Staff contracts
It is important to prepare The agreements under which staff members work, which may be contracts of employment, contracts with an agency or agencies which they are supplied by, or contracts to provide services to the employer., to define your relationship and to safeguard your business. If you have Individuals hired personally to work under contracts of employment, usually in exchange for payment. Employees are normally fully integrated into the business and the employer exercises a large degree of control over their work. or People hired to work on an as required basis, sometimes known as seasonal workers., you are legally required to provide them with various basic terms in writing on or before their first day of work. This section provides templates that you can use for Individuals hired personally to work under contracts of employment, usually in exchange for payment. Employees are normally fully integrated into the business and the employer exercises a large degree of control over their work., People, in business for themselves, who provide services to others. They may be individuals simply working under their own names, or may offer services through companies or partnerships. Sometimes known as consultants or independent contractors. , People hired to work on an as required basis, sometimes known as seasonal workers. and People who work (in which case they must usually be paid) or work shadow (usually without pay) for a fixed period of time, to gain work experience or as part of a qualification.. It is also guides you through what to look out for when you are dealing with People, in business for themselves, who provide services to others. They may be individuals simply working under their own names, or may offer services through companies or partnerships. Sometimes known as consultants or independent contractors. ’ or Staff supplied by a recruitment agency to work for a business under a contract made between the agency and the business. ’s standard terms and conditions.
Employment contracts
- 1.Am I required to give employees written employment contracts?
- 2.What happens if I don't provide my employees with written terms or an employment contract?
- 3.What information must I give a new employee when they join my business?
- 4.Do I need to change my existing employees' contracts to include the new information required from 6 April 2020 if it was not included before?
- 5.What do I do if an employee leaves my business before I've given them a contract?
- 6.What should an employment contract for a junior employee include?
- 7.What should an employment contract for a senior or business-critical employee include?
- 8.What should an employment contract for a temporary junior employee include?
- 9.What should a contract for a temporary senior or business-critical employee include?
- 10.How can I make sure that my employment contracts aren't discriminatory?
- 11.Must I treat temporary and permanent employees equally on pay and benefits?
- 12.Must I treat part-time and full-time staff equally on pay and benefits?
- 13.What should a contract for an apprentice include?
- 14.Can I require new employees to undergo a probationary period?
Confidentiality and restrictive covenants in employment contracts
- 15.How can I make sure that my employees don't leak confidential information about my business?
- 16.What information can be protected by a confidentiality clause in an employment contract?
- 17.What are restrictive covenants?
- 18.Can I stop my employee from working for a competitor or setting up a competing business after they leave?
- 19.How do I make sure that a non-compete clause in my employee's employment contract is valid?
- 20.Can I ban an employee from joining a specific rival business when they leave?
- 21.How long can I prevent my employee from working for a competitor for after they leave?
- 22.Can I ban my employee from taking my clients when they leave?
- 23.How do I make sure that a non-dealing or non-solicitation clause in my employee's employment contract is valid?
- 24.Can I stop my employee from taking any of my clients, or only those they dealt with specifically?
- 25.For how long after they leave can I stop my employee contacting or dealing with my clients?
- 26.Can I ban my employee from taking other members of my staff with them when they leave my business?
- 27.How do I make sure than an anti-poaching clause in my employee's employment contract is valid?
- 28.Can I stop my remaining employees from following a staff member who leaves my business?
- 29.What can I do if my former employee breaches the restrictive covenants in their employment contract?
Contracts for freelancers
- 30.What contract should I use to engage a freelancer?
- 31.How do I ensure I have complied with my data protection obligations when sharing information with a freelancer?
- 32.What should I look out for in a freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
- 33.What party names should I expect to see in my freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
- 34.What should I expect my freelancer's terms and conditions to say about the services they will provide?
- 35.What should I do if I want to rely on something that my freelancer has said and it isn't mentioned in their terms and conditions?
- 36.What can I do if my freelancer's standard terms and conditions say they are not responsible for any failure to carry out their obligations under the contract?
- 37.What should I expect to see in the intellectual property clause in my freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
- 38.What happens if my consultant's work breaches a third party's intellectual property?
- 39.What should I expect to see in the data protection clause in my freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
- 40.Is my freelancer allowed to sub-contract the work they do for me?
- 41.Can I prevent my freelancer from sub-contracting the work they do for me?
- 42.What are the IR35 tax rules (aka off-payroll working rules)?
- 43.Will the IR35 tax rules always apply when a freelancer is providing services to my business?
- 44.How do I work out employment status for the purposes of IR35?
- 45.Is it my responsibility to work out whether the IR35 tax rules apply, or my freelancer's?
- 46.What information do I need to provide to my freelancer if I am responsible for determining their IR35 status?
- 47.What happens if my freelancer disagrees with my IR35 determination?
Contracts for casual workers
- 48.What contract should I use to engage a casual worker?
- 49.What information must I give new casual workers when they join my business?
- 50.How do I ensure I do not discriminate against my casual worker?
- 51.Can I ban my casual workers from working for anyone else?
- 52.Can I insist my casual workers accept any work that I offer them?
Contracts for interns
Contracts with agencies providing temporary staff
- 56.What should I look out for in the terms and conditions to hire agency workers?
- 57.What warranties and indemnities should I expect to see in a temp agency's terms and conditions?
- 58.Why is there a clause in my temp agency's terms and conditions which requires me to provide the agency with information about my staff pay and benefits?
- 59.How can I make sure a temp agency I am using has an appropriate equal opportunities policy in place?
- 60.Is a temp agency allowed to charge me a fee if I want to take on one of their temps as a permanent member of staff?
- 61.Can a temp agency charge me a fee if I take on an agency worker as an employee or hire the same agency worker again but through a different agency?
- 62.Can a temp agency charge me a fee if I hire a worker they introduced me to but who never worked for me?
- 63.Can a temp agency charge me a fee if I introduce their worker to another business which then hires the worker?