Employment Law

1. Employment Contracts

1.1 Every employee has a contract of employment, either in writing, oral or implied. You should assume that everyone who works for you is an employee, unless you have good reason to think otherwise.

• Partners in a partnership are not employees, but salaried partners may be.
• Consultants and sub-contractors may not be employees, even if taxed under PAYE.

1.2 The terms of the contract are governed by what you have agreed with the employee.

The terms will usually be covered by:

• The letter you send making a job offer.
• The written statement you give an employee.
• The implied terms of the contract.

1.3 You need to seek agreement with employees if you want to make significant changes to their contracts.

• Terms and conditions of employment cannot usually be changed to the employee's detriment if all or part of a business is sold or contracted out.