Changes to Written Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment

At present, the right to a written statement of terms and conditions of employment applies only to employees, not workers. The written statement must be given to employees with at least one month of continuous service within two months of their start date.

As of 6 April 2020, however, the following changes apply:

• The right to a written statement of terms and conditions of employment will become a day-one right for employees and workers.
• The right to a written statement is extended to workers. This means that casual and zero hours workers will have the right to a written statement of terms and conditions.
• Employers will be required to issue written statements conforming to the new requirements only in relation to employees and workers who start work with them on or after 6 April 2020. However, pre-existing employees who joined before that date will still be able to request a statement and the employer must provide one that complies with the new requirements, within one month.
• Employers will be required to provide additional information, not currently required, as set out below.

Information Employers Will Have to Provide in the Written Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment

By the start of employment, employers must provide the following information:

• the names of the employer and employee or worker;
• the date of commencement of employment;
• where the statement is being given to an employee (rather than a worker), the date when continuous employment began;
• the scale or rate of remuneration or the method of calculation;
• the intervals at which remuneration is paid;
• terms relating to hours of work including any provisions relating to normal hours, with a new requirement to include:
• days of the week when the worker is required to work;
• whether or not working hours or days may be varied and how the variation will be determined;
• terms relating to holiday and accrued holiday pay including any entitlement to bank holidays and accrued holiday pay on termination of employment, in sufficient detail to enable precise calculation of the sums;
• terms relating to sickness/injury and sick pay;
• terms relating to any other paid leave (i.e. enhanced maternity leave);
• terms relating to any other benefits provided (i.e. not just sickness, pension and holiday benefits);
• length of notice to be given by employer and employee/worker;
• job title or brief job description;
• expected length of temporary employment or date on which fixed-term contract ends;
• any probationary period, including conditions and its duration;
• place of work. If there is no place of work, this must be indicated, and the address of the employer included;
• where the employee or worker is to work abroad for more than one month, the terms relating to working abroad; and
• training that the worker must complete, including training for which the employer will not bear the cost.

Information Employers Will be Able to Provide in Instalments

Employers will be able to provide information on these employment terms in instalments:

• pensions schemes;
• collective agreements, if any;
• training that the employer will provide; and
• details of disciplinary and grievance rules and procedures.

If the employer does not provide a written statement, or the statement is incorrect, the employee can apply to an employment tribunal. Compensation for a successful claim is two (or in some cases four) weeks' pay, subject to the statutory weekly cap.