Contracts of employment

Expert legal advice to protect your interests

At Hutchinson Thomas we have a wide range of experience in drafting contracts of employment for employers across a range of sectors.

We will work with you to understand your business needs and ensure that your contract is tailored to your requirements. We will also make sure that it is robust and compliant with current legislation.

Most employers will have employees working in widely differing roles. We will ensure that each contract is appropriate to provide you with the flexibility you need. We will also explain the statutory rights that apply, where necessary.

Drafting contracts of employment for employers

A well-drafted contract of employment will cover a wide range of issues such as pay and bonuses, hours, confidentiality clauses, post-termination restrictions and a procedure for resolving disputes. By including detailed information about what an employee is entitled to, you can protect yourself from misunderstandings as far as possible.

We will include a comprehensive procedure for dealing formally with disciplinary matters, grievances and redundancies. As well as drawing up contracts of employment, we can draft employee handbooks and policy documentation governing your expectations of your employees in respect of your data, health and safety, holidays, social media, disputes and other matters.

By having robust documentation in place governing your employer-employee relationships, you stand the best possible chance of dealing quickly and easily with disputes. Where an employee can clearly see and understand their rights and responsibilities, there is less scope for problems. If the grievance and dispute resolution procedures are thorough, you are likely to be able to reach a satisfactory conclusion without having to attend an employment tribunal.

Avoiding employment contract pitfalls

Dealing with employees can be a difficult area for employers as a wide range of legislation applies and they have a number of statutory rights which must be respected. We can advise you on these and ensure that all of your employee documentation is compliant. This includes making sure that restrictive clauses are not so widely drafted that they are unenforceable, but that they are nonetheless robust enough to protect your organisation’s interests.

We can also advise in respect of amending an employment contract. It is not legal to simply change the terms and conditions, but we can discuss alternative options with you. If you anticipate that change may be necessary in the future, you can have the employment contract drawn up to reflect this, by reserving the right to make minor alterations.

You should also be aware that conduct can alter the terms of an employment contract. For instance, allowing an employee to work flexibly could, over time, allow the employee to argue that it has become a contractual right.

Contact us

Hutchinson Thomas is the first law firm in Wales to be awarded the Law Society Mark of Excellence. The firm and many of our lawyers are recognised year on year in the Legal 500 publication as leading individuals in their field.

We work with employers across all of their employment law requirements. If you would like to discuss your employment contract and employee policy needs to protect your business interests, please feel free to call us on the following numbers or fill in our contact form.