Contracts of Employment

Contracts of Employment

CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT ELAS TOPIC GUIDES

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WHY ARE CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT IMPORTANT? Contracts of employment are covered by section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 which declares that the very first right an employee has is the right to a written contract. They’re important for you as an employer as you will be able to clarify the relationship you have with an employee, making it clear what they get and what is expected of them .

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT 1996

WHAT SHOULD I INCLUDE IN OUR CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT? At the very minimum you should include: • The name of you, the employer, and the employee • The employee’s start date and length of continuous employment • Job title • Place of work • Hours of work • Pay rate, pay period and pay date

• Holiday entitlement • Sickness details • Pensions • Disciplinary and grievance details (including appeals) • Burden of additional costs • Inability to recruit additional staff • Detrimental impact on quality and performance

WHEN DO I NEED TO PROVIDE MY EMPLOYEEWITH THEIR CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT? You must provide this information to your employee on their first day of employment ; this is a new change that came into force in April 2020. However if you’d prefer, you can also issue your contracts before commencement of employment

DO YOU RECOMMEND INCLUDING ANYTHING ELSE IN OUR CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT? Yes it is useful to also include a few clauses: RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS Preventing employees from stealing clients, prospective clients and staff after they have left. CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES Stopping employees from using trade secrets and confidential information. NOTICE Howmuch notice you will give the employee in case of dismissal and howmuch notice you need from them if they resign.

Of course, there are many other clauses which could be included so it’s important to ensure that contracts are tailored for each role/ department within your company.

LAY OFF/SHORT TIME Sending employees home without pay in times of temporary dips in work (exceptions apply). MOBILITY CLAUSES Enabling you to move staff around to different locations if required. FLEXIBILITY Allowing the employer to require staff to be flexible with holidays, hours and locations.

WANT TO KNOWMORE?

At the ELAS Group we offer a wide range of HR and employment law training courses: RECRUITMENT (Half day course) MOCK TRIBUNAL (Full day course) MANAGER & SUPERVISOR (Half day course) EMPLOYEE INDUCTION COURSE (e-learning course)

If you are interested in any of our courses, please contact [email protected] Visit our blog for up to date information on all things employment law. blog.elas.uk.com/blog

CONTACT US TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION 08450 50 40 60 [email protected] www.elas.uk.com

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