Employers Obligation

Whether you employ 10 or 10,000 people, the law says that when an employee begins working for you, you must give him/her a written statement of particulars of employment. You can give this statement in instalments, but no later than within two months of their start date.

Here is a list of everything that your statement needs to cover:

1. Basic details

• the names of the employer and employee,
• the date when the employment began, and
• the date the employee’s period of continuous employment began (taking into account any employment with a previous employer that counts towards that period).

2. Details correct at the time of writing

• the scale or rate of pay (or the method of calculating pay),
• how often they will be paid (weekly, monthly or other specified intervals),
• any terms and conditions relating to hours of work (including any terms and conditions relating to normal working hours),
• any terms and conditions relating to any of the following:
  – entitlement to holidays, including public holidays, and holiday pay (so that you can calculate the employee’s entitlement, including any entitlement to accrued holiday pay on the termination of employment),
  – incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provision for sick pay, and
  – pensions and pension schemes.
• the length of notice that the employee must give and is entitled to receive to terminate their contract of employment,
• the job title or a brief description of the work they are being employed to carry out,
• in the case of a temporary role, the period for which it is expected to continue or, if it is for a fixed term, the date when it is to end,
• either the place of work or, where the employee is required or permitted to work at various places, an indication of that and of the address of the employer,
• any collective agreements that directly affect the terms and conditions of the employment including, where the employer is not a party, the persons by whom they were made, and
• where the employee is required to work outside the United Kingdom for a period of more than one month:
  – how long they are to work outside the UK,
  – the currency they will be paid in while working outside the UK,
  – any additional remuneration payable, and any additional benefits to be provided because of the requirement to work outside the UK, and
  – any terms and conditions relating to their return to the United Kingdom.

The statement under section 1 must include:

• a note that specifies any disciplinary rules applicable to the employee. You can refer to a separate policy as long as it is easy for the employee to access it (for example, in a staff manual);
• the procedure for taking disciplinary decisions in relation to the employee or to a decision to dismiss the employee. Again, you can refer the employee to a separate policy that you have made accessible;
• details of the person the employee can talk to if dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision, or to resolve any grievance. You should set out how this process works.

The note should also state whether there is a contracting-out certificate (issued in accordance with the Pension Schemes Act 1993)

For more information on An Employer’s Obligation to Provide Particulars of Employment  call us today on 01895 207892. Alternatively email your details to employment@ibblaw.co.uk