Question: I only have two employees and so haven’t bothered to provide them with contracts of employment, there’s no point, right?
Answer: Wrong! You must provide all employees with a written statement of employment within two months of them taking up a post with you. This statement must set out the terms and conditions of their role with you, as a bare minimum. This will comply with the law, specifically the Employment Rights Act 1996, but it will not protect you as the employer if the relationship should break down.
For this you need to ensure that you have a legally compliant contract of employment in place which will cover all of the other aspects of the employment relationship such as restrictive covenants, confidentiality clauses, health and safety, sickness and any other benefits, social media etc.
Having a proper contract of employment in place will ensure your business is in a much better position, should the unthinkable happen and you have to deal with an employee issue whereby the costs incurred could be in the region of £25,000 to £50,000. Therefore a contract of employment doesn’t appear quite so expensive – and could be a bargain in comparison!
For further information on preparing a contract of employment for your staff please do not hesitate to call the Sekoya team on 01872 306100