ADVICE GUIDES

Contracts of employment

A Contract of Employment is a legally binding agreement between the employer and their employee. The contract as a whole is the collective of a number of legally binding documents (see below). You should provide full and clear terms to avoid ambiguity and disputes. All clauses must be in line with Employment Law. You cannot contract out of statutory rights.

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What you need to know…

A contract of employment as a whole is the collective of:

  • Written Statement of Employment Terms
  • Any contractual provisions of the Employee Handbook
  • Any other contractual terms, including implied terms (those not explicitly stated), offer letters, side agreements, addendums

Three categories of statements of main employment terms

1. PERMANENT

  • A contract whereby an individual is employed until either the employer or employee terminates the employment. This could be on a full-time or part-time basis.

2. FIXED TERM (FTC)

  • A contract terminating at the end of a specific time period, the occurrence or non occurrence of a specific event, or the completion of a specific event/project.
  • FTC employees will be entitled to statutory holidays.
  • If the FTC is for four weeks or less, but extends to 13 weeks or more, statutory
    minimum periods of notice will apply.
  • FTC’s separated by periods of less than 26 weeks will aggregate for continuous
    service purposes.
  • The non-renewal of a FTC may lead to a claim of unfair dismissal.

3. VARIABLE

  • A contract used when there is a mutually agreed core amount of work offered and
    worked, but with flexibility to vary hours from week to week.
  • The Contract would state a mutual agreement of minimum and maximum hours per
    week.

In all three categories, the effective date of termination is the date upon which the notice or contract expires.

ZERO HOURS AGREEMENT 

This is not a contract of employment, but a formal agreement between an individual and a company to offer and accept work, with no guarantee of work and no regular working hours.

The individual is free to accept, or decline offers of work, and the company has no obligation to offer such individual work.

There is no statutory right in Jersey to specific working hours or guaranteed work. This means businesses can offer more flexible agreements to suit both the business and the worker.

What you need to do…

  • Under Employment Law (Jersey) 2003, a Written Statements of Employment Terms must be given to the employee within 4 weeks of them starting work.
  • Changes to the terms of the Contract must be notified in writing no later than four weeks after the change.
  • If the name or identity of the employer changes, the employer must notify the employee in writing immediately.
  • Varying Contracts needs to be by mutual agreement and therefore you need to consult and provide a minimum of four weeks’ notice to do so.
  • There are various clauses that must be included in a written statement of terms, including but not limited to hours, start date, pay details, notice periods, sickness details, etc. 
  • Clauses to protect the employer must also be included such as restrictive covenants, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, etc
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