As an employer do I have to provide an employment contract?

Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 refers to an employee’s entitlement to a Statement of Initial Employment Particulars. Such a Statement shall be issued to the employee by no later than two months from their commencement date.

 Employers must ensure that the particulars contained within the contract, given at a specified date, include:

• Pay
• Intervals
• Hours of work
• Holiday, sick pay and pensions
• Notice
• Job title and description 
• Period of employment
• Place of work
• Collective agreements

For full details please see The Employment Rights Act 1996.

 In connection with the above, a Statement of Initial Employment Particulars should include applicable disciplinary rules and procedure.

The above only covers the basic rights employees have to a Statement of Employment Particulars. It is however good practice to include the above information into a Contract of Employment inserting additional clauses giving both the employer and the employee additional rights and obligations. 

Employers must remember that if there is not any form of written Contract in place, a contract still exists as soon as the employee agrees to work for the employer in return to pay for works performed.

Issuing a Contract of Employment is not however as simple as making sure the statutory entitlements are included, it is looking into the future to ensure that should the relationship break down, the clauses within the contract must be reasonable to enforce. If the employment contract includes specific restrictive covenants and confidentiality clauses that are completely unenforceable they will become dormant and you leave your Company open to risk that you could potentially forecast.

Another factor employers should consider is that failure to provide Statement of Initial Employment Particulars (after two months continuous service) can lead to an award of 2 – 4 weeks’ salary in the Employment Tribunal.

At Kidwells we offer a no obligation Health Check for businesses wherein which a specialist employment lawyer will review your contracts of employment, policies and procedure to ensure compliance with employment law and enforceability.

Kidwells can save you time and potentially costly mistakes by assessing how employment law changes affect your businesses and make recommendations for how to incorporate the developments into your policies and procedures. 

Should you require any additional information or wish to discuss the Health Check for your business please contact Rebecca Hardy on 01432 278179 or email rh@kidwellssolicitors.co.uk