You must include:
- the employer's name and the name of the employee;
- the date on which the employment began;
- the date on which the period of 'continuous employment' began (if, for example, the employee previously worked for a company acquired by you);
- pay (or how it is calculated) and when it will be paid;
- information about working hours;
- entitlement to holidays and holiday pay;
- the employee's job title or a brief description of their work;
- the employee's place of work;
- details of disciplinary, dismissal and grievance rules and procedures.
All employers, regardless of size, now have to provide written details of disciplinary rules and procedures, which must comply with the statutory minimum procedures. These may at some point be replaced by guidelines, which are, however, unlikely to be any less stringent, even if not a specific legal requirement. So if you have not yet adopted any written procedures, it is essential that you now do so.
Currently, if you fail to complete the statutory procedures in dismissing an employee with a year or more of service (who is therefore qualified to claim unfair dismissal), or dismiss for an inadmissible or unlawful reason (where there is no minimum service requirement - see Dismissing Employees), the dismissal will automatically be unfair and you could face an increase in any compensation awarded of between 10-50%. In future you are likely to be encouraged to redress the situation at a much earlier stage, and if you fail to do so, find yourself facing much stiffer penalties.
You must also include in the written statement, or make available in readily accessible documents:
- terms and conditions relating to sickness and injury, and sick pay (other than statutory sick pay);
- terms and conditions relating to pensions, including whether a contracting out certificate is in force;
- the notice period the employee is obliged to give and entitled to receive for termination of the employment contract (and if you reserve the right to give payment in lieu, it would be sensible to say so);
- how long the employment is intended to last (unless permanent);
- any collective agreement which directly affects the employment.
