Does a new employee need a written contract on their first day?
Every employer must give every new worker a written statement of the main terms of the job, and must give it no later than the beginning of the employment. Section 1(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 imposes the duty to give the statement when a worker begins employment, and section 1(2)(b) sets the deadline.
What the first day statement must contain
As to form, section 1(2)(a) requires the core particulars to be in a single document. Section 1(3) lists the names of the employer and the worker, the date the employment began and, for an employee, the date the period of continuous employment began. Section 1(4) adds the particulars that most employers think of as the contract: pay and how often it is paid, normal hours and working days and whether they can vary, holiday entitlement and holiday pay, sick pay, notice on each side, the job title or a description of the work, the place of work, any probationary period, and any training the employer requires.
Where a heading has nothing to report, section 2(1) says the statement must state that fact rather than omit it.
What can follow within two months
As to timing, section 2(4) allows a small number of particulars to be given in instalments, as long as they arrive no later than two months after the employment begins. Those are pensions and pension schemes, collective agreements, training entitlement, and the note on disciplinary and grievance procedures required by section 3. Section 2(2) also allows the statement to refer the worker to another reasonably accessible document for sick pay, other paid leave, pensions and training entitlement.
A contract can do the job
Nor does the statement have to be a separate form. Under section 7A, a written contract of employment or letter of engagement given no later than the first day counts towards the duty for every matter it covers, provided it contains the information a section 1 statement would contain. In practice, a properly completed contract of employment given on or before the first day is how most small employers comply.
For employers who would rather not draft it themselves, our employment pack is a contract of employment and a staff handbook, completed to your answers and checked by a solicitor of England and Wales. The price is £395, with no VAT charged, and it comes back within 24 hours of us having everything.
Order the employment packThis guide is general information about the law of England and Wales. It is not advice on your situation.