On a general note, it is worth mentioning that the
Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled in Colleyv Corking-
dale (t/a Corker’s Lounge Bar)(1995) that the require-
ments of continuous service (or employment) necessary
to make a claim for unfair dismissal could be established
by a contract under which Ms Colley worked only alternate
weeks.
However, the EAT ruled in Boothv United States
(1999) that persons employed at a UK base of the US
military on fixed-term contracts that were not end on
but had short breaks between them did not satisfy the
requirement of continuous service for an unfair dis-
missal claim. The Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of
Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/
2034) are unlikely to affect this decision because of the
clear breaks between the fixed-term contracts. (See fur-
ther p 468 .)
Contents – terms of the employment
The written particulars then go on to set out the terms
of the employment. The terms which must be given are:
1 The scale or rate of pay and the method of calculating
pay where the employee is paid by commission or bonus
(the employer must here have regard to the national
minimum wage – see later in this chapter).
2 When the payment is made – that is weekly or monthly,
and the day or date of payment.
3 Hours to be worked, e.g. ‘The normal working hours
are.. .’ Compulsory overtime, if any, should be recorded
to avoid disputes with employees who may sometimes
not want to work it.
4 Holiday entitlement and provisions relating to holiday
pay if the employee leaves in a particular year without
taking holiday (if holiday entitlement is set out clearly,
it can help to avoid disputes regarding a requirement to
work in what is a normal holiday period in the area or
during the school holidays).
(The terms and conditions to be specified at 3 and 4
above must, of course, be considered in the light of the
Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) (see later
in this chapter).)
5 Sick pay and injury arrangements.
6 Whether or not there is a pension scheme.
7 The length of notice which the employee must give and
the length of notice the employee is entitled to receive
(we have already said that there are minimum periods of
notice required to end contracts of employment and full
details of these appear later in this chapter; the contract
can, of course, provide for a longer period of notice but
not a shorter one).
8 The job title, which is important in dealing with
redundancy cases, where, to justify that a dismissal is
because of redundancy and is not an unfair dismissal,
the employer may show that there has been a reduction
in ‘work of a particular type’ (the job title indicates what
type of work the employee does; in equal pay claims
also, it may show that a man or woman is employed on
‘like work’).
Under changes made by the ERA, the employer can
give a brief job description instead of a job title.
9 The ERA also adds the following items to the required
particulars:
■The duration of temporary contracts.
■Work location or locations.
■Collective agreements affecting the job.
■Where the job requires work outside the UK for more
than one month, the period of such work, the cur-
rency in which the employee will be paid and any
other pay or benefits provided by reason of working
outside the UK. Employees who begin work outside
the UK within two months of starting must have the
statement before leaving the UK.
■Particulars can be given in instalments, provided all
are given within two months, but there must be a
‘principal statement’ in one document giving the fol-
lowing information:- The identities of the parties.
- The date when the employment began.
- Where the employment counts as a period of con-
tinuous employment with a previous one, a state-
ment that this is so and the date when it began. - The amount and frequency of pay, e.g. weekly or
monthly. - The hours of work.
- Holiday entitlement.
- Job title (or description).
- Work location.
Certain particulars can be given by reference to a
document, e.g. a collective agreement with a trade union
or a staff handbook, but any such document must be
readily accessible to the employee. These particulars are
pension arrangements, sickness provisions, notice entitle-
Part 4Business resources