UK Employment Law\ Employer \ Employment Contracts
Employment contracts
An employment contract sets out mutual obligations that both the employer and employee must conform to. Without such a written agreement, an employee is legally accepting the employer’s terms by starting work. The deal does not have to be in writing unless it is for an apprenticeship. An employment contract’s terms can be in writing, spoken, or implied. There are some cases where an agreement is a mixture of all three.
An implied agreement is made up of terms that are obvious, such as: taking reasonable instructions from the boss. Employing an employee would become unworkable in many cases without the freedom for terms to be implied.
Employed or self-employed?
If the employer provides work, sets down the times for tasks to be performed, supplies tools and equipment, and also deals with financial matters (such as tax and national insurance contributions), then the worker is being treated as an employee.
A self-employed worker is one who decides whether to accept work and how to perform it. They also make their own arrangements for holidays or sickness, pay their own tax and NI contributions. However, it is not always the case that someone described as a self-employed worker is actually self-employed. Do not take for granted either that carrying out tasks on the employer’s premises or at the employee’s home has sway over the real legal status.
The deciding factor comes down to whether workers are genuinely in business on their own account. A tribunal may need to determine this first, before moving on to whether there has been a breach of any employment contract.
Statement of particulars.
Anyone who is employed in excess of a month can be given a written contract listing the main particulars. It does not have to cover every facet of a full contract, but should provide important evidence regarding terms and conditions of employment. This has to be done within two months of the date employment starts.
Breach of the contract.
Failure to abide by an employment contract can bring about a legal breach.
When talking about ‘breach of contract’, there is often much emphasis placed on what the employee can do wrong that can cause a breach, and thereby a dismissal. However, the employer must also be aware that the breach can occur through his or her actions, or inaction, too.
When the breach is committed by the employer, there are two avenues open to the employee:
- accept the breach and move on;
- do not accept the breach and resign.
If an employee accepts a breach made by the employer and also continues to work for him/her, there are still further courses of action that may ensue. The employee is entitled to pursue compensation from the employer. In such circumstances, the employee is likely to seek either advice and help from a solicitor and/or union. It is advisable that the employer also calls on the services of a solicitor if the compensation route is pursued.
An employer can breach an employment contract in a number of ways:
- failure to pay wages or salary;
- failure to pay the agreed level of wages or salary;
- Harassment of an employee;
- Bullying;
- Bringing false misconduct allegations;
- Altering terms of employment;
- Making a major change to the location of an employee’s place of work, without giving due notice.
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