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Check employment documents

Verify contracts, letters and forms against your handbook policies and UK employment law.

4 min readUpdated 18 July 2026Reviewed for UK lawSources: legislation.gov.uk, Acas

What document checking is

Document checking reads an existing HR document against your employee handbook and finds inconsistencies, compliance issues and places it could be stronger. It works like an expert review of every contract, letter and form for policy alignment.

Catch contradictions
Find where a document says something different from the policy.
Confirm compliance
Verify that statutory requirements are met (ERA 1996 and others).
Keep terminology consistent
Make sure terms match across all your documents.
Reduce risk
Find issues before they become tribunal problems.

How to check a document

  1. 1

    Select the document type

    Go to Document Studio and find the type that matches the document you are checking. If it is an employment contract, select "Employment Contract". Then click "Check Compliance" rather than "Draft New".

  2. 2

    Paste your document

    Copy the full text of the document and paste it into the text area. Include:

    • The complete content: headers, body and signature blocks
    • Any annexes or schedules if relevant

    Formatting does not matter. Plain text pasted from Word, PDF or email is fine.

  3. 3

    Run the analysis

    Click "Analyse Document". Regulyn will:

    • Verify the document matches the type you selected
    • Load your relevant handbook policies
    • Compare every clause against policy
    • Check for statutory requirements
    • Calculate a compliance score

    Analysis usually takes one to three minutes while the document is reviewed against UK employment law in detail.

  4. 4

    Review the results

    You will see a compliance score and a list of findings. Each finding includes:

    • The issue. What is wrong and where.
    • The policy. Which handbook policy it relates to.
    • The fix. Suggested wording or action.
  5. 5

    Get the redrafted version

    Regulyn generates a redrafted version with all the fixes applied. From there you can:

    • View the changes highlighted
    • Copy the clean version
    • Export to Microsoft Word

Understanding issue types

Issues are grouped by severity. Each type affects the compliance score differently.

TypeScore effectWhat it meansExample
Compliance fix-10 pointsMust change. A legal requirement or direct policy violation that creates risk.Contract states 20 days holiday but your Annual Leave policy says 25 days
Alignment correction-3 pointsShould change. Terminology or wording does not match the handbook.Contract uses "Gross Misconduct" but the policy calls it "Serious Misconduct"
Enhancement-1 pointCould add. Not required, but would strengthen the document.Consider adding a reference to your Employee Assistance Programme

Understanding compliance scores

Each document gets a score from 0 to 100. The score starts at 100 and points are deducted for each issue found.

ScoreRatingMeaning
76 to 100GoodMinor or no issues
51 to 75Needs attentionSeveral corrections needed
0 to 50Review requiredSignificant issues to address

Type detection

Regulyn notices when the pasted document does not match the type you selected. If there is a mismatch you will see a message like this:

Type mismatch detected

"This looks like an Offer Letter, but you selected Employment Contract. Would you like to reanalyse as an Offer Letter?"

You can continue with your original selection or switch to the detected type for a more accurate analysis.

What gets checked

Policy alignment
Do values and statements match your handbook? Notice periods and holiday entitlement, for example.
Completeness
Are all required clauses present, both statutory requirements and items your policies mandate?
Conflict detection
Do any clauses contradict your handbook or create inconsistencies?
Statutory requirements
For contracts: are all the ERA 1996 required particulars included with explicit values?
Terminology consistency
Do defined terms match the handbook? "Company" versus "Employer", for example.
Best practice
Optional additions that would strengthen the document even where they are not required.

Tips for the best results

Build your handbook first
The checker can only verify against policies that exist. Create your disciplinary, leave and notice policies before checking related documents.
Include the full document
Paste the whole thing rather than excerpts. The analysis needs the context to check cross-references and confirm nothing is missing.
Select the right document type
A disciplinary outcome letter is checked differently from an employment contract. Regulyn warns you if it detects a mismatch.
Prioritise compliance fixes
Address the compliance fixes first, then the alignment corrections. Enhancements are optional.

Frequently asked questions

What types of documents can I check in Regulyn?
You can check any HR document against your policies, including employment contracts, offer letters, disciplinary letters, grievance responses, flexible working requests/decisions, redundancy letters, settlement agreements, and more. Regulyn supports 40+ document types.
How does document checking work?
Paste your document into Document Studio and select the document type. Regulyn's AI analyses the content against your handbook policies and UK employment law. It identifies compliance issues, alignment problems, and suggests improvements with a detailed report and compliance score.
What's the difference between checking and generating documents?
Checking analyses existing documents you already have, which is useful for reviewing contracts before sending or auditing past correspondence. Generating creates new documents from scratch based on your policies. Use checking when you have content to review, generating when starting fresh.
Can Regulyn automatically fix document issues?
Yes, after analysis you can request an AI-redrafted version that addresses all identified issues. The redraft maintains your original intent while improving compliance and alignment with your policies. You can then edit further or use as-is.
What do the document compliance scores mean?
Document compliance scores reflect alignment with your policies and UK law. Scores of 76-100 indicate good compliance, 51-75 means the document needs attention, and 50 or below requires significant review. The score factors in issue severity: critical compliance gaps impact the score more than minor improvements.

Related reading

Check your documents

Paste a contract, letter or form into Document Studio and see how it holds up.

See how document checking works