Employment Contracts & Statements of Particulars
Did you Know? An employer must give all employees a ‘written statement of employment particulars’ within 2 months of the start date of their employment.
Employment Contracts
All employees have an employment contract with their employer. A contract is an agreement that sets out an employee’s:
Employees and employers must stick to a contract until it ends (eg by an employer or employee giving notice or an employee being dismissed) or until the terms are changed (usually by agreement between the employee and employer).
If a person has an agreement to do some work for someone (like paint their house), this isn’t an employment contract but a ‘contract to provide services’.
Accepting a contract
As soon as someone accepts a job offer they have a contract with their employer. An employment contract doesn’t have to be written down.
Contract terms
The legal parts of a contract are known as ‘terms’. An employer should make clear which parts of a contract are legally binding.
Contract terms could be:
Implied terms
If there’s nothing clearly agreed between you and your employer about a particular issue, it may be covered by an implied term - for example:
Collective agreements
An employer may have an agreement with employees’ representatives (from trade unions or staff associations) that allows negotiations of terms and conditions like pay or working hours. This is called a collective agreement.
The terms of the agreement could include:
Written statement of employment particulars
An employer must give employees a ‘written statement of employment particulars’ if their employment contract lasts at least a month or more. This isn’t an employment contract but will include the main conditions of employment.
The employer must provide the written statement within 2 months of the start of employment.
If an employee works abroad for more than a month during their first 2 months’ employment, the employer must give them the written statement before they leave.
What a written statement must include
A written statement can be made up of more than one document (if the employer gives employees different sections of their statement at different times). If this does happen, one of the documents (called the ‘principal statement’) must include at least:
What a written statement doesn’t need to include
The written statement doesn’t need to cover the following (but it must say where the information can be found):
Working abroad
If an employee has to work abroad for more than a month, their employer must state:
An employer may send an employee to another country in the European Economic Area (EEA). In this situation employees must get the terms and conditions that are the legal minimum in that country for:
Download a Statement of Particulars Template:
Click here to Download a template of a written statement of particulars to fill out.
Read about Rest Break Entitlement...
Read about Changing an Employment Contract...
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Did you Know? An employer must give all employees a ‘written statement of employment particulars’ within 2 months of the start date of their employment.
Employment Contracts
All employees have an employment contract with their employer. A contract is an agreement that sets out an employee’s:
- employment conditions
- rights
- responsibilities
- duties
Employees and employers must stick to a contract until it ends (eg by an employer or employee giving notice or an employee being dismissed) or until the terms are changed (usually by agreement between the employee and employer).
If a person has an agreement to do some work for someone (like paint their house), this isn’t an employment contract but a ‘contract to provide services’.
Accepting a contract
As soon as someone accepts a job offer they have a contract with their employer. An employment contract doesn’t have to be written down.
Contract terms
The legal parts of a contract are known as ‘terms’. An employer should make clear which parts of a contract are legally binding.
Contract terms could be:
- in a written contract, or similar document like a written statement of employment
- verbally agreed
- in an employee handbook or on a company notice board
- in an offer letter from the employer
- required by law (eg an employer must pay employees at least the National Minimum Wage)
- in collective agreements - negotiated agreements between employers and trade unions or staff associations
- implied terms - automatically part of a contract even if they’re not written down
Implied terms
If there’s nothing clearly agreed between you and your employer about a particular issue, it may be covered by an implied term - for example:
- employees not stealing from their employer
- your employer providing a safe and secure working environment
- a legal requirement like the right to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ paid holidays including bank holidays
- something necessary to do the job like a driver having a valid licence
- something that’s been done regularly in a company over a long time like paying a Christmas bonus
Collective agreements
An employer may have an agreement with employees’ representatives (from trade unions or staff associations) that allows negotiations of terms and conditions like pay or working hours. This is called a collective agreement.
The terms of the agreement could include:
- how negotiations will be organised
- who will represent employees
- which employees are covered by the agreement
- which terms and conditions the agreement will cover
Written statement of employment particulars
An employer must give employees a ‘written statement of employment particulars’ if their employment contract lasts at least a month or more. This isn’t an employment contract but will include the main conditions of employment.
The employer must provide the written statement within 2 months of the start of employment.
If an employee works abroad for more than a month during their first 2 months’ employment, the employer must give them the written statement before they leave.
What a written statement must include
A written statement can be made up of more than one document (if the employer gives employees different sections of their statement at different times). If this does happen, one of the documents (called the ‘principal statement’) must include at least:
- the business’s name
- the employee’s name, job title or a description of work and start date
- if a previous job counts towards a period of continuous employment, the date the period started
- how much and how often an employee will get paid
- hours of work (and if employees will have to work Sundays, nights or overtime
- holiday entitlement (and if that includes public holidays)
- where an employee will be working and whether they might have to relocate
- if an employee works in different places, where these will be and what the employer’s address is
- how long a temporary job is expected to last
- the end date of a fixed-term contract
- notice periods
- collective agreements
- pensions
- who to go to with a grievance
- how to complain about how a grievance is handled
- how to complain about a disciplinary or dismissal decision
What a written statement doesn’t need to include
The written statement doesn’t need to cover the following (but it must say where the information can be found):
- sick pay and procedures
- disciplinary and dismissal procedures
- grievance procedures
Working abroad
If an employee has to work abroad for more than a month, their employer must state:
- how long they’ll be abroad
- what currency they’ll be paid in
- what additional pay or benefits they’ll get
- terms relating to their return to the UK
An employer may send an employee to another country in the European Economic Area (EEA). In this situation employees must get the terms and conditions that are the legal minimum in that country for:
- working hours and rest breaks
- holiday entitlement
- minimum pay (including overtime)
Download a Statement of Particulars Template:
Click here to Download a template of a written statement of particulars to fill out.
Read about Rest Break Entitlement...
Read about Changing an Employment Contract...
<<Back to Employing Staff
