03 March 2020

The following changes are coming into force on 6 April 2020 which will require you to review your statements of terms of employment, template contracts and current practices:

The following changes are coming into force on 6 April 2020 which will require you to review your statements of terms of employment, template contracts and current practices:

1. Employers must give all workers (not just employees) a statement of terms and conditions

Workers are individuals who undertake to personally do or perform work or services for another party which is not a client or customer of the individual’s business. This could include individuals referred to as contractors, consultants or as “self-employed”. The requirement to issue a statement of terms to workers is a significant change and will require careful thought.

2. The statement must be issued on day 1 of engagement (not within the first two months)

The changes apply to new starts from 6 April 2020 but also to current workers (including employees) who start work under a new contract or request an updated statement after 6 April 2020.

3. The statement must include additional details relating to:

• The days of the week the worker is required to work, whether the days and working hours may be variable and how any variation will be determined
• Any paid leave to which the worker is entitled
• Details of any other benefits provided by the employer that are not already included in the statement
• Any probationary period, including any conditions and its duration; and
• Any training entitlement provided by the employer, including whether any training is mandatory and/or must be paid for by the worker.

Currently, businesses are not required to include information about these matters. Where additional details are not relevant (for example, if there is no probationary period) that fact must be stated. Some details can also be referred to in another accessible document (for example, a policy), but must be referred to in the main contract.

Risks

If you fail to provide a statement (whether contained in a contract, or separate from it), or provide one which is inaccurate or incomplete, you could be faced with a tribunal claim, and potential compensation, for an error that can be easily avoided.

You should not use your standard template statement/contract for your non-employed workers, as this will not be appropriate. You will need to prepare new documents reflecting the particular circumstances of that worker, or risk undermining the argument that they are not employees.

Contact us

We can review your practices and template statements/contracts to ensure compliance from 6 April 2020.

Please get in touch with our team of specialist employment lawyers. 

Contact: 

Douglas Strang, Senior Associate dst@bto.co.uk T: 0141 221 8012

Laura Salmond, Partner lis@bto.co.uk T: 0141 221 8012