Under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 certain terms relating to employment must be provided in writing to the employee within two months of their employment commencing. This does not have to be in a formal contract of employment and if it is not, the written document is simply a Statement of Terms and Conditions.
All employers should ensure they have proper Contracts of Employment and a Staff Handbook.
All of the items that must be provided in the Statement of Terms and Conditions should be in the Contract of Employment. Anything that is a policy should be in the Handbook.
All Contracts of Employment and any variations (other than minor changes) should be provided in duplicate with a requirement that the copy is signed, dated and returned by the employee and held in their personnel file.
As mentioned above, section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires that certain terms are included in the Statement of Terms, or Contract of Employment, but there are also other issues that should be addressed in the contract over and above this bare minimum. For example, there should be clauses dealing with the following:
1. Probationary periods
2. Overtime
3. Entitlement to additional benefits
4. Entitlement to participate in share option schemes
5. Entitlement to a car or car allowance
6. A mobility clause
7. Any entitlement of the Employer to make deductions from wages over and
above the normal tax and NI deductions, (e.g. for overpayment of salary)
8. Post termination restrictions
9. Confidentiality
10. Intellectual Property rights
11. Restrictions during employment - e.g. second jobs
12. Garden leave
13. Pay in lieu of notice, if required
14. Any waiver of the Working Time Regulations and the notice period required to opt back in
15. Any entitlement of the employer to require the employee to be medically examined be the
employers medical specialist
16. Any unusual requirements of holiday entitlement, e.g. days that must be kept towards a
Christmas shut down period
17. Any requirements that the employee may be required to work abroad
18. Any requirements to maintain certain qualifications, e.g. driving licence
19. Requirements to return property
To go in the handbook, Employers should have comprehensive policies dealing with issues such as the following:
1. Sickness
2. Holiday and other leave entitlements
3. IT and security
4. Health & safety
5. Disciplinary and grievance
6. Maternity and Paternity
7. Equal Opportunities
8. Harrasment and Bullying
9. Staff development/Appraisals
10. Complaints Handling
11. Stress
12. Standard of behaviour/dress codes
The handbook should also contain brief explanation of the management structure and useful internal information such as an internal directory.