130 8: Contract of employment Part C Employment law
3.2 Requirement for written particulars
Within two months of the beginning of the employment the employer must give to an employee a written
statement of prescribed particulars of their employment.
The statement should identify the following.
The names of employer and employee
The date on which employment began Whether any service with a previous employer forms part of the employee's continuous period of
employment
Pay – scale or rate and intervals at which paid
Hours of work (including any specified 'normal working hours') Any holiday and holiday pay entitlement (for a person working five days per week, the holiday
entitlement is 5.6 weeks or 28 days, which may include bank and public holidays depending on the
contract of employment)
Sick leave and sick pay entitlement
Pensions and pension schemes
Length of notice of termination to be given on either side
The title of the job which the employee is employed to do (or a brief job description)
A 'principal statement', which must include the first six items above and the title of the job, must be
provided, but other particulars may be given by way of separate documents.
If the employee has a written contract of employment covering these points and has been given a copy it
is not necessary to provide them with separate written particulars.
The written particulars must also contain details of disciplinary procedures and grievance procedures or
reference to where they can be found (Employment Act 2002).
If the employer fails to comply with these requirements the employee may apply to an employment
tribunal for a declaration of what the terms should be. The Employment Act 2002 allows a tribunal to
award compensation to an employee claiming unfair dismissal if the particulars are incomplete.4 Common law duties
The employer has an implied duty at common law to take reasonable care of their employees; they must
select proper staff, materials and provide a safe system of working.
The employee has a duty of faithful service and to exercise care and skill in performance of their duties.4.1 Employee's duties
The employee has a fundamental duty of faithful service to their employer. All other duties are features of
this general duty.Hivac Ltd v Park Royal Scientific Instruments Ltd 1946
The facts: In their spare time certain of the claimant's employees worked for the defendant company,
which directly competed with the claimant.
Decision: Even though the employees had not passed on any confidential information, they were still in
breach of their duty of fidelity to the claimants.FAST FORWARD