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Explanatory Notes
General Contract of Employment
GENERAL A duplicate of the contract (signed by employer) should be sent to each prospective employee for their records and to allow them to sign and return one copy to you to be retained. This will act as proof that the employee has accepted the terms and conditions of the contract. The contract can be issued to an employee after he has joined as long as it is not later than 12 weeks after the employment began. It is important that you review the contract to ensure that it is applicable to your business requirements. Guidance is given below as to which clauses you may with to amend or review. Page 1 contains a covering letter to send with the terms of conditions of employment. It contains instructions for the employee on what to do with the contract once he have read and understood its contents. It is important to ensure that all employees are treated equally and that no direct or indirect discrimination takes place by including clauses for some categories of staff and excluding for others. GUIDANCE ON SPECIFIC CAUSES 1.1 If this contract replaces an earlier contract with the same employer or predecessor of the current employer it is necessary to include the earliest start date. 1.3 If there is unlikely to be a requirement to travel abroad, remove reference to the possibility from the contract 1.5 The length of a probationary period can be varied. During the probationary period the employee should receive objective feedback about their performance and the feedback should be documented. This should include the setting of specific targets for improvement if appropriate. The probationary period should not be extended for more than 6 months in total. During this time a final decision should be made about the employee's suitability for the role. 2 This clause needs to be tailored to the particular circumstances of the employer. Clause 2.1 allows the employer to require work outside normal office hours but employers in the EU should be aware of the statutory constraints in particular the working time directive. 2.1 Reasonable notice of changes to hours should be no less than 2 weeks. 4.2 The simplest way of calculating a pro rata holiday allowance for the month the employee joins is to use the 15th of the month as a cut off date. Those joining before the 15th get half a month's holiday allowance and those joining after the 15th get a full month's allowance. 4.6 Employees are usually entitled to take public holidays in addition to their normal holiday entitlement on a paid basis. 5.2 It is suggested that a medical certificate be produced for absence in excess of 5 working days. 5.3 It is suggested that an employee be entitled to the first 10 days of any absence due to sickness or injury in any calendar year and thereafter for the period of full pay will be at the discretion of the employer. 6. You may also want to include reference in this section to any provision for life insurance cover provided for the employee 6.1 It is normal for employees to join any company pension scheme on completion of their trial period. 6.4 The notice required to be given by an employee is shorter than the notice to be given by an employer. This can be changed so both requirements for notice arethe same. However, please note that when an employee leaves and is not required to work his notice period the employer will be required to pay the salary for full notice period. 8. It is advisable to have a confidentiality clause which not only requires the employee to maintain confidentiality while working for the employer but also after the contract comes to an end. In addition the clause requires an employee to return documents belonging to the company at the end of the contract. 11. Non solicitation clauses designed to restrict an employee's right to work for a competitor are recommended but there is a lot of case law on this subject and legal advice should be taken on precise wording of this clause. 12. Since 2007, smoking has been prohibited by law in the UK. If the employer also wants to prohibit smoking near the company premises – e.g. on the street near the office, this should be stated. 13. If dress code is not an important factor, this clause can be deleted. Alternatively, where special clothing is needed, this could be mentioned. 14. Any change to the terms of employment should be discussed in advance and the agreement of employees obtained. 15. This clause lists a number of policies and procedures which the employer should have and should make available to its employees. ContractStore supplies a Staff Handbook, document E122 which covers many of the items listed in this clause. If the company has a collective agreement with any trades union, then clause 15.2 needs to be amended to deal with this.
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