Employment Contract

This really comes down to what you mean when you say “Employment Contract”.

You are legally obliged to confirm the basic terms of employment, in writing, on the day on which someone joins your business. The things you need to confirm include things like pay, job title, start date, sick pay and some other key points. If that’s what you’re thinking of when you use the term “Employment Contract” then the answer is ‘yes’, you absolutely need to have one.

However, some people think about employment contracts as covering much more than the basics and expect them to cover things like post termination restrictions, intellectual property rights and confidentiality rights. If that’s what you’re thinking of when you use the term “Employment Contract” then the answer is ‘probably’!

Full employment contracts of the type mentioned above help to protect your business. They will look to make sure that someone can’t leave your employment, steal all of your customers, employees and ideas and set up right next door.

When you engage with us for employment contract advice, we’ll tell you what we think you need and why and then work with you to put the correct documentation in place.

The first thing we’ll do is talk about your business and guide you on why type of contract you require:

^. Written Particulars
^. Employment Contracts

We’ll work with you to understand the main risks the employees present to your business (can they steal your ideas, your customers, your staff?) and also some of the logistics that are important to you (do you provide company cars, do employees need to be registered with a professional body?)

From this, we will create a draft, review it with you to close down any remaining questions (either by phone or face-to-face), and then send you the finished document.

The first thing to be mindful of is that you are legally obliged to provide all employees with written confirmation of the basic terms of employment on the day that they join your business. Given that you need to do this, you should use the opportunity to go beyond just the statutory requirement and have a more comprehensive document that protects your business.

An employment contract offers the benefit of clarity of expectations for both parties, for example:

^. Overtime rates could be an area of disagreement if they are not detailed in a written contract.
^. Essential clauses ‘in writing’ allow for greater operational flexibility for the business. This applies, of course, to the notice period and termination requirements that are agreed by both parties.
^. Additional clauses such as restrictive covenants, copyrights, confidentiality, etc. offer the business protection that is invaluable.

A written contract that spells out the benefits and entitlements is extremely beneficial as team members are absolutely clear about what entitlement they have.

Seeking guidance on contracts is generally advisable since there are notable employment laws that touch on this area.

We have worked with many, many companies so have a great deal of insight into what can go wrong in employment relationships and we can guide you to include things that you might never have considered to be important.

As well as the employment contract, there are some key HR policies that we suggest everyone has.

You are required to provide a Grievance Policy and Disciplinary Policy so you should definitely have these. In addition, we encourage all employers to have an Absence Policy to cover areas such as sickness absence, emergency leave, holiday etc. as this is an area where a lot of disputes can arise so it’s worth making sure that you clearly document the rules.

We also suggest that every employee has an Equality Policy. Clearly, an Equality Policy alone isn’t going to protect your business from claims – you actually need to operate an equal opportunities environment. However, the policy does make it clear to all that you take equality seriously and will not tolerate discrimination in the work place so it’s a good starting point for setting the tone.

We offer a Contract and Handbook package at a discount price which provides you the contract and policies that you need. Contact us to find out more.

This is a question that you’re absolutely right to ask as you can’t unilaterally change terms and conditions of employment. This is the same whether you have an existing written contract that you want to change or whether there’s no written contract but you want to make changes to policies and working practices that have existed for years.

The basic rule is, if you want to change something that will have a material impact on an individual, you must consult.

The term “material impact” can be challenging as you’ll be surprised as to the things that employees can become attached to and the things that you’ll get significant push back on if you try to change them without going through the consultation process. You need to think not only of legal risk here but also to the risk that the changes could have on morale and engagement.

We know the hotspots to look out for and our employment contract advice can guide you on the things that you may think will be non-contentious but that we know are likely to be more trouble than it’s worth to change.

We can also guide you on the full legal process to follow and what you can do if employees simple refuse to accept the changes that you want to make.

More information can be found in our Changing Terms and Conditions blog post.