What Your Contract of Employment Should Include

A contract between an employer and a PA is a legally binding agreement.

A contract must be in writing, and in place by day 1 of employment.

What an employer must provide in writing

Anyone legally classed as an employee or worker has the right to a written document summarising the main terms of their employment.

The legal term for this document is the ‘written statement of employment particulars’. It includes information such as pay and working hours.

This document is often referred to as the ’employment contract’. But by law, the employment contract is broader than just these written terms.

For example, employment law is also part of an employee’s contract but usually the law will not be written in full in the document.

When an employment contract begins

An employment contract begins when the PA starts work.

The contract might begin even earlier if all the following apply:

• Someone accepted the job offer verbally or in writing
• The offer was unconditional or the person met all the conditions (for example, the employer was satisfied with their references)
• The employer set out the terms of the job in a clear and definite way, verbally or in writing.

Terms of a contract

An employment contract is made up of:

• Specific terms agreed in writing (‘express terms’), such as the employee’s pay and working hours
• Terms that are part of employment law (‘statutory terms’)
• Terms too obvious to be written (‘implied terms’)
• Terms put into the contract from other sources (‘incorporated terms’) such as a staff handbook or an agreement affecting many employees.

Information in the contract must follow the law. For example, stating that an employee is paid £4 per hour would be against the law, because this amount is below the minimum wage.

Terms too obvious to be written

There are some terms that are so obvious that they do not have to be written in an employment contract (such as not stealing from your employer – although this is likely to be contained in a Disciplinary Procedure as an example of Gross Misconduct).

Even if they’re unwritten, these types of terms are often crucial for an effective working relationship between an employer and a PA.

To prevent misunderstandings, it’s still a good idea for the employer to make the following clear (for example, by writing them in an employee handbook):

• The standards of behaviour expected from PAs – for example, anyone who deals with other people should be polite when doing so
• What happens if these standards are not met – for example, the employer will report any thefts to the police and take disciplinary action.

Terms restricting a PA’s actions

An employer might state that a PA cannot take certain actions during their employment or once it ends. For example, after the PA has left, preventing them from contacting other staff members for a certain period of time.

These types of terms are known as ‘restrictive covenants’. They will not usually be legal unless they’re in writing and are clear, specific and time-restricted. Even then, this area of the law can be complex.

Next steps

Take a look at the article below – ‘Making Changes to you Employment Contract: Advice for PAs’ – for more information.