Contracts of Employment: The law has changed
07 April 2020
On 6 April 2020 the right to contract of employment for employees and workers became mandatory for employers to issue from day one.
What needs to be included within these terms, has also been broadened. In addition to the current information that must be provided for all new starters on or after 6 April 2020, the employment terms and conditions should also include:
- how long a job is likely to last, or the end date of a fixed-term contract;
- the duration and conditions of any probationary period;
- how much notice the employer and worker are required to give to terminate the agreement;
- details of eligibility for sick leave and pay;
- details of other types of paid leave;
- all remuneration (not just pay);
- training entitlement provided by the employer, any part of that training entitlement which the employer requires the worker to complete, and any other training which the employer requires the worker to complete and which the employer will not bear the cost;
- normal working hours, also the days of the week the worker is required to work, and whether or not such hours or days may be variable, and if they may be how they vary or how that variation is to be determined.
Everyone has had a great deal to deal with in the past few weeks. However, now may be a convenient time to sort out your contracts of employment to ensure that they comply with the new law. We recommend that employers review their current contracts of employment to check they contain what is required and check they have all been issued to staff to begin with. We regularly have queries relating to what the contracts permit, to find that they have not actually been issued as an oversight. Issuing contracts should now become an integral part of your recruitment process latter stages to ensure this is not omitted. As such we also recommend that processes are reviewed to delegate this task clearly and ensure that the correct documents are prepared in advance of anyone starting work on day one.
Although not officially part of the requirements under new legislation changes, employers working in the transport sector have more specific provisions to communicate to staff that are transport related. They should be addressed in the contracts of employment to ensure the standard and expectations are known from day one.
Have your contracts reviewed by our team of specialist employment lawyers in the transport sector (or let us provide them if you have none), to ensure they are up to date and protect the business as they should. A review or drafting of contracts can be provided for a fixed price – for more details on this service, please click here or contact our employment team on 01254 828300 for further details.
