A survey carried out by Which? Has revealed that at least 5.1 million British workers fail to read their employment contracts properly.  In addition, at least 2 million do not have a contract at all.

This will be a concern to employers who often spend a lot of time and resources on ensuring that employment contracts are rolled out to their employees.  Having clear, up to date, and well understood contacts of employment in place avoids problems arising when workers are unsure of what they are entitled to, or what they are obligated to do.

A large number of grievances are raised each year by employees who feel aggrieved that they have not received something that they feel they are contractually entitled to.  However, upon closer inspection, many will find that they were never entitled to it in the first place.  Employers can also rely on well drafted contracts as evidence that workers can be asked to carry out different tasks, move to different locations, can only take holidays at certain times, or even that they have the contractual right to obtain a medical report, or search bags.

Whilst it is easy to dismiss the importance of a contract at the beginning, a failure to read a contract can often serve to shore up more problems later on in the employment relationship.  An employee might be shocked to discover that they are not entitled to Company Sick Pay, and an employer will have to deal with a possible grievance and/or a disgruntled employee as a result. 

It is important to be aware that all new employees should be provided with a contract (or a statement of terms or similar) within 8 weeks of their start date.  A failure to do this will result in a potential claim of up to 4 weeks pay in compensation.

Employees should also be given sufficient time to read their contracts.  It is normally recommended that employees are given a period of at least 1 week to take their contract home, read it, and ask questions about anything they are unclear on. 

It should not be assumed that a failure to return a signed copy of contract means that there is no contract of employment.  However, having a signed copy will provided evidence that both parties understood and agreed on the terms.

Our Service Provider Partner, Empire HR, can provide contracts, handbooks & policies for your business.  If you would like new documents drafted, or existing documents updated in line with legislative changes, please don’t hesitate to call us.

Source:  Empire HR