Ashtons Employment law experts are highly experienced in advising on all aspects of employment contracts and HR policies and procedures that need to be adhered to within a business.
Employment contracts
Employers must provide employees with a ‘written statement of particulars’ setting out key terms of the working relationship such as pay and place of work. This right extends to workers from April 2020. Certain key terms must be set out in one document whereas others can be contained in separate written documents. For example, within a Staff Handbook.
Most employers choose to incorporate all the key terms in an employment contract, which may also include additional terms to protect the business. For example, terms on restrictive covenants (e.g. non-compete), intellectual property rights and confidentiality.
Ashtons are skilled in drafting, reviewing and advising on:
- employment contracts for new starters
- employment contracts for existing staff e.g. promotion
- changing terms of employment
- director’s service agreements
- apprenticeships
- casual worker contracts (staff who do not have employment status)
- atypical working arrangements – volunteers, secondments.
HR policies
Most employers have a selection of policies in a Staff Handbook, to cover the rules and working practices of the business. For example, a Sickness Absence policy.
A key consideration in drafting an employee handbook is to decide whether any part of it should be contractually binding. Many procedures are not intended to be contractual so that they can be departed from in appropriate circumstances.
At Ashtons, we have an extensive range of policies that can be tailored to the needs of your business to help create a Staff Handbook that sets out clearly how relationships with staff are governed.