Guide to contracts of employment

Once you have set up your business the hiring process starts, and while interviewing and recruitment can be daunting it is important to implement a contract of employment before starting the process.

When starting out it is difficult to know exactly what needs to be included in a contract for new employees.

Terms of Employment

New members of staff should be given exact details of the terms and conditions of their employment, which highlights some of the simplest yet most crucial elements of employment.

The start date, the days and hours of work, the job title and description, the salary, holiday entitlements, sick pay entitlements and the details of any collective agreement should all be included.

Intervals of pay – weekly, monthly, etc. – should be added along with the place of work, the length of notice that needs to be given by you and your employee and also an indication of the length of contract, particularly if a contract is temporary.

Disciplinary procedures

While there is a lot to remember to put in the contract of employment one thing that it is crucial not to miss is the disciplinary and grievance procedures.

The procedure can be boiled down to three steps that must be included in a contract in order to explain to the prospective employee exactly how the process works.

Usually putting a complaint about a member of staff's performance in writing is the first step, setting up a meeting to discuss the issue is the second step of a disciplinary process.

At this stage the employee can be accompanied by a colleague of trade union representative if they wish and it is important to tell the staff member what has been decided as a result of the meeting and inform them of a right to appeal.

The final step, which should be outlined in the contract of employment, is the appeal process, usually consisting of a further meeting with the most senior manager.

It is important to get the advice of an employment lawyer when drawing up a contract for your workplace as this will ensure it contains everything that is necessary.