Employee Contract

[QuickHomeBuyers]

Are employees by the law required to sign a contract?

 

[Lime One]

No, employers are obliged by law to provide a statement of particulars of employment within 8 weeks of the employee commencing work. Employees cannot be compelled or forced to sign a contract.

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

For employees that have had a change to the statement of particulars (such as those that move under TUPE, where the employer will have changed), notice of the changes should be advised to the employee at the earliest opportunity, and in any event, not later than one month after the change in question.


Karl Limpert

 

[Outsourcer]

You offer the employee your contractual terms and ask them to sign and return it (within say 5 days)

If they sign it, all well and good.

But person A doesn't sign and return it. Send them a second reminder and give them a final date to do so.

If they don't sign and return it but carry on working, they have agreed to the contractual terms by implication as they took your money (pay)and therfore entered into the contract on thier part eg, The conditions inposed by the employer contractually attached to recieving pay.

 

[Lime One]

The above answer is not legally correct, it is a principle examined in many cases that employee silence is NOT consent, so employers need to be careful in assuming an unsigned contract is binding.

 

[Outsourcer]

The above answer is not legally correct, it is a principle examined in many cases that employee silence is NOT consent, so employers need to be careful in assuming an unsigned contract is binding.

With all due respect, after advising on 500+ Employment tribunals over the years and being incredibly accurate in prognosis, it will hold up in an employment tribunal, so long as you follow a process of offering, recording, requesting and reminding. As you say,

Employees cannot be compelled or forced to sign a contract.

Therefore, what route is left for the employer?. You can't discipline someone for not signing a contract of employement so unless the employee raises a grievance re some element of the contract, they acquiesce by default, due to accepting payment. Obviousely, should they raise a grievance (and I would as an employer prompt that dialogue with the employee as last resort) then the grievance needs to be dealt with.

The main point is to have a good paper trail to show that the employer acted reasonably in the request/s to sign the document. There is not a lot more that an employer could do and providing the contractual terms are legal and reasonable, they will hold water under scrutiny.

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

I can't understand any need to...

follow a process of offering, recording, requesting and reminding

... and this has never been required in any of the tribunals I've been involved in (which has been more than one, but I lost count after that - not as many since I've advised employers though, as my advice should (and does) protect employers from a tribunal claim in the first place, not give me more cases to advise on).

With respect to ...

what route is left for the employer?

I would have thought section 1(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 would be sufficient:

Statement of initial employment particulars
(1)Where an employee begins employment with an employer, the employer shall give to the employee a written statement of particulars of employment

As this does not require a signed receipt of the same, I don't appreciate what more could be required, and as the employer can't do anything if the employee refuses to sign, I can see no point in...

follow[ing] a process of offering, recording, requesting and reminding

...for the sake of it either.

If this advice (issue a statement, but don't pursue or worry about a signed acceptance of this) that I've given to at least 2 (two) employers over time is wrong, perhaps my clients will give me cause to defend or advise on another tribunal case. (I know my advice should normally help isolate the employer from tribunals, so I can't claim to have advised on a thousand ET cases (although maybe I have...), but there's no accounting for the advice some receive or follow.)



Karl Limpert

 

[Outsourcer]

All i'm saying is that I would want a record that an employment contract was presented to the employee and there there was a request made to sign and return it, and that request was reasonably followed up.

Employees are very adept at manipulating the truth in Tribunals and I would want to make sure that should push come to shove regarding a contractual issue, there is evidence that the document was issued and that in doing so, the contractual terms were explained (in writing) to the employee. If they don't read or sign it, that is their problem, not mine.

As you rightly point out;
(1)Where an employee begins employment with an employer, the employer shall give to the employee a written statement of particulars of employment

I would want to make sure that there is absolute proof that the document was supplied. A Signed copy is the ultimate proof so if that is not forthcoming, then my fallback position is that I can evidence that it was supplied but never returned.

Seeing that the Contract of employment and a supporting staff handbook forms such a conerstone of right to manage/protection of business interests, I would not want to fall at any hurdle because an employee manages to slip a " I was never given a contract or handbook" in the back of the tribunal net.