When did you last review your Employment Contracts?

Contracts are often drafted with a one size fits all approach and then are rarely updated.  Employment law is constantly changing and being updated, so it is important to make sure that your business is:

  1. complying with its minimum statutory obligations and;
  2. using a contract that is fit for purpose and providing the maximum protection that could be afforded to your business.

Our team of employment solicitors can work with you to create tailor-made contracts of employment/service contracts to suit and address your business needs.  Alternatively, we can review and amend existing ones to ensure that they comply with up to date employment legislation and best protect your business.

Your Legal Obligation

Since 6 April 2020, employers have been required to provide employees and workers with a written statement of particulars of employment by section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). This written statement is often referred to as a “section 1 statement”

Section 1 Statements are a “day 1 right” in that most of the particulars must be given no later than the beginning of employment, with no minimum service requirement.

Principal statement

Particulars which need to be given in a single document set out the fundamentals of an employment relationship. These are usually contained in the employment contract and must include the following:

  • names of employer and employee/worker;
  • date employment or engagement begins;
  • for employees only: date that their continuous employment began, even if that’s the same date as the start of their employment (which it usually is);
  • rate of pay and frequency of payment;
  • hours of work (including normal working hours, days of week and whether hours/days are variable (and, if so, how they vary));
  • details of their holiday entitlement (including public holidays) and holiday pay;
  • any other benefits (including non-contractual benefits);
  • length of notice of termination required from both parties;
  • job title or brief description of work;
  • if applicable: details of non-permanent employment or engagement (e.g. period of fixed-term contract);
  • any probationary period which starts at the beginning of the employment / engagement, including conditions and duration;
  • place of work and address of employer;
  • whether the worker is required to work outside the UK for over one continuous month. If not, that fact must be stated;
  • any training entitlement which the employer requires the worker to complete; and
  • any training which the employer requires but does not pay for.

Some particulars may be left out from the principal statement provided that they are available in a reasonably accessible document (such as an Employee Handbook. Among other things, these include rights to:

  • sick leave and pay;
  • any other paid leave;
  • pension scheme information (this can be provided within 2 months);
  • details of any collective agreements directly affecting terms (this can be provided within 2 months);
  • any other training entitlement (this can be provided within 2 months); and
  • disciplinary and grievance procedures (this can be provided within 2 months) (although we would recommend that these procedures are not contractual entitlements).

As well as complying with the legal requirements of such documents as set out above, we can also advise you as to what additional clauses may assist to protect your business, for example in the areas of confidential information, intellectual property and restrictive covenants.

If you have any questions regarding employment contracts, written particulars, or any issue surrounding employment law, you can get in touch with our team for expert advice.

Please contact Nina Francis on 0203 831 2664 or email Nina on nina.francis@wellerslawgroup.com