An employer must give employees and workers a document stating the main conditions of employment when they start work. There is a day one right for employees and workers, to receive this and this applies for employment beginning on or after 6 April 2020. 

There are lots of places to download a simple template for an employment contract, however this will not cover all the terms needed to protect your business and it may not be up to date. 

I have seen some of these contracts in place and these will cause issues for employers. One example I have seen didn’t cover a specified notice period in place when the employee is in a probationary period, if someone is not meeting the standards expected then you would want to pay them the shortness notice possible, surely! This employment contract did not include a specified notice period during the probationary period, and the business would have been liable to pay one months’ notice period in instead of being able to pay less. You only need to give one weeks’ notice if the employee has at least one month’s service and less than 2 years’ service. If this isn’t specified the contractual notice, in this case one month, applies.

Many of these templates also do not cover some of the additional key terms, which I would recommend including for all small businesses. Of course, depending on the type of business, extra terms may also be required:

Additional recommended terms:

• Deductions from wages – one of the main disputes employers will face is when an employee leaves and they owe money for overtaken holiday, for example, and there is no clear clause in the contract to cover this.
• Overtime / Time in Lieu – there may not be an immediate need for this, but as your business grows your employees and workers may be working overtime and they will have an expectation to be rewarded for this, make this clear at the outset so you avoid disputes and save yourself time getting into debates with employees.
• Confidentiality – are employees and workers clear on their expectations on protecting your business.
• Notice periods – do these cover the statutory notice period required from the employer, you don’t have to stick to a one fits all approach.
• Lay off / short-term working clause – may be required if you have a downturn in work for a short period.

If you need an employment contract, which will help you avoid potential disputes and provides terms specific to your business, schedule a call with me today.