Don’t let contracts of employment be an after thought

We’ve all been there, busy getting a new starter on board, and neglecting the paperwork that will form the basis of the employment relationship. Or we’ve been delighted that someone has accepted a promotion and we get busy making plans for their progression rather than tie up the paperwork loose ends!

Unfortunately in HR, this can lead to difficulties down the road.

Contracts are legally binding documents that protect both the Employee and the Employer. They are as equally important when you have a new starter as they are when you are making changes to employees terms and conditions.

When there is just 1 change such as a job title or pay increase, you can craft a letter to this regard however with 2 or more changes i.e. a pay increase and a change in hours a new contract should be raised.

Here’s an example of this…

Amelia has requested a copy of her contract as she wishes to see what her notice period is. The last contract raised was when she was a Qualified Practitioner however she is now a Deputy Manager. Unfortunately due to what it says in her contract, the notice she is required to give is 4 weeks however if she was on the correct contract with updated terms and conditions, she would have had to give 12 weeks’ notice.  

Since the 1^st April 2020, you are required to give all new employees a contract by the end of their first working day. We still get requests now at Redwing for contracts for people who started months ago. This means that there are no written terms between you as the employer and them as the employee. This creates problems if for example you wish to dismiss someone in their probationary period. Well our first question is always, can we see their contract so that we can check their probationary period. Without a contract that employee may have no idea they are on a 6 month probation period.  This will be even more important with the change to unfair dismissal being a day 1 right!

If there is no written record of the terms of employment, it makes it harder to prove the existence of certain terms if you are required to defend yourself in an Employment Tribunal, this can also be costly, time consuming and damaging to your reputation.

Please don’t let the absence of an up to date contract cause risks to your business.  If you need any assistance with this aspect of HR management call our team on 01527 909436.