We blogged previously on the changes coming in April 2020 to statements of employment particulars.
Currently employees with more than one month’s service are entitled to a statement of specific employment particulars. These particulars are set out in Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. This information must be provided no later than 2 months after the employee has commenced work. Some information is required to be contained in a single document whereas others can be provided in readily accessible documents or in separate statements.
As a result of the Taylor Review and Good Work Plan, changes are proposed which will come into effect for workers and employees who commence work from 6th April 2020.
In summary these are:
- The right to a written statement is being extended to all employees AND all workers regardless of length of service
- The following additional information must be provided:
- Any terms and conditions relating to the days of the week the worker is required to work and whether or not such hours or days may be variable, and if they may be how they vary or how that variation is to be determined
- Any terms and conditions relating to paid leave
- Any terms and conditions relating to any other benefits provided by the employer
- Particulars of any probationary period, including any conditions and its duration
- Particulars of any training entitlement provided by the employer, particulars of any part of that training entitlement which is mandatory and particulars of any other training which the employer requires the worker to complete and which the employer will not bear the cost of
- The majority of information must now be provided in a single statement and on (or before) the worker’s first day at work
So are you ready yet? If not, here’s what we suggest you do to prepare for April…
- Ensure you have a system in place to identity your workers. Many employers will do this already as workers are entitled to certain rights, like paid leave, that self-employed persons are not and so systems are likely to be in place already to capture a workers status. However, employers should make sure, if they don’t already, they can identity workers within their workforce.
- Review and update your contractual documents. Employment contracts will likely need some updating with the additional information but workers’ contracts may need significant amendment as they have not been subject to Section 1 requirements before. Further employers will want to take care with the wording of workers’ contracts to avoid them looking like employment contracts which could lead to claims from workers of employment status.
Our employment team has already started working with organisations to update their contracts ready for April 2020. Don’t be left in a last minute panic, or worse still, non-compliant. Whilst it is not a standalone claim, individuals are entitled to bring claims for up to 4 weeks’ pay for breaches of these requirements!
It couldn’t be easier, just contact us via our link here and one of our lawyers will be in touch.