Employment Law Essay -- UK Employment Law

In order to discuss and analyse the above statement, in depth reference will be made to various documents which can in some circumstances relate to contracts of employment and whether those particular documents which are not contractual can be incorporated into a contract, creating legal enforceability for employers and employees. Firstly it must be established what exactly is a contract of employment. A contract of employment is an agreement between an employer and employee, forming the basis of an employment relationship; enforceable by law. Contracts of employment may be given orally or in writing: Employment Rights Act 1996 s 230(2) and commence immediately. Actual written contracts require an employee's signature and the signature of a company representative. Contracts of employment can involve both express and implied terms and can appear in many forms. The express terms, being those which both parties have agreed to, whether by signing a contractual document or acting in a particular way are seldom found in just one document. Terms are repeatedly found in an array of documents, whether they be from the actual formal contract, written statements or an employee handbook. The two latter documents are just some examples of prima facia non contractual documents. In reality very few employees have a formal written contract of employment , but to whom the act does apply: must receive a statement setting out the key particulars of their employment in writing within two months of commencing employment . Written statements are known as the Terms and Conditions of Employment: essentially evidence of the contract, providing clarity for both employee and employer but it is not the actual contract of employment per se. A written statem... ...ent of an employment contract. This is likely to be troublesome point for some time to come and likely to work on case by case basis. Works Cited Employment Rights Act 1996 s 230(2) (n1) s 1 Ian Smith and Aaron Bake, Smith and Wood’s Employment Law (10th edn Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010) 80 [1974] ICR 420 CA Smith and Baker (n3) 81 John Bowers, Bowers on Employment Law (6th edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002) 39 [1972] 2 QB 455 Smith and Baker (n3) citing Lord Denning MR per (n7) [2006] EWCA Civ 1277, [2006] IRLR 961 Slade and 11 KBW, Tolley’s Employment Handbook (24th edn, LexisNexis 2010) citing (n9) (n9) University of London External Programme ‘Chapter2 The contract of employment’ http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/current_students/programme_resources/laws/subject_guides/labour_law/lablaw_ch2.pdf