Our friendly and pragmatic People Services solicitors can assist you with reviewing, amending, or writing reliable employment contracts and policies.
While an off the shelf template may seem attractive, these types of contracts can often be unreliable. We have vast experience in reviewing contracts and advising on any clauses that need to be negotiated or amended and pride ourselves on ensuring these contracts provide safety for the future.
What Is an Employment Contract?
An employment contract governs the legal duties and responsibilities an employer and employee have agreed to each other.
An employer may wish to add heightened protections such as confidentiality agreements and restrictive covenants. It is important that human rights and anti-discrimination requirements are complied with.
What Should an Employment Contract Contain?
An employment contract contains both express and implied terms. An express term is one that has been written into the contract such as:
- job title and place of work
- salary or wage
- method of payment
- annual leave, sick leave entitlements, maternity, and paternity leave
- redundancy terms
- disciplinary and grievance procedure
- notice period.
An implied term is one which is implied into most employment contract such as the employer’s duty to provide a safe working environment and the concept of trust and confidence between an employer and employee.
There are some key employment contract clauses that will also need to be considered such as:
- Employee duty of confidentiality
- Protection for intellectual property and trade secrets
- Anti-competition provisions
- Garden leave
- PILON
What Are Restrictive Covenants?
Some employers may wish to include restrictive covenants in their contracts of employment which insist on heightened obligations on their employees. These can include:
- A non-compete clause preventing an ex-employee from working for a competitor of their former company. They can also impose limitations on the type of business that an employee may set up themselves. Non-compete clauses expire after a set time after the employment end date.
- A non-poaching clause prevents an ex-employee enticing current employees away from the employer.
- A non-dealing clause prohibits an ex-employee from transacting or interacting with clients of the employer.
Transfer of Employment Contracts
Where a company is acquired by another, the employee’s current contracts are protected by the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations 1981 (TUPE). The TUPE regulations prevent dismissals and contractual changes unless they are “economic, technical or organisational” reasons justifying them.
With many businesses moving to flexible and hybrid working, we also have expertise in amending employment contracts to reflect changing working patterns.
