Employment Contracts & Policies

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The cornerstone of protecting your business

Giving your employees a contract of employment and having a disciplinary and grievance policy is the cornerstone of protecting your business. Indeed it is a statutory requirement to give all employees a statement of terms of employment which must include a set minimum amount of information such as:

  • Name of employer
  • Date employment began
  • Rate of pay
  • Pay dates
  • Hours of work
  • Holidays
  • Sick absence and sick pay
  • Pensions
  • Length of notice
  • Job title
  • Place of work
  • Working outside of UK
  • Details of any trade union agreements

So the starting point is ensuring you have the minimum and working up from that point.

I can provide you with a basic contract and policies to get you started. However, you can do so much more with contracts and handbooks.

Contracts of Employment:

Technically you can include anything you want in a contract it is just a case of having your employees agree to it. But also, there are sensible commercial provisions that you can include in contracts that will add value for example:-

  • Provisions to protect your confidential information;
  • Post-termination restrictions preventing employees stealing customers or working for a competitor;
  • Provisions dealing with bonuses and commission and how it is calculated and when it will be paid;
  • Holiday clauses stipulating when holidays can and can’t be taken;
  • If sick pay will be paid and in what circumstances;
  • Retention provisions such as increasing holiday, sick leave with length of service;
  • ‘Claw back provisions’ for training or other costs;
  • ‘Liquidated damages’ clauses for repayment of recruitment costs if employee leaves in certain period;
  • Structure of notice periods and termination provisions.

Employee Handbooks & Policies

Whilst most companies will adopt a fairly standard handbook and policies, you can tailor them to how you run your business. So, if you commonly have an issue that arises with employees then you can draft a specific clause into your handbook or policy.

Below are the standard policies that employers will tend to have:

  • Disciplinary;
  • Grievance;
  • Bullying & harassment;
  • Social Media Policy;
  • Sick absence;
  • Holiday;
  • Equal opportunities policy;
  • Extreme Weather policy;
  • IT & Internet Policy;
  • Car Policy;
  • Cash Handling Policy;
  • Health & Safety Policy.

Employment Document Starter Pack

Ideal for start-up businesses.

I can provide you with a basic set of all necessary employment documents in one convenient pack:-

  • Contract of employment;
  • Disciplinary Policy;
  • Grievance Policy;
  • Equal Opportunities Policy.

The price for this is £395 plus VAT and includes an initial telephone consultation to fully understand your business and what terms need to be included. Once you have reviewed the contracts we are happy to make any minor amendments prior to you issuing the documents to your employees.

Please note that these contracts will only cover the statutory minimum information required. If you require more comprehensive contracts or clauses identified above then these will need to be quoted for as a bespoke document.

Free Employment Document Audit

If you’re not sure if your contracts and policies are up to date then I’m more than happy to review your current documents and provide you with a free no obligation report on recommended amendments that you could make.

Many clients will use this free service every couple of years just to check they are all up to date with any legal changes and current ‘good practice’.

Contact

If you would like to arrange a free initial telephone consultation, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0113 871 5909, 07518 256075 or by email at andrew@lightburnlegal.co.uk.

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