HR Compliance Check template

UK employment law and best practice

This template is designed to support the process, but the document should be used alongside the relevant HR procedure and applied to the circumstances of the individual case.

An HR compliance check should consider the employment legislation, statutory requirements and recognised HR guidance relevant to your organisation. The exact areas to review will depend on your workforce, working arrangements and the nature of your organisation, so the checklist should be adapted rather than treated as a fixed set of requirements.

Key areas to review

Depending on your organisation, an HR compliance review may include:

• Employment contracts and policies – checking that contracts, written statements and key HR policies reflect current requirements and the organisation's actual practices.
• Pay and working time – including National Minimum Wage, working hours, rest breaks, holiday entitlement and related Working Time Regulations requirements.
• Equality and discrimination – reviewing recruitment, pay, promotion, workplace practices and employee relations to identify potential discrimination risks and ensure appropriate consideration of reasonable adjustments.
• Family leave and statutory rights – including maternity, paternity, adoption, parental and other relevant family-related rights.
• Absence and employee relations – checking that sickness absence, disciplinary, grievance, capability and other employee relations processes are appropriately documented and consistently applied.
• Redundancy and organisational change – reviewing processes and documentation where roles may be at risk or employment arrangements are changing.
• Data protection – considering how employee information is collected, stored, accessed, retained and shared in accordance with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
• Health and safety – ensuring appropriate workplace policies, risk assessments, training and reporting arrangements are in place.

Keeping your review current

Employment legislation, statutory rates and official guidance can change, so an HR compliance check should be repeated periodically and when significant legal or organisational changes occur. The results should be used to create a prioritised action plan, with responsibility and timescales assigned to any areas requiring attention.

Using the checklist appropriately

This checklist is designed to support an HR review; it is not a substitute for legal advice or a guarantee that an organisation is legally compliant. Where the review identifies a significant gap, uncertainty or potential legal risk, the issue should be investigated further and appropriate professional advice obtained.