GUIDANCE ON THE CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT

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Rachel Royston-Webb - HR Professional in North Derbyshire

Rachel is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel & Development and has 14 years of HR experience across both Public and Private Sectors. Her experience covers all aspects of HR, Recruitment and Selection (including psychometric Testing), Disciplinary and Grievance, Redundancy, Restructuring, Tender bid work, TUPE, Compromise Agreements, Reward, Training, Development and Performance Management. Rachel enjoys problem solving – providing practical and sensible solutions which fit the culture and needs of the business.

GUIDANCE ON THE CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT

Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that every employer is required to give each employee a written statement of employment particulars not later than two months after the beginning of the employee’s employment. The written statement must cover:

• The names of the employer and employee.
• The date when employment began (and any period of continuous employment).
• Remuneration and the intervals at which it is paid.
• Hours of work.
• Holiday entitlement.
• Entitlement to sick leave and sick pay.
• Pensions and pension schemes.
• The entitlement of employer and employee to notice of termination.
• Job title or job description.
• Where employment is not permanent, the period for which it is expected to continue or, if it is for a fixed term, the date when it is to end.
• Place of work.
• Details of the existence of any relevant collective agreements.
• The disciplinary rules and procedures applicable to the employee.
• The grievance procedure applicable to the employee.

Where there are no particulars to be given for one of the matters to be covered in the statement (for example, there is no pension scheme), this must still be stated.  The statement must also state whether or not a pensions contracting-out or appropriate scheme certificate is in force for the employment.

The statement may be given in instalments during the two months period, but certain of the particulars must be included in a single document.  These are the names of the parties, the date when employment and continuous employment began, the particulars of remuneration, hours and holidays, the job title or description and the place of work.

If employment ends within the two months period, a statement must still be given if the employee’s employment lasted for one month or more.

The statement will not necessarily cover every aspect of the contract of employment but it does provide evidence of the main terms and conditions.

The HR Dept’s s contract of employment is designed not only to meet the requirements of Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, but it also goes much further to document the relationship between the employer and employee in a number of important areas.  It is drafted from an employer’s perspective and includes clauses which, in our opinion, should be included in a well-drafted contract of employment.

Can I issue the contract to my existing staff?

If your existing staff already have a written contract of employment or if their current contract is a mixture of written terms, verbally agreed terms and terms implied by custom and practice, you do not have the right to simply change the contract terms.  To issue a new contract with different terms will constitute a fundamental breach of the contract enabling the employee to resign and claim constructive dismissal if they have been employed for a year or more, or it can constitute a termination of the existing contract and that can amount to an unfair dismissal. 

Therefore, if you issue new contracts to existing staff, you must ensure they agree in writing to the new terms.  If an employee will not agree to a variation of his or her existing contract, then it cannot be forced upon him or her.  In that case, you should simply issue a Section 1 statement detailing the main terms and conditions and you should ensure it reflects the employee’s existing contractual position.

The contract of employment should be signed and dated by both the employer and the employee.  You should produce two copies so that each of the parties can retain a signed copy. 

For a bespoke contract for your company, or help in issuing new contracts of employment, contact Rachel Royston-Webb, HR Dept 0845 8630651 – email Rachel.royston-webb@hrdept.co.uk