Contracts and Policies
It is a legal requirement to provide an employee with written terms and conditions of employment.
Having written terms and conditions is not just a legal requirement; well written contracts and policies provide clarity when disputes arise and serve as a vital management tool when dealing with issues such as absence management, disciplinaries, grievances and performance management.
We take the time to get to know your business so we know what sort of contracts you need: from standard terms and conditions of employment and employee handbooks, to Director’s Service Agreements, Consultancy Agreements and Introducer Agreements.
As well as drafting contracts and policies, we can review your existing documents to ensure that they are up to date, legally compliant and also to provide our expert insight as to whether adjustments and improvements can be made to assist the business.
The Employment Rights Act sets out various terms and conditions which must be provided to any employee in their Contract of Employment.
Whilst Contracts of Employment cover basic terms and conditions, senior staff and Directors invariably require more detailed provisions to reflect their senior status, such as bonus plans, share incentive schemes, restrictive covenants, detailed confidentiality provisions and any other industry specific needs.
Our specialist commercial employment team can work with your business to ensure that it is protected by well drafted Service Agreements where the finer details of the engagement are clearly and accurately set out, so that any disputes can be avoided in the future.
Certain businesses, especially where specialist services are required on an ad hoc basis, will seek to engage Consultants on a self-employed basis. This can be done directly with an individual Consultant, or via a limited company.
In the absence of well drafted contracts, companies can be exposed to disputes in respect of the underlying employment status of the Consultant, payments due for the services, and in some cases, in respect of the quality of work done.
If your business wishes to engage a third party to provide services on a consultancy basis, our commercial employment team can assist in the preparation of bespoke Consultancy Agreements, which clearly set out the nature of the relationship between the company and the service provider and all necessary contractual terms. We can also provide advice as to any risks in relation to employment status and ensuring that the engagement is on the most cost effective basis.