LRD guides and handbook March 2025

Contracts of employment

Introduction

Introduction [page 5] (743 words)

This is an important time to be an active trade union member. Fourteen years of Conservative government and austerity have damaged living standards ...
Subscribers only

Chapter 1

1. What makes a contract of employment? [page 7] (162 words)

This chapter explains the basic conditions that must be met for a contract of employment to be formed. ...
Subscribers only

Offer and acceptance [page 7] (1,129 words)

Acceptance [page 10] (141 words)

Consideration [page 10] (474 words)

Intention to create legal relations [page 11] (552 words)

Certainty [page 12] (558 words)

Illegality [page 13] (1,104 words)

Chapter 2

2. Who is an employee? [page 17] (292 words)

This chapter considers the tests that courts and tribunals use to distinguish between employees, workers and the self-employed for the purpose of ...
Subscribers only

Employee, worker or genuinely self-employed? [page 17] (404 words)

Employees [page 18] (919 words)

Workers [page 20] (1,095 words)

Chapter 3

3. Irregular patterns of employment [page 24] (43 words)

More than four million people in the UK are in precarious employment, including over one million on zero hours contracts. This chapter looks at the ...
Subscribers only

Zero-hours contracts [page 24] (1,925 words)

Interns [page 28] (90 words)

What is the employment status of an intern? [page 28] (248 words)

Temporary agency workers [page 29] (501 words)

Fixed-term (temporary) contracts [page 30] (581 words)

Chapter 4

4. The written statement of employment particulars [page 32] (154 words)

Under sections 1 and 2 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 96), workers have the right to a written statement of particulars of their employment ...
Subscribers only

What details must be provided? [page 32] (527 words)

The legal status of the statement [page 33] (120 words)

What if the employer fails to provide a written statement? [page 34] (356 words)

Chapter 5

5. Interpreting contract terms [page 35] (66 words)

An employment contract is made up of contract terms and conditions that govern the relationship between employer and employee. These terms can be ...
Subscribers only

Express terms [page 35] (528 words)

Implied terms [page 36] (3,693 words)

Chapter 6

6. Incorporated terms [page 45] (247 words)

This chapter looks at terms that have been incorporated into an employment contract from another source, including a collective agreement. ...
Subscribers only

Collective agreements [page 45] (779 words)

Is a term apt for incorporation? [page 47] (680 words)

Disciplinary and grievance procedures [page 48] (354 words)

The legal effect of collectively agreed terms [page 49] (609 words)

Chapter 7

7. Using the law to resist contract changes [page 51] (267 words)

A contract of employment is an agreement between the employer and the employee. It may be changed as time goes by, for example to reflect a change of ...
Subscribers only

Acceptance of contract change [page 51] (1,040 words)

Non-contractual changes [page 54] (184 words)

New statement of employment particulars [page 54] (37 words)

Express terms permitting contract change [page 54] (1,059 words)

Unfair Contract Terms Act [page 57] (57 words)

Contract changes and collective consultation [page 57] (193 words)

Resisting unilateral changes to contract terms [page 57] (355 words)

Fire and Rehire [page 58] (1,339 words)

Changes to contract through statute [page 61] (52 words)

Chapter 8

8. Contract changes following a business transfer (TUPE) [page 62] (199 words)

Where a business or part of a business is transferred from one employer to another, or a service is outsourced, or an outsourced contract is ...
Subscribers only

Contract change is generally prohibited [page 62] (577 words)

TUPE and collectively agreed terms [page 63] (407 words)

Fire and rehire and TUPE [page 63] (165 words)

Permitted contract changes [page 65] (303 words)

Changes permitted by the employment contract [page 66] (69 words)

Changes to the contract terms of new joiners [page 66] (90 words)

Changes for an economic, technical or organisational reason [page 66] (440 words)

Statutory obligation to inform and consult [page 67] (227 words)

Chapter 9

9. Termination of the employment contract [page 68] (82 words)

This chapter outlines the different ways in which an employment contract can come to an end, including notice requirements. ...
Subscribers only

Termination by dismissal [page 68] (1,156 words)

Dismissal without notice [page 71] (65 words)

Non-renewal of a fixed-term contract [page 71] (63 words)

Termination by resignation [page 71] (114 words)

Termination by agreement [page 71] (703 words)

Constructive dismissal [page 73] (290 words)

Frustration of contract [page 74] (203 words)

Chapter 10

10. Enforcing contractual rights [page 75] (366 words)

A claim for breach of the employment contract cannot be brought in the employment tribunal (ET) unless the employment has been terminated. An ...
Subscribers only

Enforcing collectively agreed contract terms in the civil courts [page 75] (166 words)

Enforcing the National Minimum Wage [page 76] (99 words)