Apply for approval of employment

Updated 10 July 2026

All SRA-regulated firms (including recognised bodies, licensed bodies, and sole practitioners)
Any solicitor or registered European lawyer (REL) whose practice consists entirely of non-reserved legal activities (as permitted by regulation 10.2 (a) of the Authorisation of Individuals Regulations wanting to employ or remunerate someone who is subject to section 41 or section 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974)
Any non-regulated business or organisation who want to employ a solicitor who’s practising certificate is subject to conditions that require our approval of employment.
Firms must make a full application for approval of employment within 28 days from the date of the S43 Order.
This should be made via mySRA by the firm (not individual).
The individual cannot take up their role until after the decision has been made.

Get ready to apply

If this condition is on your practising certificate, you will be subject to enhanced supervision, and we will need your proposed employer (the applicant) to provide the information below when they apply for approval of your employment.

The applicant will need to tell us:

about the role of the person it wants to employ (the employee), including their day to day duties and work details
the SRA number of the employee
whether the employee will:
- be supervising other staff
- be responsible for handling client money
- be a signatory to the firm's client accounts
- have direct contact with clients
how the employee will be supervised
details of the person(s) who will be directly responsible for supervising the employee on a day-to-day basis
details of the procedures in place to make sure that the employee is properly supervised and managed.

We have full guidance relating to approval of employment for those who require it under sections 41 or 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974. Similar principles apply when approving employment under a practising certificate condition so we recommend you read that full guidance before your proposed employer makes its application.

Making your application

We aim to decide within 60 days.

If you do not respond promptly to our requests or if our questions go unanswered, we can decide that you have withdrawn your application.

If we refuse an application for approval of employment under a practising certificate condition, the applicant has a right of review to us within 28 days of being notified of our decision.

Apply for approval of employment

The applicant will need to tell us:

about the role of the person you want to employ, including their day to day duties and work details
the SRA number of the person you wish to employ
supervise other staff
be responsible for handling client money
be a signatory to the firm's client accounts
have direct contact with clients
how the person you want to employ will be supervised.

The person you want to employ will need to provide us with:

References from previous employers, detailing the work they have undertaken since the order was made against them.

We recommend you read the full guidance before you make your application.

Making your application

We aim to decide within 120 days.

If you do not respond to our requests or fail to answer our questions in a timely manner this could result in a recommendation to refuse your employment request.