Creating a contract

When does the employment contract begin?

The employment contract begins when the employee starts work, even if there is nothing in writing. There is a legal obligation for the employer to provide a written contract within the first two months of the start date of employment.

 

What must be included in an employment contract?

Several important clauses are included in the employment contract. They detail what each party receives from the agreement, what duties they must perform and how the agreement should be completed successfully. In short, it sets out the terms and conditions.

 

The terms which must be included in many employment contracts are as follows:

• Basic job information - Key information regarding the role, such as job title and description, department, working hours and days, start date;
• Pay & benefits – Covers level and frequency of salary, how the funds are transferred, raises, incentives and any additional benefits;
• Place of work - Where the employee will work;
• Holiday - Holiday leave and pay and the way it is calculated, some employees allow you to roll over unused holiday days rather than just lose them;
• Sick Leave - What time and how the employee must inform the employer if they are sick and unable to attend work, pay when on sick leave and whether proof of a doctor’s note is required;
• Other paid leave - Maternity/paternity leave, any other leave;
• Pension - All employers have to provide a pension scheme and must outline the particulars or relevant pension scheme and contributory rates;
• Employment status - whether they are an employee, a worker, a contractor or self-employed;
• Employment period - Whether they are employed on a permanent or a fixed-term basis;
• Probation - The length of the probation period and its conditions;
• Deductions - Details when the employer can make deductions from the employee’s salary;
• Confidentiality - A clause defining the obligation to not disclose company information or trade secrets; and
• Termination - Sets out the terms by which the employer or employee may terminate their employment including the length of notice required and how it should be submitted. If there’s a variation (an agreement to change the terms of the contract) or a fundamental breach, the employee can argue that they have been constructively dismissed, giving rise to a reasonable claim for damages under wrongful dismissal and a potential statutory claim for unfair dismissal.

 

Terms may also be written in the employee handbook or other documents, which the employer may provide the employee with, otherwise can be provided by the company’s HR department. Depending on the nature of work carried out in the business, there may be more clauses to include within the employee’s employment contract.

 

How we can help

We would take instructions from you to negotiate terms with your potential employer on your behalf, points we would address are detailed in the section “Negotiating contract terms”. We would be delighted to act on your behalf. To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.