Global Expansion Resources | United Kingdom
UK Employment Contracts
Helping businesses expand into the UK with expert PEO services
Comply with UK employment laws and issue compliant UK employment contracts using our PEO Services
When expanding your business into a new market one of the most important aspects to get right is a compliant, happy and committed workforce. Setting out a fair employment contract that protects both you and your employees is one way to achieve this.
Businesses employing British employees must provide written terms of employment in the form of a principal statement by law. Therefore, it is key to provide the right terms and benefits in an employment contract. Read on to find out all you need to know about creating a compliant written statement of employment particulars and how our PEO services can help you achieve this.
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United Kingdom Expansion Advice
What does a UK employment contract include?
As outlined on Gov.uk, this should be provided on the first day of employment and at a minimum should include:
- the employer’s name
- the employee’s or worker’s name, job title or a description of work and start date
- how much and how often an employee or worker will get paid
- hours and days of work and if and how they may vary (also if employees or workers will have to work Sundays, nights or overtime)
- holiday entitlement (and if that includes public holidays)
- where an employee or worker will be working and whether they might have to relocate or work abroad
- if an employee or worker works in different places, where these will be and what the employer’s address is
- how long a job is expected to last (and what the end date is if it’s a fixed-term contract)
- how long any probation period is and what its conditions are
- other benefits (for example, childcare vouchers and lunch)
- obligatory training, whether or not this is paid for by the employer
Meanwhile, a wider statement must be provided within 2 months of the employee’s start date. This should include:
- pensions and pension schemes
- collective agreements
- any other right to non-compulsory training provided by the employer
- disciplinary and grievance procedures
As you can see employment terms must contain an abundance of information that must be correct at the time of writing. Failing to provide this, or going against what is stated in an employment contract can result in employee disputes which can cost your business greatly and hinder employee satisfaction.
What types of employment contracts are there in the UK?
UK law states that employers must provide a written statement which outlines an employee’s terms and benefits. There are two types of written statements – a principal statement and a wider statement as outlined above. While these aren’t employment contracts per se, many employers also opt for providing a written employment contract in order to fully establish employee and employer rights.
The two types of UK employment contracts are an indefinite employment contract and a fixed term employment contract.
An indefinite employment contract is the most widely used employment contract in the UK. It runs indefinitely meaning that an employee is permanently employed at your company until they resign, retire, the business permanently closes or their employment is legally terminated.
A fixed term employment contract however lasts only for a fixed period time, i.e. until a project has been finished. These can be used for contractors or temporary workers.
It is vital that businesses understand the difference between these contracts, their respective pros and cons and know which is best-suited for their employees to avoid incorrect contracts and terms being issued.
Can I change an employment contract?
Employee contracts can be amended, however any changes can only be made with the consent of both the employee and employer. Failure to gain consent can lead to disputes and unhappy employees.
Do I need to translate an employment contract?
When recruiting on an international scale, it is important that employment contracts are translated for employees. While this may seem like a simple statement, remember that some terms, especially legal discourse, can be lost in translation leading to misunderstandings, risks and even legal proceedings further down the line.
How do I write a UK employment contract?
While you may be aware what terms you want to include in your employment contract, writing these terms compliantly is not that easy.
A UK employment contract and the employment itself must comply with UK employment laws around the following:
- Minimum wage
- Working hours and overtime
- Health and safety
- Breaks
- Sick leave
- Annual leave
- Maternity, paternity and parental leave
- Probation
- Termination notice
Failure to comply with the above can lead to unhappy employees and even legal disputes. However, gaining and maintaining a detailed enough knowledge of British employment laws to write a sufficient employment contract takes an enormous amount of time, resources and money for expanding businesses.
In order to ensure the smooth and complaint onboarding of UK employees it is highly recommended that you outsource your employment contracts to a trusted professional. This is where our PEO services come in.
Why use a PEO partner to manage UK employment contracts?
Producing and issuing compliant UK employment contracts is not just a complex process but also one that is laden with risk. Failure to comply with employment laws or to state employment terms and benefits correctly can cause employment disputes which runs a huge risk of fines, employee lawsuits and can jeopardise your expansion into the UK. But employment contracts are only one task of many to overcome when expanding your business, as employers must also consider payroll, tax, national insurance contributions, recruitment and work visas.
A PEO partner allows you to focus on your company’s expansion by taking the stressful and time-consuming elements from your workload. You can relax knowing that your employee contracts are taken care of compliantly. At Leap29, our PEO team are up to date on the latest employment laws and contract requirements meaning we can issue contracts compliantly and promptly on your behalf.
If you want to find out more about how our PEO Services in the United Kingdom can support your global expansion, call our experts today on +44 (0) 1625 537 555 or email [email protected].
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