Currently under s1 Employment Rights Act 1996 all employees have to be given a written statement of terms (“s1 statement”) within two months of commencing their employment.

Employers manage the recruitment of new employees in different ways. Some will send an offer letter with a view to either a s1 statement of terms, or an employment contract being provided once the employee has started work. Others might just send the s1 statement /contract of employment out with an offer letter.

Occasionally, written terms and conditions of employment never get beyond the offer letter.

Legislative Changes

The changes which take effect on 6 April 2020 apply to both employees and workers.

Under the existing legislation employers are required by law to make sure that a s1 statement contains a prescribed list of terms.

The April changes extend the list to include:

1. days of the week the worker is required to work, whether the working hours may be variable and how any variation will be determined;
2. any paid leave;
3. details of all remuneration and benefits;
4. any probationary period;
5. any training entitlement provided by the employer, including whether any training is mandatory and/or must be paid for by the worker.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

The sanctions for non-compliance are not changing.

This means there is no freestanding right to bring a claim for failing to provide a s1 statement unless it’s in addition to some other claim being brought - for example: unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.

Successful claims for failing to provide s1 statements can result in a tribunal award of a minimum of two weeks’ pay, however there is a discretion to increase the amount for up to four weeks’ pay. The statutory cap on a weeks’ pay applies – currently £525.

Comment

With no increased sanction for non-compliance employers may not feel terribly concerned, particularly as claims are extremely rare.

On a practical level, however, given the level of detail which will now be required in any s1 statement with the impending April changes, it’s arguable that there is little point in bothering with s1 statements - instead employers should just use contracts of employment. Whilst there is considerable overlap between the two, a contract of employment is obviously much broader (or should be) in terms of specifying  an employee’s duties and obligations.