What to look for in an employment contract?
The days when people used to work without an employment contract in the UK are long in the past. When you have a job, you need an employment contract. Thus, it is a good idea to have better understanding of its main features so that you are not unpleasantly surprised by work conditions, payment or something else.
The most important feature of the employment contract is its terms. They describe what the employer and the employee need to provide in order to complete the work. The employer normally needs to secure safe work conditions, regular break, paid annual leave, possibility for sick leave, to give instructions when appropriate and to clarify the possible risks associated with the work. The employee is normally required to perform the given tasks, to protect their and their colleagues’ health, to preserve the equipment and facilities, to comply with the security protocol and to undergo training if needed.
You need to be very careful also about the payment. There can be many ways to form a salary. The most common is the hourly rate or in other words, you are paid for every hour you work. Be careful to check if you are paid extra for overtime, for night, Saturday, Sunday and national holiday work. It can be also commission-based and in such case, be sure to know how your salary is formed. Look for Ifs and special cases. It is a good idea to have the contract duration set at the very beginning. Will it be a fixed (seasonal), temporary or a permanent contract? You need to make clear for how long you are expected to work there. Another extremely important issue, which most people neglect, are the conditions under which the employee can be dismissed or leave the position. When both parties agree that the employee can quit, everything is fine. But when one party, no matter if it is the employer or the employee, wants that the employee leaves and the other does not agree, then, solutions for that need to be described in the contract.
There is something interesting that probably many of you do not know. You actually do not have to sign an employment contract to be legally working, you can have only a verbal agreement with your employer and it still would be legal as long as all other legal requirements are met (insurance, documents, etc.). If you try to complain about not knowing the terms which your employer has, this cannot be an excuse. With the act of starting work somewhere, you declare that you agree with your employer’s terms even if you do not know them. This can be convenient for your employer if there is an argument between you and them. So be sure to have a written contract that specifies your duties, responsibilities and remuneration. In this way, you will not be asked to do more, to work under different conditions and to be paid less than given in the employment contract.
If you need to know more about the usual clauses in a UK employment contract, do check the business document templates, provided on-line.
Same like it is necessary to be careful with your employment contract, you need to be careful with the loan agreements, and be aware of the difference between personal and commercial loan agreement.
The days when people used to work without an employment contract in the UK are long in the past. When you have a job, you need an employment contract. Thus, it is a good idea to have better understanding of its main features so that you are not unpleasantly surprised by work conditions, payment or something else.
The most important feature of the employment contract is its terms. They describe what the employer and the employee need to provide in order to complete the work. The employer normally needs to secure safe work conditions, regular break, paid annual leave, possibility for sick leave, to give instructions when appropriate and to clarify the possible risks associated with the work. The employee is normally required to perform the given tasks, to protect their and their colleagues’ health, to preserve the equipment and facilities, to comply with the security protocol and to undergo training if needed.
You need to be very careful also about the payment. There can be many ways to form a salary. The most common is the hourly rate or in other words, you are paid for every hour you work. Be careful to check if you are paid extra for overtime, for night, Saturday, Sunday and national holiday work. It can be also commission-based and in such case, be sure to know how your salary is formed. Look for Ifs and special cases. It is a good idea to have the contract duration set at the very beginning. Will it be a fixed (seasonal), temporary or a permanent contract? You need to make clear for how long you are expected to work there. Another extremely important issue, which most people neglect, are the conditions under which the employee can be dismissed or leave the position. When both parties agree that the employee can quit, everything is fine. But when one party, no matter if it is the employer or the employee, wants that the employee leaves and the other does not agree, then, solutions for that need to be described in the contract.
There is something interesting that probably many of you do not know. You actually do not have to sign an employment contract to be legally working, you can have only a verbal agreement with your employer and it still would be legal as long as all other legal requirements are met (insurance, documents, etc.). If you try to complain about not knowing the terms which your employer has, this cannot be an excuse. With the act of starting work somewhere, you declare that you agree with your employer’s terms even if you do not know them. This can be convenient for your employer if there is an argument between you and them. So be sure to have a written contract that specifies your duties, responsibilities and remuneration. In this way, you will not be asked to do more, to work under different conditions and to be paid less than given in the employment contract.
If you need to know more about the usual clauses in a UK employment contract, do check the business document templates, provided on-line.
Same like it is necessary to be careful with your employment contract, you need to be careful with the loan agreements, and be aware of the difference between personal and commercial loan agreement.
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