Contracts of employment

It is unlawful not to issue a statement of terms and conditions within two months of an employee starting work, in most cases, and this alone can give an employee grounds to complain to an Employment Tribunal and claim compensation.

A statutory statement of terms and conditions must provide certain information as required by Employment Rights Act.

We believe it is essential for employers to use properly-drafted contracts of employment when they employ staff and failure to use proper contracts will limit your power to control the employer-employee relationship or reduce the chances of disputes or protect your business from costly, time-consuming Employment Tribunal cases.

The term ‘standard contract’ can be highly misleading, and many examples of such documents we have seen have contained nothing more than the statutory minimum statement requirements.

A proper contract of employment can do much more than this. For example, without written contractual agreement an employer cannot lawfully deduct money from wages, or claim back the cost of training should an employee leave.

The Lawrite Employment Law Software provides template documents for contracts, staff handbooks and letters to employees. It is one of the UK's leading employment law solutions, with more than 60,000 copies sold. The content includes:

• Templates for contracts of employment, a contractor's agreement, and directors' service agreements;
• Templates for a detailed staff handbook for all employees outlining disciplinary and grievance procedures, maternity, paternity and parental leave, equal opportunities, sickness and absence, holidays, use of e-mail and internet at work, data protection, etc;
• Templates for letters and forms to use when dealing with employees, including those required to fairly operate disciplinary and grievance procedures, redundancy procedures, performance review procedures, applications for maternity and paternity leave,  flexible working, etc;
• Detailed and helpful guides and manuals covering employment law and HR issues, including an A to Z law guide, a detailed employment law manual, an HR guide and a guide to the document templates;
• Online content for news and updates. We ensure you are kept up to date with changes in the law and have the information and documents required to deal with them;
• Templates for a health and safety policy, a health and safety statement, and risk assessment forms, and a health and safety law manual;
• More than 120 document templates and 700 pages of useful guidance (pdf);
• Software download for Windows (XP, Vista, 7).