Key Information to Include in Your Employment Contracts in the UK

The employment contract between you and your employees forms the foundations of the employment relationship. Your employment contract clarifies you and your employee’s rights and obligations in the workplace. However, a poorly drafted employment contract could give rise to a dispute with your employee. This article explains what key information you should include in your employment contracts in the UK to help you avoid a dispute.

What are Employment Contracts?

An employment contract is a legal agreement between you and your employee. It outlines you and your employee’s rights and obligations in the workplace.  

An employment contract is different from a written statement of particulars. A written statement of particulars is a legally required written document that you provide to your employee or worker. It details the main points of information about their employment with you, like their job title and description. On the other hand, the employment contract between you and your employees is broader than the written statement of particulars. It generally  contains information relating to the legal obligations between you and your workers, like:

• conditions of employment;
• employment rights; and
• employment duties.

Why You Should Have Employment Contracts?

While it is a legal requirement for you to provide your employees and workers with a written statement of particulars, this only details the minimum information about their employment with you. Therefore, a statement of particulars alone may not provide you with the protection you need as an employer. 

An employment contract can contain:

• express terms which are specific to the job, such as pay rates;
• statutory terms, which are terms that employment law requires;
• implied terms, which are obvious points that may not require restating; and 
• incorporated terms that reference other employment documents, such as your staff handbook. 

You may also want to consider clauses relating to transferring employees across jurisdictions.

Main Points to Include in Employment Contracts

You can find some key terms to include in your employment contracts below. This is not an exhaustive list, but it will give you some pointers.

1. Parties to the Employment Contract

Your employment contract must contain both your business name and address for clarity. Additionally, your employment contract should include relevant details about your employee. 

2. Start Date of Employment 

The start date of the employment contract between you and your employee is significant. It is the day your employee begins to work for you, even if you do not yet have a written employment contract. 

The start date is also important since it marks the day your employee will begin to accrue certain employment rights. For this reason, it is also worth including a statement to clarify that rights accrued with previous employers do not count in their new employment with you.

3. Job Role 

An employment contract should contain the details of your employees’ job roles. This includes: 

• their role title; and 
• any details about what you require of them. 

Additionally, you should transfer the details in your offer letter into the employment contract as the offer letter is part of the employment contract. In saying that, you have greater flexibility when drafting the employment contract and outlining your employee’s job role. You may find that you prefer only to detail the job title rather than a detailed description of the role, as this can allow you to give your employees additional tasks during their employment with you.

4. Place and Time of Work 

You should detail where your employee should work and what hours of work you require of them. You may want to specify what hours and days your employee works or simply state the total hours per week. This can provide greater flexibility about when you want your employee to work. 

At this point in the employment contract, you can also provide greater detail about varying places of work in the future and whenever you may require extra hours or varying work times for your employee.

5. Salary Details 

An essential part of an employment contract is to include details about your employee’s pay. This consists of the amount you pay them and when you will pay them. You should also clarify whether the salary rate applies, for example, per hour, day, or week. 

6. Notice Period

Should you or your employee wish to end the employment contract, your employment contract should contain a notice period. A notice period indicates how much notice you or your employee must give before you can terminate the employment agreement. 

It is worth including key information from your grievance and disciplinary policy that states whether you can dismiss an employee without notice. For example, you may dismiss an employee without notice if they commit gross misconduct. In this instance, you may want to give examples of what actions are gross misconduct.

Key Takeaways

Your employment contracts with your employees are the basis of your employment relationship with them. As such, it is important that you understand what you should include in the employment contract. Whilst employment contracts do not have to be in writing, it is best practice to ensure that you provide written contracts to your employees to clarify your expectations in the workplace. 

If you need help understanding employment contracts in England and Wales, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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