Contract of Employment

We recommend that you issue your employees with a contract of employment. Whether you do or not the law requires you to provide any employee due to work for you for a month or more a principal statement of their terms and conditions of employment. This must provide the following information and must be issued to new employees within two months of their joining your company.

• Legal name of the employee
• Legal name of the employer including any trading name
• Date the employment started
• Detail of any continuous employment
• Pay and details of period and the intervals over which it is paid
• Hours of work
• Holiday pay which will allow calculation of pro rata entitlement
• Job description and a brief description of work
• Address of the place of work and other locations where the employee may be required to work.

In addition a written statement of terms and conditions must include the information detailed below. A written statement may be made up of one or more documents including an employee handbook and the statement above.

• Rules covering incapacity to work and sick pay.
• Status of the employment (i.e. permanent/temporary etc.)
• Termination date where appropriate
• Notice periods
• Existence of collective agreements
• Details of the dismissal, disciplinary and grievance procedures. You may refer the employee to an employee handbook on these matters.

If you fail to provide these details to a new employee they may seek redress to an employment tribunal. Not the best way to start a new employment relationship!