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At Helix Law, we offer online legal advice and support to businesses and individuals in need of employment contracts. We consult with our clients to help them provide reliable documents that are fair, accurate, and comply with all regulations.

We want all employers to understand the importance of having a solid employment contract in place. It will protect your business from employees who leave your company on a bad note. They might take with them customers and important data. You also don’t want to get into legal trouble for not providing a written statement within 2 months.

You want to be sure you’re following good business practices and disciplinary procedure in the UK. This includes having employment contracts and policies in place. You need to review them with your employee. Let’s cover everything you need to know about providing employees with thorough contracts

How Helix Law Can Help

Positive employee relationships are essential to building a professional work environment. In order to start off on the right foot, you need to hand your employees an updated employment contract and staff handbook. This document should include expected standards within the workplace:

Expected behaviour
The right to monitor employee computer use
Social media use policy
Absence from work policy

At Helix Law, we help employers draft their policies and employment contracts. Clients who sign up for the HR retainer will receive a staff handbook and contract of employment as part of the service.

If you need a high-level contract, we’ll draft one for a fixed fee of £350 plus VAT. For any questions regarding our employment contract options don’t hesitate to give us a call

Key Contacts

Sam Packwood

Partner

The Importance of The Employment Rights Act 1996

As an employer, you need to concern yourself with The Employment Rights Act 1996. Pay attention to Section 1 of this document. It states that every employee needs to receive a written statement within 2 months of beginning their work with the company. This document is a “Section 1 Statement.” It needs to explain the rights awarded to the employee.

This statement needs to include specific information such as:

The name of both the employer and employee
Date of employment
Employee’s job description
Salary
Hours of work
Holiday pay and entitlement

If the employer fails to provide this statement that includes all legal, required information within 2 months of commencement and the employee files a employment tribunal complaint against them for another substantive matter e.g. unfair dismissal or whatever the case may be the employee can include the failure to provide a Section 1 Statement in their claim. The company be required to compensate the employee for failure to provide a complete Section 1 Statement.

At Helix Law, we can advise you on these matters to ensure you’re complying with all rules and regulations pertaining to employment contracts and policies. We have experience drafting contracts and consulting with clients about their specific businesses.

Grievance Procedures

Employers need to follow the Acas Code of Practice when dealing with a grievance procedure. These situations need to be handled promptly and fairly to reduce the risks of employment tribunal claims.

Here is a quick 5 step guide to ensure you’re following grievance procedures properly:

Informal Action

For minor grievances, employers need to first have a discussion with the employee. Usually this resolves the issue. However sometimes the discussion does not resolve the issue. You will need to deal with the complaint using a formal grievance procedure.

As an employer, you need to keep a written record of all grievance stages. This includes informal resolutions. Human Resources will need to make sure that all managers understand the written grievance procedures.

Investigation

There is no exact time limit for disciplinary actions. However an investigation needs to occur after receiving a grievance. This should happen as soon as possible. It will usually only require you to verify facts. Other members of the workplace might be involved in the grievance. You must inform them and give them an opportunity to bring forth their own evidence.

Grievance Meeting

The investigation will finish. The employer should hold a meeting with the employee to explain the complaint. They must ask for their opinion on how to resolve the grievance. This step is essential for maintaining good rapport with the employee.

Decision

You’ll consider the evidence. You’ll need to decide whether to reject the grievance. You might decide to uphold it. You must communicate this decision with the employee in writing. The letter needs to provide the employee with a right of appeal.

Appeal

The grievance results might be rejected/partially rejected. Employers need to prepare for an appeal. An impartial manager must handle the appeal. If possible this should be a senior manager who has not handled the grievance. Getting to this point is non-ideal. Preparing and knowing what to expect will help deal with the legal dilemma.

Most appeal hearings take the form of a review. If the initial stage suffered from flaws, a rehearing is necessary. The employee will hear of the outcome in writing.

Contact Us

At Helix Law, we understand the difficulties brought to companies who fail to meet employee contract requirements as well as disciplinary procedures. Failure to meet legal standards with an employment contract can turn into an unpleasant legal process. A bad leaver has the potential to take customers and data.

Our team provides you with the legal advice and support that you need to prevent these problems within your workplace. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information for our contracts, policies, and legal advice. You can trust our timely, quality solutions.

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