Work

Steps

1. Check your right to work. EU Settlement Scheme status (settled or pre-settled), work visa, or Irish nationality. Otherwise, you first need a visa (see UK-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
2. Look for a job. The public Find a job service on gov.uk covers England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own site (jobapplyni.com). The European EURES network no longer covers the United Kingdom: its portal presents 30 countries (EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland), excluding the United Kingdom (eures.europa.eu, October 2026). For a Skilled Worker visa, first look for an employer approved by the Home Office who agrees to sponsor you.
3. Prove your right to work to the employer. European citizen: a share code taken from your UKVI account (eVisa) or an accepted immigration document; the employer cannot refuse one in favour of the other. Old biometric documents (BRP, BRC) are no longer accepted by employers: use the share code. Irish citizen: Irish passport or passport card, even if expired. The employer must carry out this check before employing you (gov.uk, "Check a job applicant's right to work").
4. Apply for your National Insurance number and give it to your employer (see UK-NIF-TOUS-001); tax and contributions are deducted from your pay (see UK-IMPOTS-TOUS-001).
5. Read your written statement. On the day you start, you must receive the principal document (job, start date, pay, hours, leave, place of work, length and any probation period, compulsory training), plus the rules on sick leave and notice. The rest (workplace pension, disciplinary procedures) must follow within 2 months.
6. Have your qualifications recognised if needed. UK ENIC compares foreign qualifications with the British system. For a regulated profession (doctor, nurse, teacher…), it is the British professional body that decides: for example the GMC for doctors (full registration with a licence to practise: £481, then £481 per year, fees at 1 April 2026 announced by the GMC, amounts to be confirmed on its website; the route depends on your qualification), the NMC for nurses and midwives (see below).
7. If you lose your job, apply online for New Style Jobseeker's Allowance (contributory unemployment benefit), then report to Jobcentre Plus. Depending on your income, Universal Credit (means-tested support) may be added to it or replace it, if your residence status allows it.

Documents

• Passport and proof of the right to work (share code or immigration document; Irish passport for Irish citizens).
• National Insurance number (you can start work while waiting for it).
• British bank details for payroll (see UK-BANQUE-TOUS-001).
• Qualifications and, if needed, their comparison by UK ENIC or registration with the professional body.
• If you are ill for more than 7 days in a row: a medical certificate (fit note).

Costs and timelines

• Minimum hourly wage since 1 April 2026: £12.71 at 21 and over (National Living Wage), £10.85 from 18 to 20, £8.00 under 18 and for apprentices (an apprentice aged 19 or over receives the rate for their age after their first year). For reference, 2025-2026: £12.21, £10.00 and £7.55.
• Working time: 48 hours a week at most on average, generally calculated over 17 weeks. You can opt out (opt-out). A few occupations are exceptions (armed forces, emergency services, police, security…). Under 18: 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week.
• Paid leave: 5.6 weeks a year, i.e. 28 days for 5 working days a week, capped at 28 days. Public holidays may be counted within it: there is no obligation to pay them on top. Part-time: pro rata (16.8 days for 3 days a week).
• Sick pay (Statutory Sick Pay): £123.25 per week or 80% of your usual weekly earnings if that is less, for 28 weeks at most (amount displayed on gov.uk in October 2026, year not specified on the page). You must have been ill for at least one full working day and notify your employer within their deadline (or 7 days). Your contract may provide better.
• Unemployment (New Style JSA, Great Britain): up to £75.65 per week up to age 24, £95.55 from age 25 (amounts displayed in October 2026), for 182 days at most. You must generally have paid contributions as an employee (Class 1) in the last 2 tax years, and work fewer than 16 hours a week. Northern Ireland has its own rules.
• Unfair dismissal: generally 2 years' service to bring a claim before the employment tribunal. The Employment Rights Act 2025 is due to reduce this to 6 months from January 2027, but Acas states that this is not yet in force. Some dismissals are unfair with no length-of-service condition (pregnancy, family leave, request for flexible working, trade union membership, whistleblowing, claiming the minimum wage…).

Common pitfalls

• Believing that free movement still exists. Without EU Settlement Scheme status or a visa, working in the United Kingdom is illegal, even for a few months. The visa rules (minimum salary required, eligible occupations) are in UK-SEJOUR-TOUS-001.
• Mixing up a French trial period and British probation. British law does not set a probation period: it is the contract that provides for it. During your first 2 years, protection against dismissal is weak in any case.
• Signing the opt-out without thinking. Giving up the 48 hours is your choice; check whether it has been slipped into your contract.
• Counting on exporting your unemployment benefits. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (protocol on social security, chapter "Unemployment benefits", Articles SSC.56 and SSC.57) only provides for periods to be taken into account and for the calculation of benefits, not for their payment in the other country while you look for a job. The Your Europe U2 form does not cover the United Kingdom, and gov.uk only allows the British JSA to be received for 3 months in the EU by people covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. So arrive with enough to live on while you find a job.
• Forgetting that Scotland and Northern Ireland have their particularities. Employment law and the minimum wage are the same across the United Kingdom, but the job search service and some benefits differ in Northern Ireland (nidirect).

What changes by country of origin

• Irish citizens: no work authorisation needed (Common Travel Area); you prove your right with your Irish passport.
• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: EU Settlement Scheme status (if you were living in the United Kingdom before 31 December 2020) or a visa is required. Your contribution periods in an EU country count towards meeting the conditions for New Style JSA once you are in the United Kingdom: the EU-UK protocol requires each State to take into account periods completed in another State (Article SSC.56), provided that your last period of insurance was completed in the United Kingdom; the benefit is calculated on your last British salary alone (Article SSC.57); these two conditions are to be confirmed with Jobcentre Plus. Gov.uk (DWP) confirms that EU, EEA or Swiss social security contributions can help to qualify for New Style JSA.
• Regulated professions: the European general system of recognition was repealed in the United Kingdom by the Professional Qualifications Act 2022 (section 5, legislation.gov.uk); each British professional body now sets its own rules. Example of the NMC (nurses and midwives, October 2026): an EU, EEA or EFTA general care nurse or midwife qualification that meets the former automatic recognition conditions is still recognised without a test (£293 in total: £140 application review and £153 registration); a specialist nurse (paediatrics, psychiatry) takes a two-part competence test (the NMC announces £1,170 in total, but the breakdown on its page — £167 assessment, £83 and £794 for the two tests, £182 registration — comes to £1,226: confirm the amount with the NMC). Since 1 January 2025, an agreement with Switzerland allows comparable recognition of Swiss qualifications (contact the NMC). For other professions: ask the body concerned.