Written for online shops in the UK selling on their own site or on marketplaces: direct-to-consumer brands, private-label and FBA sellers, dropshippers and subscription sellers.
The short version
- Budget equal pay and conditions for agency temps.After 12 weeks in one role with you, they get equal basic pay and conditions. Plan for it, never dodge it (As of Oct 2026).
- Pay piece-rate pickers at least minimum wage.Piece rates must still reach the hourly floor across all working time. Check each starter's right to work before day one.
- Get freelancers' copyright assigned in writing.Photos, designs, copy and code belong to the freelancer until a signed assignment says they are yours.
Black Friday falls on 27 November 2026 and Cyber Monday on 30 November, peak trading runs on to the January sales, and change-of-mind returns peak in the first weeks of January. 3PL labour and carrier collections are normally agreed by September; if yours are not, settle them now. If you bring in agency temps, extra pickers or freelancers to meet the peak, each comes with its own rules. As of Oct 2026.
Agency temps
Equal treatment after 12 weeks
An agency worker is entitled to equal basic pay and conditions after 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer. From day one they get access to your facilities and to your vacancies. Where the most likely explanation for repeat assignments or role changes is to stop the worker qualifying, the worker is treated as qualified anyway. As of Oct 2026.
Agency Workers Regulations 2010 regs 5, 7, 9, 12 and 13
Ending one assignment early is not by itself a breach, but it costs you trained pickers at peak. Structuring repeat assignments or roles to avoid the 12 weeks is the risk.
Pickers, packers and the pay floor
Pay floors (the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage), holiday pay and sick pay come from the current statutory figures, so take them from your people specialist rather than last year's payslips. Pickers on piece rates still need the hourly floor across all their working time. Commission-only customer service staff and creators must still reach the minimum wage for the hours they work.
Check every new starter's right to work before their first day. The civil penalty is up to £60,000 per illegal worker since 13 February 2024. As of Oct 2026.
A safe warehouse
- Manual handling risk assessments for lifting and packing (Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992).
- Trained users for forklifts and lifting equipment (PUWER 1998 and LOLER 1998).
- RIDDOR reports when something reportable happens.
- Employers' liability insurance as soon as you become an employer, with limited exceptions: at least £5 million from an authorised insurer, and a fine of £2,500 for each day you are not properly insured. As of Oct 2026.
Freelancers and overseas help
If you use designers, photographers, developers or virtual assistants abroad, do not assume they are outside UK payroll: record where each one works, and have an employment-tax adviser decide their status, PAYE and social security. Properly engaged overseas contractors need written terms, a signed assignment of the IP in what they make, and a data-processing clause.
A freelancer's copyright stays with them unless assigned in writing
Product photos and copy made by a freelancer or agency belong to them unless the copyright is assigned to you in writing. Get a written, signed assignment of copyright in designs, photography and code from every agency and freelancer, and a licence for any supplier's images you use. As of Oct 2026.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s.90(3)
Peak hires you keep on into 2027 meet new law: in Great Britain, unfair dismissal protection after 6 months from 1 January 2027, and guaranteed-hours and shift-notice rights during 2027, subject to commencement. Northern Ireland has separate law, so check the nation each person works in. As of Oct 2026.
Asked in Greymill
The rule: after 12 weeks in the same role with you, an agency worker gets equal basic pay and conditions (As of Oct 2026). From day one they get access to your facilities and your vacancies.
The week-11 cut: ending one assignment early is not by itself a breach, but you lose 6 trained pickers for the last 3 weeks of peak. Take the same people back later, or move them between roles, to reset the clock, and they can count as qualified anyway.
The plan: cost equal basic pay and conditions for all 6 from week 13, and take employment advice on how the assignments are set up.
The photos: the photographer owns the copyright in them unless it is assigned to you in writing. Get a written, signed assignment.
Got the agency's rates? I can cost weeks 13 and 14 into your peak budget.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Staff & HR works it through for your business.
I run an online shop in the UK. Help me plan my peak team for [dates]: [number] agency pickers for [weeks], [number] direct temps on [hourly or piece rate], and freelancers [roles, and where they are based]. Tell me what to budget, what to check before day one, and which contracts and assignments I need.
More for online retail and ecommerce in the UK
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- VAT when you sell on marketplaces, ship from abroad or sell into the EUWho accounts for VAT on each kind of online sale, what is changing for parcels of £135 or less (As of Oct 2026), and how to test whether the Flat Rate Scheme suits a reseller.Read the lesson
- Making sure what you import, own-brand or dropship is legal to sellIf you import, own-brand or dropship, the law can treat you as the producer: what that means for safety duties, markings, category paperwork and packaging.Read the lesson
- What your returns policy can say, and what the law has already decidedOnline customers have a right to cancel and a separate right to reject faulty goods, so write terms that match both and refund disputes stop costing you.Read the lesson
- Getting reviews, creator posts and email sales without a fineReviews, influencers, sale prices and email now carry direct fines for online shops; here is how to use each one within the rules.Read the lesson
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Open the interactive lesson · Every online retail and ecommerce lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- Current rates (People: warehouse, agency staff and freelancers)
- Roadmap (People: warehouse, agency staff and freelancers)
- regs 5, 7, 12 and 13 (People: warehouse, agency staff and freelancers)
- Civil penalties (People: warehouse, agency staff and freelancers)
- MHOR 1992; SI 1998/2306; SI 1998/2307 (People: warehouse, agency staff and freelancers)
- Sections "Measures that took effect on 6 April 2026", "Measures that will take effect in January 2027" (People: warehouse, agency staff and freelancers)
- Deadlines (The calendar: VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, EPR and platform reporting)
- Deadlines (The calendar: VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, EPR and platform reporting)
- Paying and filing (The calendar: VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, EPR and platform reporting)
- Deadlines (The calendar: VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, EPR and platform reporting)
- Deadlines (The calendar: VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, EPR and platform reporting)
- Who needs to verify and when (The calendar: VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, EPR and platform reporting)
- When to register (Hard cases: tax, cash, marketplaces and exit)
- Art 4 (Hard cases: tax, cash, marketplaces and exit)
- regs 5 and 7 (Hard cases: tax, cash, marketplaces and exit)
- Consumer Protection Act 1987 s.2(2) and (3) (Insurance and product liability)
- Limitation Act 1980 s.11A(3) (Insurance and product liability)
- Overview; fines (Insurance and product liability)
- HSE40 page 4 family-business and sole-owner exemptions; page 1 overseas visits (Insurance and product liability)
- Green Claims Code (Sep 2021) (Advertising, influencers, green claims and brand protection)
- Fees (Advertising, influencers, green claims and brand protection)
- Costs (Advertising, influencers, green claims and brand protection)
- CDPA 1988 s.90(3) (Advertising, influencers, green claims and brand protection)
- www.gov.uk (Advertising, influencers, green claims and brand protection)
- Trade Marks Act 12(1) and (2) (Advertising, influencers, green claims and brand protection)
- GOV.UK, "Complete a road consignment note" (Contract red flags)