An employment contract protects you and your business by setting out what’s expected from your employees and you as an employer. For example, an employment contract could make stipulations about what your employee can and can’t do when they leave your employment, protecting you from ex-employees poaching clients and/or staff from your business.
While there is no legal requirement to provide a written contract of employment, there are multiple risks associated with not doing so. To protect your business, your clients and your employees, it’s best practice to provide clear contractual guidelines to all your staff.
Furthermore, it is a legal requirement to provide a written statement of particulars of employment (known as a ‘section 1 statement’) providing the employee with details such as hours of work, holiday entitlement, place of work, job title, disciplinary procedures etc…
Since April 2020 the required contents of this statement have become much more detailed. It, therefore, makes sense to simply incorporate the section 1 statement details into a more comprehensive contract which will provide the Employer with all the protection it requires in addition to supplying the information that an employee is entitled to in the section 1 statement.
As well as advising on all the legal aspects of an employment contract, a good solicitor can help you avoid costly mistakes and develop a contract that’s tailored to your business, not some one-size-fits-all document that leaves you open to problems down the line.
This is particularly important when considering contractual terms that are designed to protect your business both during the course of an employee’s employment and afterwards. Restrictions on what your employees can do after they leave your employment can be notoriously difficult to enforce before the courts.
Unless such restrictions are carefully drafted with your specific business in mind so as to be able to demonstrate to a court’s satisfaction that they are no more than is reasonably necessary to protect your legitimate business interests, you will run the risk of such provisions being held to be in restraint of trade and unenforceable,
