Contracts of employment are vital to your business because they set out the rules surrounding the working relationship with your employees.
But when was the last time you updated your contracts?
Employment law changes ALL👏 THE👏 TIME👏 and if your contracts haven't been checked for a few years, this is your sign to get cracking. We've included some helpful tips below to guide you through what to look for when updating your contracts and how you can go about updating your terms.
Variation to Contract
Sometimes, you will need to make a change to a clause in employee's contract but not the whole thing. This could be as a result of a change in pay, after a flexible working request or after a promotion. In this case, you can simply write a letter explaining:
What you plan on changing
Why you plan on the change
When the change will take effect
Who to go to if they don't agree with the changes
How to confirm acceptance of the changes.
Brand New Contract
Where more than one or two clauses need an overhaul, employers are requires to issue a whole new contract to get the company up to date. Have a look at this checklist and see if your contracts are compliant (in no particular order):
☑️ the employee and the employer names
☑️ the start date of employment
☑️ the date the employee's continuous service started
☑️ terms relating to probationary periods
☑️ the method, rate or scale in place for pay calculations
☑️ how often the employee will be paid
☑️ terms and conditions relating to working hours, days of the week and whether working hours will vary
☑️ holiday entitlement, details around public holidays and holiday pay
☑️ sickness and incapacity for work provisions including notification requirements and sick pay
☑️ terms around other paid leave and family-friendly leave
☑️ details of pensions and pension schemes
☑️ details of any other employee benefits
☑️ the duration of notice to be given to or provided by the employee to terminate employment
☑️ job title or description of the role
☑️ details of training provision and requirements
☑️ the expected duration of any fixed term roles and the date fixed term employment will end
☑️ the normal place of work or address details of the employer
☑️ details of any collective agreements which directly affect the terms
☑️ disciplinary rules and procedures
☑️ grievance and appeal procedures.
When issuing a new statement of terms, employers need to consult with their staff and seek their agreement. To do this, employers should provide a copy of the new terms for the employees to review along with a letter explaining the reasons for the changes and give the employee a reasonable time frame (usually 1 month) to come back with any queries and, ideally, agree to the changes.
Don't forget that you can purchase 2024 contract from our template shop or if you want our team to sort them out for you, click here!
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