Contracts of employment

Written contracts of employment are a legal requirement. If you don’t have them, quite simply, your business could be at risk.

If you’re reading this and thinking ‘yes, but they’re a hassle’, remember, contracts benefit both you and your employees. They ensure employees know where they stand and what’s expected of them, and they give you a written record to fall back on if they breach them.

So, where do you start? What needs to be included? And what types are there? That’s where we come in.

We take the complication out of contracts of employment. We draft watertight contracts so that you know you’re covered from every angle. We take care of any updates and amendments. We provide you with a means to digitally store and distribute them. And we streamline the contract creation process for new starters.

Want to get in on the action? Fill in the form below to find out more.

What’s a contract of employment?

A contract of employment is an agreement – written or verbal – between an employee and an employer. Although contracts don’t have to be in writing to meet your legal requirements, to give you a tangible record of what’s been agreed, it’s better that they are.

Contracts come into force from the moment an employment offer is accepted. And when an employee turns up for their first day of work with you, this is seen as confirmation that they accept the terms and conditions included in their contract.

Contract of employment template

All employees should be issued with a statement of main terms and conditions within two months of their start date.

To give you a flavour of what this should include, here are the key areas that need covering:

Don’t worry, we understand it’s a lot to get your head around. For a full understanding of your contract of employment requirements, get in touch with our Employment Law experts on 0345 844 1111 or hello@citation.co.uk.

Types of employment contracts

There are a number of different types of contracts, like:

• Full-time contracts
• Part-time contracts
• Fixed-term contracts
• Zero-hours contracts
• Agency worker agreements.

In addition, there are extra rules about employing young people, apprentices, mobile workers and agricultural workers.

An employee’s employment responsibilities will differ depending on their employment status and type of contract they’re on. It’s therefore incredibly important that employees are issued with the correct contract of employment.

Contract of employment changes

Whether it’s because of legislation updates or internal business changes, it’s not uncommon for changes to be made to an employee’s contract of employment.

If you do find yourself needing to make an amendment to an employee’s contract of employment though, this should be agreed and confirmed – in writing – as soon as possible, or at least within one month of the change.

How does a contract of employment protect you?

Contracts of employment provide a number of benefits and protective measures, like:

Clarity: they ensure both you and the employee are singing from the same hymn sheet. This prevents any confusion from both parties and can avoid arguments down the line.

Reference point: if an employee breaches any of their terms and conditions, a written contract of employment provides you with tangible evidence to refer back to – should the breach require action, this’ll likely help your cause.

Relationships: contracts can help foster positive working relationships. How? By setting out clear terms and conditions for everyone to abide by.

Deterrent: including additional things like confidentiality, conflict of interest and non-compete clauses can act as a deterrent – should an employee have considered acting against any of them, that is.

Contract personalisation

Got lots of new starters? No problem. Our online management platform, Atlas, goes one step further by simplifying the employee contract set-up process.

With the click of a button, you can easily import information like an employee’s name, job title, start date and salary into existing templates, so that you don’t have to create umpteen documents from scratch every time you have new starters.

How we can help

Here at Citation, we know contracts of employment like the back of our hand. From help differentiating between the different types and drafting legally tight documents, to ongoing amendments and easy distribution, we’ve got you covered from start to finish.

To see just how much we can support you with creating contracts of employment – and any other area of HR & Employment Law for that matter, get in touch with our team of experts on 0345 844 1111 or hello@citation.co.uk.