Written Particulars of Employment

Written Employment Particulars

While there is no legal requirement that a contract of employment should be in writing, under s.1 ERA, employers are under a statutory obligation to provide employees (as well as workers employed on or after 6 April 2020) with a statement containing particulars of the employment in writing on or before their first day of employment.  The statement of written particulars is not a contract; it is simply a statement of the main employment terms. It can however be relied upon as evidence of the terms of the contact of employment.

Written Particulars Meaning

Sections 1(3) and (4) ERA set out the particulars which must be provided by the employer.

The following must be contained in a single document (s.2(4) ERA):

• Employee or worker/employer name;

• date when employment began;

• date when continuous employment began (for employees only, not workers);

• scale or rate of remuneration or method of calculating remuneration;

• intervals at which remuneration is paid;

• terms and conditions relating to the normal hours and days of the week the employee or worker is required to work, whether they may be varied and how;

• entitlement to holidays, including public holidays and holiday pay, as well as entitlements to any other paid leave;

• sickness/injury policy, including sick pay normal place of work any other benefits provided by the employer;

• notice periods;

• job title or brief description of duties;

• where employment is for a fixed term, the date it will end;

• details of any probationary period;

• place(s) of work; and

• where the employee or worker will be required to work outside the UK for one month or more, the period working outside the UK, the currency in which employee or worker will be paid and any additional remuneration or benefits due to the fact he/she is working outside the UK.

The following particulars also need to be provided but may be given in instalments to complete the statement if not included in the single document: 

• pensions and pension schemes;

• collective agreements that affect the terms and conditions or a statement that there are no collective agreements; 

• details of training provided by the employer;

• disciplinary rules and procedures; and

• the person to whom the employee or worker can apply for the purpose of raising a grievance.

• If there are no particulars for any of the items listed above, that fact should be stated in the written statement (s.2(1) ERA).

Employee Handbook

Certain particulars (relating to sickness, pension, training, disciplinary rules and procedures and grievance procedures) may be provided by referring to other documents which are reasonably accessible to the employee such as a handbook or policy document (ss.2(2) and 3(1) ERA).

Statement of Changes

If any material changes are made to the written particulars after they have been provided to the employee, the employer must give the employee a written statement of the changes within one month of the change (s.4 ERA).

If the employer fails to supply the written particulars (or a statement of any changes) within the requisite timeframe, or the employee disagrees with the particulars given, the employee can apply to the employment tribunal (at the latest within 3 months of the termination of employment – s.11 ERA).  The employment tribunal will have the discretion to:

 (a)       confirm the particulars as included in the statement given by the employer;

 (b)      amend those particulars; or

 (c)      substitute other particulars for them.

Where the employer fails to supply written particulars, the employee may also claim compensation of between 2-4 weeks’ capped pay provided the claim is presented with another claim along with it, such as unfair dismissal (s.38 Employment Act 2002).