Contracts of employment

An employment contract exists as soon as an employee starts working for you.

An employment contract is enforceable by law.

It can be a verbal agreement and doesn’t have to be written down.

If the contract is a verbal one, the employee is entitled to a written statement setting out the main elements of the job

An employee is entitled the written statement within two months of their start date.

What is included in a written statement

• The legal company name of the employer.
• The legal name of the employee.
• The date the current employment began.
• The employee’s pay, or how it is calculated, and whether it is paid weekly or monthly.
• The employee’s hours of work.
• The employee’s holiday entitlement and holiday pay.
• Job title or a brief description of the work.
• The address of the employee’s place of work.
• Terms and conditions relating to sickness, injury and sick pay.
• The period of employment – permanent, temporary, fixed term.
• Notice periods.
• Collective agreements with trade unions.
• The employee’s pension entitlement
• Dismissal, disciplinary and grievance procedures.

The written statement as more than one document

• If any of the above information is available to staff in the staff handbook, the written statement can request that an employee refers to the details stated in the staff handbook – so the information does not have to be repeated in the statement.

Creating a written statement

• Business Link – which is a service funded by the Government – has an online tool to help you create a written statement.
• Once created, you can download the completed statement and print it out for your employee.