Employers often make the mistake of not providing their employees with a written statement of particulars, when they start. It may sound very simple, but you will be surprised with the number of employers I meet who do not have the time to do this or just do not think it is important.
The Employment Rights Act states that employees are entitled to receive, within two months of the start of their employment, a written statement of particulars of their employment.
In a recent case (Stefanko and others v Maritime Hotel Limited) the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that an employee has a right to a statement of employment particulars, when employed for less than 2 months, if they have worked for at least a month.
Background of the case
In this particular case, the Claimants were all employed as waiting staff by the Maritime Hotel. They all had fairly short periods of employment of a few months. Ms Woronowicz, a Claimant, was employed for 6 weeks. She succeeded in a claim for automatically unfair dismissal. She had complained of a failure to provide either a payslip or statement of employment particulars.
The tribunal refused to increase that award under section 38 Employment Act 2002, as Ms Woronowicz did not have 2 months’ continuous employment. However, on appeal the EAT decided that was incorrect and Ms Woronowicz was entitled to an award.
Currently there is an exception to the right for employees who work for less than 1 month. That is due to be repealed by The Employment Rights (Employment Particulars and Paid Annual Leave) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 with effect from 6th April 2020. From then every new employee will have the right from day one.
What does this mean for employers?
Employers should not wait until they receive a claim, to start providing a statement of employment particulars to their employees. It should be the first document they give to an employee when they start. Don’t think that it is not important, because in fact, it is the most important document when it comes to hiring employees!
If you need assistance with drafting an employment contract for your employee or you just require a review of your current employment contract, please contact our employment contract Solicitors on 0207 903 6888 or email contact@davenportsolicitors.com.
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