Employers, ensure you meet the legal requirements when hiring

The number of job vacancies available in the UK has hit an all-time high in the past couple of months, with over 1 million roles being on offer for the first time since records began. Labour shortages in several key industries including logistics, care and hospitality has exacerbated this issue.

Meeting legal requirements as an employer

With so many companies hiring, it is crucial that employers ensure that they meet the legal requirements for having written terms of employment in place. Since April 2020, employees must be provided with a written statement of employment particulars on or before their first day of employment.

There is a range of information that the statement must contain, including but not limited to: the names of the parties, the date the employee started working for the company, their job title, their hours of work, details of their remuneration, and their holiday entitlement.

While it does not need to be in the particulars, the statement also needs to let employees know where they can find information about their pension and any pension schemes operated by the company, the disciplinary and grievance procedures and the appeals procedure for disciplinary and grievance procedures.

This statement of particulars is designed to protect employees and give them clarity over their work.

Protecting your business

In order to protect your business as an employer, it is important to have a written contract of employment in place. It allows you, as an employer, to be explicit about any terms you want to be in place, protecting your company from a legal standpoint.

As noted above, there are a number of details that are legally required to be stated in a contract, but also ensures that appropriate provisions are in place to protect your confidential information and intellectual property.

It also provides clarity and removes the scope for misunderstanding that comes from a verbal contract. Having written contracts in place also encourage good relationships between employees and employer, and helps employees feel secure and comfortable in their roles.

How Moore Barlow can help

If you need to produce written contracts of employment for your employees, it is important that you seek legal advice.

Our employment legal experts can provide assistance in drafting contracts for your staff.

Contact us today


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