Young Worker Employment Contract
This Young Workers Employment Contract is designed for use by the many employers who employ school leavers between the ages of 16 and 18. The Working Time Regulations 1998 make special provision for the employment of Young Workers in terms of the hours that they can legally be asked to work, and at what times they can legally be asked to work.
Employers must provide workers and employees with a written statement of their main terms and conditions of employment and this is often known as a Standard Form Section One Statement.
This contract for the employment of young staff takes all of the regulations relating to the employment of minors into account, and adherence to it will help ensure that employers comply with their legal obligations.
Whilst the contract provides for flexibility and alteration of work hours, it ensures that these are always kept within the constraints of the Working Time Regulations as they apply to young workers. There is provision for the employer to adjust working hours once the employee turns 18.
The contract is expressed to be for a fixed term. Although the fixed term contract is agreed to be temporary, the expiry of a fixed-term contract is still a dismissal from a legal point of view. Consequently, employers must ensure they act reasonably when ending the contract. Generally, such a dismissal will be fair, but it is important that the expiry of the fixed-term is the real reason for the employee's dismissal and for the employer to act reasonably in terminating the employee's employment.
The contract includes a clause which allows the employer to terminate the fixed term contract early, without facing a potential claim for damages equivalent to the pay and benefits the fixed term worker would have received up to the time the contract was due to end. Although it might seem inconsistent to give an employee a contract for a fixed period of time and also state that notice to terminate it can be given before that period of time has passed, the inclusion of this notice of early termination clause gives the employer the option, in the event of, say, a downturn in business, to terminate the fixed-term contract early without being in breach of contract. Without this notice of early termination clause, the employee is entitled to sue the employer for damages.
This Young Workers Employment Contract contains the following clauses:
1. General
2. Duties and Job Title
3. Date of Commencement
4. Hours of work
5. Place of work
6. Remuneration and Benefits
7. Collective Agreements
8. Holidays
9. Other paid leave
10. Training
11. Sickness and Absence
12. Maternity and Paternity Rights
13. Non-Compulsory Retirement
14. Pension
15. Mobility
16. Confidentiality
17. Grievance Procedure
18. Disciplinary Procedure
19. Staff Handbook and Employment Policies
20. Termination of Employment
21. Data Protection
22. Changes to Terms and Conditions of Employment
23. Severability
24. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
25. Right to Work in the UK
Employers should be aware that, under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, they must not employ a young person unless they have carried out a risk assessment in relation to risks to the health and safety of young people. There is no need to carry out a new risk assessment every time a young person is employed provided that the current risk assessment takes account of the characteristics of young people and activities that present significant risks to their health and safety. There is a risk assessment form adapted for use by employers looking to recruit a young worker in the Health and Safety folder.
This Employment Contract is in open format. Fields should be completed where indicated.
Young Worker Employment Contract is part of Employment Documents. Just £35.00 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Employment Documents for 1 year.