Contracts of Employment and Offer Letter

It is a legal requirement to provide all employees and workers a written statement of employment particulars on (or before) their first day of work. The written statement is made up of two separate documents:

the main document (or ‘principal statement’) detailing specific key information, this is usually in the format of an ‘offer of employment’ letter and must contain the required specified information stipulated in the Employment Rights Act (1996)a wider written statement (usually called the ‘contract of employment’) which will contain more detailed information about the working arrangements and other company benefits or rules, policies and procedures

It is vitally important that the company’s obligations are met for the details required in the ‘offer of employment’ letter, and that all other terms placed in the contract of employment comply with current employment law (minimum wage regulations, statutory leave entitlements etc)

If an employee or worker brings a claim at an employment tribunal and is successful in claiming they do not have a written statement of employment particulars, or the information within their contract of employment is not legally compliant, then the tribunal may award compensation equivalent to 4 weeks’ pay 

The principal statement must be supplied on the first day of employment, and the wider written statement must be provided within 2 months of the employment start date. If you currently have employees without either a legally compliant offer of employment letter, or contract of employment, then it is still not too late! An employment tribunal would look favourably on a company that has recognised it needs documents and takes action to provide these, even outside of the usual timeframe

Learn more in our Contract Law blog post