Employment contract advice for employees is incredibly important.
With many workers not having a contract, many employees working on zero-hours or temporary contracts, and the ever-changing nature of employment, knowing where you stand is vital.
If you’re an employee and you’ve got an employment contract, it’s worth double-checking everything that’s included in there, even if it’s an excessively long document.
There should be details on all aspects of employment included and there might be information that you were previously unaware of.
If you would like to speak with a solicitor about your employment contract, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.
Legal Advice On Employment Contract
If you think you might need independent legal advice on any aspect of your employment contract, whatever it might be, then you should seek the advice of a legal expert.
For example, if you don’t have a formal employment contract of any description, you might not be entitled to the same legal rights as those that do.
Crucially, though, you can actually unintentionally create an employment contract.
This is what’s known as an ‘implied contract’.
Legally, this is given the same treatment as a written employment contract.
An implied contract occurs when promises are made to you as a worker, such as job security. It could have been in a casual conversation or during a formal situation, but it could cause issues if you believe you have rights associated with formal employment.
For example, if a promise is made that you’ll only be fired for poor performance, this could be regarded as an implied contract.
Or if guidance says that following a probation period, you will become a permanent employee.
There are three different types of employment status under UK employment law:
- Employee
- Worker
- Self-employed
It’s important that you as a worker or employee know your rights and responsibilities, which means you MUST be certain of your employment status.
But your employment status can be defined by a few things, such as how dependent you are on the organisation for work, how much control they have over you and your work, and whether you’re expected to carry out the work yourself.
Legal Advice Employment Contract
There are a few things that should stand out if you’re classed as an employee. If the following are true, then you’re much more likely to be classed as an employee for legal purposes:
- You expect work to be consistently available to you
- You’re employed to carry out the work yourself
- You’re required to work regularly unless on leave, which may include specific hours
- Your employer is in charge of your workload and how that work is conducted
- You receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
Crucially, as an employee, you have certain rights, which include:
- The right to parental leave and pay
- Parental bereavement leave and pay
- Adoption leave and pay
- Redundancy pay after 2 years of continuous employment
- The right to unfair dismissal claims after 2 years of continuous employment
That’s in addition to workers’ rights, which include being paid at least the national minimum wage, receiving paid holidays, payslips, being protected against unlawful discrimination, having a minimum notice period for dismissal and redundancy, and protection for whistleblowing.
If there’s anything in your employment contract that you’re unsure of, or if you believe something should be included that’s not, you should speak to a professional.
That might be a union representative or it might be a solicitor – the important thing is that you seek advice if there’s any part of your employment contract that you’re unsure of.
That could be the fact that you don’t have an employment contract, that you believe something is missing from it, or if you believe a certain aspect of your contract has been breached in any way.
Employment Contract Legal Advice
Employment contracts and legal issues can be confusing at the best of times.
But having expert legal advice in your corner is the perfect way to make sure you’ve got everything you need to achieve a positive outcome, whatever that might be.
And Solicitors Near Me will connect you with expert solicitors near to you for FREE to provide you with legal advice on your employment contract.
If you need any legal advice relating to employment contracts, then simply click below to find solicitors near you…
Find An Employment Solicitor Now
To be connected to a specialist employment solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.