Employment Contracts
Everyone must have been given a contract within 2 months of their start date it doesn’t matter if you a fulltime, part time, contract or even a casual employee. This is a legal requirement often overlooked and it can lead to tribunal proceedings even if the employee is still on your staff.
The basics are quite simple you have to make an offer and it has to be accepted verbally will do although it obviously makes more sense to lay out the contract details on a written document and for either side to sign and date it.
A contract must cover the following:
- The employer and employee’s name if the employer is a company ,the company name
- The date the employment began
- Job title and brief description
- The rate of pay and date of payments
- The working hours
- Holiday entitlement policy
- Sick leave and sick pay schemes
- Retirement Policy
- Maternity and Associated policies including adoption and parental leave
- Pension schemes
- Notice periods required from either side
- Address of premises and whether employee would be required to travel elsewhere
- The length of employment if not permanent and if any probationary periods are involved
- The Discipline procedure
- The Grievance procedure
- Any Collective bargaining agreements which may affect the contract
- Governing law
There are other items which can either be covered in the contract document or to be found in the company handbook which may involve items such as
- Equal Opportunities policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Training Policy
- How to deal with expenses
- Appearance
- Timekeeping
- Data Protection
- Whistleblowing
- Confidentiality
- Use of company equipment, vehicles, phones and laptops etc
- Detailed Grievance and Disciplinary procedures
- Drugs and Alcohol policies
- Diversification Policies
Drawing up a contract can lead to difficulties later if it is not done properly and you don’t fully reflect your expectations from your employees. The easiest way is to sit down with an expert like me who is covered by a professional indemnity policy tell them what you want and get them to do it.
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