This covers the rights and responsibilities that you, as the employer, and the employee, have during the period of employment. This agreement may be a verbal one, but is far more likely to be a written contract drawn up and signed before employment commences.
One of the conditions of an employment contract is the length of employment. Most employment contracts in the U.K. are what are called employment contracts of indefinite duration. This basically means that there is no finite end to the period of employment. This type of contract may be for full-time or for part-time employment and may also be called ‘permanent employment.’
Indefinite duration contracts
Indefinite duration employment contracts tend to be more prevalent where there has been a strong legacy of employment rights and trade union activity.
As an employer, you have to ensure that you use an employment contract that includes statutory obligations to the employee, such as terms of notice, statutory sick pay, leave conditions, etc. You also have an obligation to notify HMRC and arrange to pay payroll tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs).
Note that employment contracts of indefinite duration tend to be more costly overall for the employer than at-will or other employment contracts. It may also be more difficult for the employer to justify terminating the employment of an employee on indefinite duration than on other types of employment contract.
What should be included in an employment contract of indefinite duration
These are the things you should make sure are included when you draw up an employment contract of indefinite duration:
a statement of the duties and responsibilities of the employee;wages or salary and other benefits;how and when wages or salary payments are made;statutory holiday entitlements;statutory sick pay (SSP);rest break entitlements;maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay entitlements;required minimum period of notice to be given to terminate employment (both employer and employee).Your responsibilities as an employer
As an employer you are governed by U.K. employment law (1) if you employ an employee on an employment contract of indefinite duration. This means that you must comply with the following responsibilities (2):
you must pay at least the minimum wage;register the employment contract with HMRC;treat part-time employees the same way as full-time employees;provide payslips showing all deductions;have adequate employer’s liability insurance;provide facilities for disabled employees where required and reasonable;avoid discrimination in the workplace.Note that if you intend terminating an employee’s employment who has an employment contract of this type, you must have good cause, even if you give sufficient notice. The employee may contest termination at an employment tribunal if you do not follow the correct procedure, even if there is just cause for terminating the employee’s job.
Employment contract differences between the U.K. and other countries
Other types of employment contract include at-will, zero hours and fixed-term employment. These are generally less common in Britain and Europe than they are in the U.S. At-will contracts are particularly common in the U.S. and allow both the employer and the employee to terminate employment at any time without giving a reason. Zero hours employment is where an employee is only employed for the hours that the employer wants them for. The employee may be called at any time, or not at all.
Both at-will and zero-hours employment are cheaper for employers and make it easy to hire and fire when an employee is needed. Zero hours are controversial in many countries, including Britain, where trade unions and employees’ rights groups have waged a campaign against their use.
A fixed-term contract is for a finite period only. There is a date in the contract that is the last day of employment. It may be difficult and costly terminating a fixed-term contract before the termination date.
References to UK employment law
1. https://www.xperthr.co.uk/...for/163943/
2. https://www.gov.uk/...choose
Quote from Employment legislation concerning workers’ rights:
Workers are entitled to certain employment rights, including:
getting the National Minimum Wageprotection against unlawful deductions from wagesthe statutory minimum level of paid holidaythe statutory minimum length of rest breaksto not work more than 48 hours on average per week or to opt out of this right if they chooseprotection against unlawful discriminationprotection for ‘whistleblowing’ - reporting wrongdoing in the workplaceto not be treated less favourably if they work part-time