Creating and Implementing Contracts of Employment and Employee Handbooks

When it comes to creating and implementing Contracts of Employment and Employee Handbooks, there is a lot to take into consideration. Legislation is always changing, and these are the key driving forces behind documentation updates.

If your business does not regularly review and update this documentation alongside legislative changes – then it means you could be in potential breach of statutory provisions, leaving you liable for compensation awards in an employment tribunal, something of which could have been avoided. It will benefit both yourself and employees to keep these updated as there is key direction as where to turn to for employment related answers – avoiding any mishaps.

Also – by not having this documentation in place / up-to-date, employers could be enforcing out of date principles. It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, in order to comply with the minimum obligations in law, you are required to issue Contracts of Employment on or before day one of employment.

So, how can CoLaw help?

Here at CoLaw, we recommend that any employer should have Contracts of Employment in place, as this is a ‘day one’ right for all workers as of 6th April 2020. By ensuring that your workplace has consistent policies and procedures, such as an Employee Handbook, you are protecting yourself and your business for every eventuality. The contents of these contracts have also been extended requiring further details to include; all paid leave entitlements, training requirements, clearer details on working hours, and how these may vary.

Once you are signed up as a client, our HR & Employment Law experts will come and meet you for a ‘face to face’ audit’. During this, we take the time to understand your workplace culture, work ethic, current working practices and look at the policies you have in place.

After this – we will focus on the Contract of Employment, in which we draft the first template and go through this in person to ensure it covers what you need and is worded in a way that you comfortable with.

Once documents are agreed and finalised, we will support and guide you in issuing these to your existing employees. These contracts and handbooks will be consistently reviewed and if there are any changes in legislation you will be provided with updated documentation. As standard practice we review/update documentation annually.

A bespoke service

We pride ourselves on providing tailored and bespoke documentation to all of our clients. We do this by undertaking an initial audit as mentioned above, allowing us to understand how your business is run. We can ensure that all of your working practices will be reflected in your contracts and Employee Handbook, tailoring each policy where necessary.

Although there is nothing to stop you from creating your own handbooks / contracts, it is not a quick or easy job. We can take these worries away and ensure that all your key documentation is in line with new legislation.