What to include in terms of employment to ensure they comply with employment law

“Written particulars of employment”

It is a legal requirement to provide employees with a “written particulars of employment” on or before the person's first day of work. This is a set of information about the employee’s role and the terms that relate to that role. It is comment practice for this information to be included in the employee’s terms of employment. This information must include:

1. the employer’s name;

2. the employee’s or worker’s name;

3. the employee’s job title or a description of work involved;

4. the start date for the job role;

5. how much, and how often, the employee or worker will get paid;

6. the hours and days of work and if and how they may vary (including requirements to work weekends or nights, as well as any overtime requirements);

7. the employee’s holiday entitlement (and if that includes public holidays);

8. the location where the employee will be working and whether they might have to relocate;

9. if the employee will work in different places, where these will be and what the employer’s address is;

10. how long a job is expected to last (and what the end date is if it’s a fixed-term contract);

11. how long any probation period is and what its conditions are for passing the probationary period;

12. any other benefits the employee will be entitled to (for example, childcare vouchers or wellbeing benefits);

13. any mandatory training, and whether or not this is paid for by the employer;

14. sick pay and procedures;

15. details about other paid leave (for example, maternity leave and paternity leave); and

16. the specific notice periods for terminating the employment relationship.

Other key information to include in terms and conditions of employment

Employers are also under a legal duty to provide a wider written statement to employees within 2 months of the date they start their employment. If this information is known at the outset of the employment, it is common for this information to also be included in the employee’s terms of employment, so that all information relating to the employment relationship is included in one, clear document:

1. details of pensions and pension schemes - in the UK, it is a legal requirement to auto-enrol eligible employees into a pension scheme. Employers can defer the enrolment by a maximum of three months to give them time to set the pension scheme up;

2. details of any applicable collective agreements (a collective agreement is an agreement between an employer and the employees’ representatives (e.g. trade unions or staff associations) that allows negotiations of terms and conditions like pay or working hours);

3. any other right to non-compulsory training provided by the employer (and details of who will pay for that training); and

4. the employer’s disciplinary and grievance procedures, including copies of any formal disciplinary and grievance policies that the employer has in place.

Final thoughts

Use Docue’s terms of employment contract template to ensure that all of the matters and information above is provided to your employees, and you comply with the requirements of UK employment law.

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