Your Key Information Document
Before you agree terms with any employment business you must be given a standalone document showing what you will be paid, what comes off it and what you actually take home.
Where it comes from and when you get it
The Key Information Document is required by regulation 13A of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. That regulation was inserted by the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2019 and it came into force on 6 April 2020.
The timing is the part that matters. The document has to be given before the employment business obtains your agreement to the terms that will apply between you and it. It is not a document you receive with your first payslip and it is not something you should have to ask for.
It also has to be a document on its own. Regulation 13A requires it to be headed "Key Information Document", to be given as a separate document rather than combined with anything else and to carry a statement of what it is for together with contact details for the enforcement body.
This page was written from the legislation and the published government guidance and every instrument named on it was read at the source. It is not legal advice and it must be reviewed by a solicitor before the site goes live. If anything here conflicts with the signed terms of business, the signed terms take precedence.
What it must contain
- The type of contract you are engaged under — a contract of employment, an apprenticeship or a contract for services.
- The identity of the employment business.
- Who will actually be paying you, which is not always the same organisation.
- The rate of remuneration, or where that is not known, the minimum rate you can reasonably expect.
- How often you will be paid.
- Every deduction required by law, such as tax and National Insurance.
- Every other deduction or cost, with its nature and either the amount or how it is calculated.
- Any fees charged for goods or services.
- Any non-monetary benefits you will receive.
- Your annual holiday entitlement and how holiday is paid.
- A representative example statement, working through gross pay, statutory deductions, any other deductions and fees, down to the net figure you would actually receive.
The representative example is the single most useful line on the document. It is the difference between an hourly rate that sounds good and a take-home figure that is real and it is the reason the requirement exists at all.
Umbrella companies and other intermediaries
Where you are not paid directly by the employment business but through an intermediary — an umbrella company, or your own limited company — regulation 13A requires more, not less. The document must identify the parties, state the connections between them and set out the remuneration and payment intervals for each. It must show the costs, deductions and fees affecting each party and it must explain why the figure at the top differs from the figure that reaches you.
The government publishes worked examples of Key Information Documents for workers paid through umbrella companies and through personal service companies, precisely because that chain is where the gap between the assignment rate and the take-home figure usually hides.
Transport Temps pays workers PAYE and does not require, recommend or operate an umbrella company. This section is here because a worker comparing offers across agencies needs to know what the document must show them when an umbrella is in the chain — not because there is one in ours.
If you do not get one
Regulation 13A is enforced by the state regulator for employment agencies and employment businesses. That function sat with the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, which has been replaced by the Fair Work Agency. The government's own guidance on Key Information Documents now names the Fair Work Agency as the body responsible for enforcing regulation 13A. The Key Information Document itself has to carry those contact details, which is a deliberate feature rather than a formality.
If an employment business will not give you one before you agree terms, that is not a small administrative lapse. It is a breach of the regulation that exists specifically to stop you agreeing to a rate before you can see what will come off it.
Questions about the KID
When exactly should I receive my Key Information Document?
Before the employment business obtains your agreement to the terms that will apply between you and it. Not with your contract, not with your first payslip and not on request — before you agree.
Is it the same thing as my contract?
No. Regulation 13A requires it to be a separate standalone document, headed "Key Information Document", not combined with your contract or your assignment details. If it arrives buried inside another document, that is not compliant.
What is the representative example for?
It works through gross pay, statutory deductions, any other deductions and fees, down to a net figure. It exists so you can compare what you would actually take home rather than comparing headline hourly rates that hide different deduction structures.
Does Transport Temps use umbrella companies?
No. Workers are paid PAYE by us, weekly, with tax and National Insurance deducted at source. The umbrella section on this page is there so you know what the document has to show you when another agency does use one.
Does the document change if my rate changes?
The Key Information Document reflects the position when you agree terms. If the basis of your pay changes materially, ask for an updated document — and if an agency is reluctant to produce one, treat that as the answer to a different question.
Who enforces this?
The state regulator for employment agencies and employment businesses. That role has passed from the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate to the Fair Work Agency and the government's guidance on Key Information Documents names the Fair Work Agency as responsible for enforcing regulation 13A.
Tell us who you need
Give us the class, the count, the dates and the shift. We confirm what we can cover and say plainly when we cannot.