rolled-up holiday pay, 12.07% of their pay, shown as a separate line on each payslip; for someone on regular hours you can't add holiday pay into the hourly rate (GOV.UK: holiday pay). Since 6 April 2026 you must keep records of leave and holiday pay for 6 years.

Help With the Cost of a Young Starter

Youth Jobs Grant (England, Scotland and Wales)

Taking on someone aged 18 to 24 who's been out of work and on Universal Credit for 6 months? You may be able to claim a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant: £1,800 if they've worked at least 50 hours by week 6, and £1,200 if they've worked at least 300 hours by week 18. The job must be at least 25 hours a week for at least 16 weeks, paid at least the minimum wage. Your business must have traded for 6 months and have a UTR, a PAYE scheme and a D-U-N-S number, and the job must be accepted onto the scheme, with DWP told who you've chosen, before they start. With up to 3 employees you can have one funded employee at a time. The grant can go towards the costs of employing them, such as their wages, employer National Insurance and pension contributions (terms and conditions). The scheme closes to new vacancies in October 2028. Check the full conditions in the grant guidance.

Apprentices (England)

If you don't pay the apprenticeship levy, the government pays all the training and assessment costs, up to the funding band maximum, for apprentices aged 16 to 24 who started from 1 August 2026. For apprenticeships starting from 1 October 2026, you may also get a hiring payment of up to £2,000, paid in two instalments, for a new apprentice aged 16 to 24 who hasn't worked for you for more than 90 days before it starts (GOV.UK: apprenticeship funding). GOV.UK says more detail is coming, so check the current funding rules first. Our apprenticeships guide explains the Level 2 Arborist apprenticeship itself.

Training Costs and Repayment Clauses

If you pay for a new starter's chainsaw tickets, you may want some of the money back if they leave soon after. If so:

Agree it in writing before the training, and scale the amount down over time.
For training the job requires, a repayment can't take their pay below the minimum wage. When a course is a requirement of the job, any charge for it, whether you deduct it or they pay it, reduces their pay for minimum wage purposes (HMRC: NMWM11215). If they pay it back when they leave, it counts against their last pay period (NMWM11160).
A deduction from pay needs a term in their contract, or their written agreement, before you make it (Employment Rights Act 1996, s.13).

Whether a clause can be enforced depends on its wording: take advice.

Trial Shifts

A trial shift is work, so pay at least the minimum wage for it; a short interview or skills test is fine.

Advertising the Job

Post your advert on TreeBay Jobs. The job advert plans and their prices are on our pricing page. Say whether the job is employed or self-employed, what it pays and which tickets you need.