Employed or self-employed? Hiring your first dance teacher

There comes a proud moment in the life of a dance school when the timetable is fuller than one teacher can manage. Perhaps your waiting list keeps growing, or you’d like to add a new style you don’t teach yourself. Bringing in another teacher is a big, positive step.

Before you agree hours and rates, understand how the arrangement works in law and for tax. This guide walks through employment status, the documents you’ll need, holiday, pensions and insurance, and how to recruit safely. It reflects gov.uk and Acas guidance as of October 2026, including changes from the Employment Rights Act 2025. Some details differ in Northern Ireland, and it’s general guidance, not legal or financial advice.

Start with employment status

A person’s employment status helps determine their rights and their employer’s responsibilities, as the gov.uk guide to employment status explains. The main types are worker, employee and self-employed, along with directors and office holders. A person may also have a different status in tax law than in employment law.

Getting this right from the start protects you and your new teacher. Gov.uk explains that if employment status is wrong, people and their employers may have to pay unpaid tax and penalties, or lose entitlement to benefits. Courts and tribunals make the final decisions on employment status, so think it through at the start.

Self-employed teachers

Gov.uk says a person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure. Someone is probably self-employed if they’re self-employed for tax purposes and most of the following are true:

• they put in bids or give quotes to get work
• they’re not under direct supervision when working
• they submit invoices for the work they’ve done
• they’re responsible for paying their own National Insurance and tax
• they don’t get holiday or sick pay when they’re not working.

A freelance teacher working this way might teach for several schools and run their own classes too. Gov.uk also notes that someone can be both employed and self-employed at the same time.

Employees and workers

Gov.uk explains that an employee is someone who works under an employment contract. Someone is probably an employee if they must work regularly, do a minimum number of hours, can’t send someone else and get paid holiday. Employees have extra rights, such as protection against unfair dismissal, statutory redundancy pay and the right to request flexible working.

Picture a teacher who covers a set timetable each week and follows your syllabus and lesson plans. If they can’t send a substitute without your agreement, they may well look more like an employee or worker than a freelancer. Every arrangement is different, so it’s worth checking.

Use the CEST tool

HMRC’s check employment status for tax tool, known as CEST, gives HMRC’s view on whether someone is employed or self-employed for tax. It’s anonymous. HMRC says it will stand by the result if the information you give is accurate and in line with its guidance. For questions about rights in employment law, Acas offers advice, or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland.

If you’re taking on an employee

Register as an employer

You normally need to register as an employer with HMRC when you start employing staff. You must register before the first payday to get your PAYE reference number. You can’t register more than 2 months before you start paying people.

Give a written statement

Gov.uk explains that employers must give employees and workers a written statement of employment particulars. The principal statement must be given on the first day, and covers things like pay, hours, holiday entitlement, where they’ll work and any probation period. The wider written statement must follow within 2 months.

Sick pay from day one

Since 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay has been paid from the first day of sickness, not the fourth. There’s no longer a minimum earnings level to qualify. The gov.uk employer guide to Statutory Sick Pay says it’s £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. It lasts up to 28 weeks. That means employed teachers on just a few hours a week can qualify too.

Plan for holiday pay

Gov.uk says almost all people classed as workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year. That includes part-year workers and people with irregular hours. A teacher who only works and is paid in term time may count as a part-year worker. They build up leave based on the hours they’ve worked. Gov.uk has a holiday entitlement calculator to help.

Since 6 April 2026, employers in England, Scotland and Wales must also keep holiday records. These cover holiday taken, holiday carried over, holiday pay and any payments in lieu. Acas’s page on keeping holiday records says you must keep them for at least 6 years, and a spreadsheet is fine.

Workplace pensions

Gov.uk explains that employers have to provide a workplace pension scheme for eligible staff as soon as their first member of staff starts. You must enrol and make an employer’s contribution for staff who meet three tests. They’re aged between 22 and State Pension age, earn at least £10,000 a year and normally work in the UK.

Employers’ liability insurance

Gov.uk says you must get employers’ liability insurance as soon as you become an employer. It must cover you for at least £5 million and come from an authorised insurer. You must display the certificate where employees can access it. There are limited exceptions, such as if you only employ a family member.

Right to work checks

Gov.uk says you must check a job applicant’s right to work in the UK before you employ them. British and Irish citizens can’t get an online share code. For them, you’ll check original documents, such as a passport, or use an identity service provider.

Before their first class

1. Register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday.
2. Have the principal written statement ready for day one.
3. Check their right to work in the UK.
4. Display your employers’ liability insurance certificate.
5. Set up your workplace pension.
6. Start your holiday records.
7. Share your safeguarding policy and code of conduct.

Changes on the way

Acas’s guide to the Employment Rights Act 2025 has the dates. From 1 January 2027, employees will be able to claim unfair dismissal after 6 months in a job, instead of 2 years. A clear probation period with regular reviews is worth planning now.

From 30 October 2026, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. Employers will also be liable for harassment by third parties, such as customers, unless they’ve taken all reasonable steps to prevent it. For a dance school, a clear code of conduct for parents and visitors can be one part of this.

From 1 January 2027, employers will need to tell workers about their right to join a trade union. Acas also lists new rights for workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts, such as reasonable notice of shifts and compensation when a shift is cancelled. The government hasn’t yet announced when in 2027 those will start.

Recruiting safely

Whatever the employment status, anyone teaching your students needs to be safely recruited. The NSPCC’s guidance on safer recruitment describes it as a set of practices. They help make sure staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children.

In practice, that means a clear role description, an application or CV, a proper interview, references and the right level of DBS check. A teacher who regularly teaches children is likely to need an enhanced DBS check with a check of the children’s barred list. Share your safeguarding policy and code of conduct on day one, and make sure your new teacher knows who to speak to with a concern. Taking on a younger helper instead? Our guide to dance school assistants aged 13 to 17 covers pay, hours and safer recruitment.

Our partner, the British DanceSport Association (BDSA), lists a DBS checking service among the benefits of its Dance Schools & Studios membership. For your whole teaching team, our Introduction to Safeguarding in Dance (Level 1) course is a shared starting point here on Teach.Dance.

Welcoming your new teacher

A good start helps a new teacher settle in and reassures your families. Introduce them to your classes, explain your house style and share your lesson plans. Agree how cover, absence and communication with parents will work, and arrange a regular catch-up for the first few weeks.

For more on growing as a teacher and studio owner, our guide to becoming a dance teacher is a useful next read.

Quick FAQ

Can I just decide that a teacher is self-employed?
Not on your own say so. Status depends on how the work is actually done. HMRC’s CEST tool can help with tax status, and Acas can advise on employment rights.

Does a freelance teacher still need a DBS check?
Safer recruitment applies whatever the status, so plan for the right level of DBS check.

Teach.Dance · For Teachers, By Teachers