What should employment contracts contain

The contract should also provide for a salary review. The nature of the employment. Your contract should state whether the employee is hired on a full time, part time or casual basis to avoid ambiguity.

The reporting structure. A clear reporting structure benefits both the employee and employer and provides for a clear line of accountability.

Leave entitlements. The written contract should contain clear terms concerning leave entitlements relevant to the employee such as annual leave, long service leave, sick leave and compassionate, bereavement and paternity leave. In many industries, employees will be required to maintain confidentiality about some or all of their business practices.

You also need to ensure you are compliant with the working time regulations. Any benefits that form part of the contract should be set out clearly, this includes both statutory benefits required by law and any enhancements you make to those benefits. This would include annual leave, sick pay and pensions, other statutory benefits can be listed and details provided on request.

You are required to advise your staff of the disciplinary and grievance procedures. Once you have made an offer of employment you should follow it up with an offer letter. The contract can accompany the offer letter or follow shortly afterwards. You may want to get the letter out first so that the new employee has something in writing so that they can resign from their existing job.

Ideally they need to have it before they start so any contract negotiations are done and dusted before day one. The short answer is yes. But to avoid any risk of a legal case against you, it needs to be done with the agreement of the employee.

Remember that a contract is an agreement, therefore no part of the contract should be changed by either party without the agreement of the other. This is why it is important to consider any future changes to the organisation when writing the terms and conditions of the contract to ensure that there is some element of flexibility without being so flexible the term is unenforceable by law for being too unreasonable. A written statement of particulars outlines the main terms and conditions of employmnent.

It does not need to necessarily cover all the employment terms, but it should include the main conditions of employment. Any member of staff whose employment contract lasts for than one month must be given a written statement of particulars. As an employer, you will need to provide this document within the first two months of the start of employment.

Visit the ACAS website at www. Whilst it might seem like a long time, the Employment Rights Act is quite generous and gives you up to two months to issue the written statement of particulars. This person is your employee and works either full or part time hours. Fixed Term This is a contract for a specific length of time. Regardless of whether you are an employer or an employee, it is always a smart idea to have an experienced employment lawyer draft and review your employment contract.

Hiring an employment lawyer to draft and review your employment contract will ensure that it is legally enforceable, is not in violation of any employment laws, and includes all of the provisions that are important to maintaining a successful working relationship between the parties.

Additionally, a lawyer can also assist in negotiating the terms of your employment contract, or alternatively, renegotiating your contract if there is a change in your employment circumstances.

Jaclyn Wishnia. Jaclyn started at LegalMatch in October Her role entails writing legal articles for the law library division, located on the LegalMatch website. Prior to joining LegalMatch, Jaclyn was a paralegal and freelance writer. After several years of working for both criminal defense and entertainment law firms, she enrolled in law school. While in law school, her law journal note was selected for first-round publishing, and can be found on various legal research databases.

Jaclyn holds a J. Cardozo School of Law, specializing in both intellectual property law and data law; and a B. You can learn more about Jaclyn here. Jose Rivera. Law Library Disclaimer. Can't find your category? Click here. If you require professional advice, please get in touch. Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can help your business with friendly expert HR Support or with our powerful HR software.

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