NICs. This did not make the arrangement illegal and the
husband and wife could claim unfair dismissal when
they were later dismissed.
A party to a contract may also be unable to enforce
the contract if it has been entered into as a result of that
party’s fraud. Suppose, therefore, that an accountancy
firm employs a person purporting to be a qualified
accountant. In fact, he has failed his examinations. Even
if he carries out his work in an exemplary fashion, the
employer will be entitled to terminate his employment
forthwith when his fraud is discovered.
However, it is worth noting that in Hallv Woolston
Hall Leisure(2000) the Court of Appeal allowed a claim
for unfair dismissal based on sex discrimination to suc-
ceed where a chef was dismissed when she became preg-
nant, even though to her knowledge no tax or national
insurance contributions were being deducted from her
pay with her agreement. The court said that equal treat-
ment was a requirement that transcended the usual rules
of contract law.
Subsequently, however, the Court of Appeal decided
in Vakantev Addey & Stanhope School(2004) that illegal
and criminal conduct in connection with his employ-
ment did prevent the claimant from pursuing a race dis-
crimination claim. His case was very different from Hall
in that he concealed the fact that he had no work permit
and did not reveal that he was an asylum applicant from
Croatia. Although the claim in these cases is for dis-
crimination, what has happened under any contract
between the parties is clearly relevant to the court.
Written particulars
A contract of employment does not require any written
formalities and can be made orally. However, certain
written particulars of it are required to be given to the
employee by the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA
1996). These particulars must be given to all employees
within two months of starting work but not if the job is
to last and does in fact last for less than one month. In
addition, the statement of particulars need not be given
if the employee has entered into a written contract with
the employer containing all the relevant terms.
Furthermore, it was held by the House of Lords in
Carmichaelv National Power plc(2000) that casual
workers operating under ‘zero hours’ contracts are not
entitled to written particulars. In these contracts there
are no fixed requirements to attend for work. Those
involved may attend if called upon to do so. In this case
the claimants were, when at work, engaged in showing
visitors round a nuclear power station.
As a comment on the Carmichaelcase it can be said
that some employers do try to avoid the application
of expensive employment rights by using ‘zero-hours’
arrangements. Carmichaelreinforces this right. Cases
such as Carmichaelmay lead the government to exercise
its powers under s 23 of the Employment Relations Act
1999 to extend employee rights to all workers other than
the genuinely self-employed, such as practising account-
ants, solicitors and barristers. There is currently no gov-
ernment attempt to do this and Carmichaelstands.Contents – generally
The statement must contain the following information:
1 The names of the employer and the employee
A letter of engagement will usually be sent to the em-
ployee at his address. This will identify him and the letter-
heading will identify the employer.
2 The date when the employment began
This is important if it becomes necessary to decide what
period of notice is to be given. The 1996 Act provides
for certain minimum periods of notice to be given by
employers. For example, they must give one week’s notice
after one month’s continuous service, two weeks’ after
two years’ service, and so on up to 12 weeks’ after 12 years’
service. The date when the job began obviously settles
this point.
In addition, the length of the employment affects the
period necessary to make certain claims. For example,
redundancy claims require two years’ continuous service
but by reason of the Age Regulations there is no lower
age limit to commence the calculation of entitlement
and the upper age limit of 65 is removed. Unfair dis-
missal requires one year of continuous service with some
exceptions which will be noted, usually with a particular
employer (but see below), regardless of the age at which
the service began, unless the dismissal is automatically
unfair, as where it was because the employee was (or
proposed to become) a member of a trade union or it
was in connection with pregnancy.
3 Whether the employment counts as a period
of continuous employment with a previous
employment, and the date of commencement
of the previous employment where this is so
This is important because the rights of an employee to
complain of unfair dismissal or to claim a redundancy
payment, depend upon whether that employee has servedPart 4Business resources