Contract of Employment

A contract of employment is an agreement between an employer and employee and is the basis of the employment relationship.  There is no statutory requirement to have a written contract of employment in its entirety but employers are required by law to provide certain written particulars of the terms and conditions of the contract to the employee.  This is known as a Written Statement of Particulars.  It is therefore common practice to have a written statement issued to all employees to include all of this information.

This written statement must include the following:

• Identity of the parties

• Date of commencement of the contract

• Date of commencement of continuous employment 

• Job title or brief description of the job duties

• Notice periods

• Expected duration of the contract

• Place of work

• Hours of work, including overtime

• Rate of pay

• Frequency of pay

• Holiday entitlements and holiday pay

• Sickness provisions

• Pension provisions

• Contracting out certificates

• Disciplinary rules

• Disciplinary and grievance procedures

• Collective agreements

• Conditions for working outside the UK

The information contained within the written statement should be provided to the employee within two months of the date of commencement of the employment. It is within the law to provide the information in more than one document but normal practice indicates a single document as the preferred option for most employers.