Following the government’s Good Work Plan, fundamental changes are being made to the Employment Rights Act 1996, particularly to be given to employees, and now workers, on starting work. Terms can be provided as a ‘Section 1 Statement’ of mandatory particulars, or within an employment contract (together referred to herein as Particulars).

The key changes are:

• Employers now need to provide Particulars to workers as well as employees.
• Particulars must be provided on or before the first day of employment. Prior to April 6th, employers had two months. There is now no minimum service requirement and all workers will have a right to written Particulars.
• Some information can still be provided within two months of the start of employment and can be provided in instalments, if the employer prefers. These exceptions include information about pensions, collective agreements, any training entitlement (not including mandatory training, even if paid for by the worker) and information about disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Particulars now need to contain details of:

• The days of the week worked, whether the working hours are variable and how any variation will be determined;
• Any paid leave;
• All remuneration and benefits;
• A probationary period (if applicable); and
• Any entitlement to training provided by the employer and whether this is mandatory and/or paid for.

Terms relating to incapacity and sick pay, any paid leave entitlement which is additional to annual leave and holiday pay (such as maternity and paternity leave), particulars of training provided by the employer, pension schemes, notice periods and certain information about disciplinary and grievance procedures should be contained in a reasonably accessible document and referred to as such within the Particulars.

The laws stipulating that employees can only bring a tribunal claim for the failure to provide a Section 1 Statement if they are also bringing another specified claim in the tribunal and that the capped amount of compensation for failure to provide a Section 1 Statement is four weeks’ pay (subject to the prescribed statutory amount of a ‘week’s pay’) remain unchanged .

Existing employment contracts do not need to be amended, however employees can ask for them to updated if they wish. All new Particulars should reflect the new law.

About the Author

Prospect Law is a multi-disciplinary practice with specialist expertise in the energy and environmental sectors with particular experience in the low carbon energy sector. The firm is made up of lawyers, engineers, surveyors and finance experts.

Philippa Wood is a solicitor with many years’ experience advising on all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law. Her clients include individuals and companies of all sizes from entrepreneurs to global brands. Philippa qualified as a solicitor in 2005 after working for 13 years in the media, most notably being part of the start-up team for two national cable television stations in the 1980s and 90s.