Contract of Employment

Contract of Employment usually means a contract of service (or apprenticeship), and may be oral or in writing.

An employee is a person who enters into, or works under (or, after employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment.
They must be given a written statement of the main terms of employment setting out the main terms and conditions of employment within eight weeks of commencement.
The Statement should contain the main terms, such as, place of work, hours of work, sufficient information for the employee to calculate his/her pay, holidays, etc.
The Statement can refer to information in other documents that may be incorporated into the contract of employment. e.g. Employee Handbooks, containing terms and conditions of service, grievance and disciplinary procedures, works rules and other rights and obligations. Such a document should also contain the employer's policies on discrimination, harassment, etc.
Employers are strongly advised to ensure that any such terms are comprehensive, discharge the obligation to uphold employees' rights, and ensure that the terms of the contract give you the means to act decisively.
For example;
If you do not have a comprehensive set of rules, how can you claim that an employee has breached them?
If you have not set out what you consider to be "Gross Misconduct" the employee can say to a Tribunal "I did not know, therefore the dismissal is unfair".
If you have not set out clearly the employee's rights during a disciplinary procedure (those rights must accord with current legislation/Codes of Practice), then the dismissal is automatically unfair - the only question for the Tribunal would be "How much compensation?"

The Offer Letter
The contract of employment is entered into when the applicant accepts the employer's job offer. The terms of the contract of employment can develop as the employee learns the job and accepts the duties and obligations require of him/her. Care should be taken when writing the offer letter, and any documents containing terms and conditions of employment which accompany it. On this will be based the essential terms of the contract. The letter of appointment is an important document. It should cover the main aspects of the contractual relationship between the employee and employer.

Advertisements
Employers cannot rely upon advertisements as evidence of the contractual terms if a subsequent appointment letter differs from the advertisement, and has been accepted by the successful applicant. Interviews An employee could be able to rely on statements made during the interview about the terms and conditions offered. Interviewers should be careful not to mislead candidates about the nature or duties of the post and the terms of employment being offered.

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