Contract of Employment

From the moment you accept an employer’s offer of a job you have a legally enforceable contract of employment. The contract can be verbal but you have the right to a written statement of particulars, setting out the main terms and conditions of your employment, within two months of starting the job.

The law on written statements will change with the introduction of the Employment Act, it is widely expected that if you do not receive a written statement of particulars, your employer can be taken to tribunal. It must include:

• name of employer and employee
• date employment began and any period of previous employment which will count towards continuous employment (This is particularly important for assessing redundancy payments)
• rate of pay
• frequency of pay
• hours of work
• entitlement to holiday, including public holidays and holiday pay
• job title or brief job description
• any pension entitlements
• sickness procedures and sick pay entitlements
• place of work
• length of notice
• any collective agreements that apply
• reference to disciplinary and grievance procedures (These will also become mandatory once the Employment Act is in force.)

You have a right to a written statement and cannot be fairly dismissed for asking for one. Contact your UCATT regional office if your request is refused.

Changes in Contract of Employment

Your contract of employment is an agreement between you and your employer and therefore cannot be changed without your consent.

However, an employer might simply seek to vary part of your contract or even terminate it and issue you with a new one.

If the employer imposes a significant change then you can either:

• accept the change;
• object to the change, continue working under protest and bring a claim for breach of contract. For example if your wages have been cut you can claim an illegal deduction has taken place;
• Having contacted your UCATT regional office for advice before you act, leave and claim constructive dismissal. This should only be done in extreme circumstances

If the employer gives you the proper notice (normally one week for each full year of employment, up to 12 weeks) you may still be able to claim breach of contract if they did not act reasonably and show they had a substantial reason for imposing the change.

If your employer imposes a change, or gives notice that they intend to, contact UCATT regional office immediately. Click here for your nearest office.

There are very strict time limits for submitting applications to an employment tribunal. The deadline for most applications is 3 months from the incident complained about, except in redundancy cases or in equal pay claims when it is 6 months.

Check the disciplinary and grievance section for more information on time limits.

For more information contact your regional office, quoting your UCATT membership number.

Right to an itemised pay slip

Every worker must be given an itemised pay statement which lists gross wages, deductions and net wages to accompany every payment.

At the end of every tax year the employer must give every employee a P60 certificate which shows take-home pay and total tax deductions.

When a worker leaves a job the employer must provide a P45 certificate setting out the earnings and tax paid to date within the current tax year.

Deductions from pay

You must give your written consent to all deductions from your pay, apart from statutory deductions such as income tax and national insurance contributions.

The employer cannot "dock" your wages for any reason without your written consent. This includes deductions for:

• "making good" work done
• protective equipment
• training levy
• public liability insurance
• holiday pay

Any such action by the employer amounts to an illegal deduction and can be challenged in a tribunal.

There are very strict time limits for submitting applications to an employment tribunal. The deadline for most applications is 3 months from the incident complained about, except in redundancy cases or in equal pay claims when it is 6 months.

Check the disciplinary and grievance section for more information on time limits.

For more information contact your regional office, quoting your UCATT membership number.