No, not at all – any worker can work without a contract in the UK.
However, you may want to think twice before not issuing a contract
As an employer, a contract is the one piece of legal documentation that allows you to control your relationship between you and your employees.
A zero-hours worker is an employee that works for you, who has not been appointed fixed hours in the working week. As far as you, the business owner is concerned, they act like a tap that you can bring in whenever you need the extra help during the week.
5 Quick facts you should know:
Nb. The exact amount each zero-hours worker is owed should be specified in their contract – and if not, then they are entitled to the statutory minimum.
Unsurprisingly, just like with all other employees, there is a formal process you must follow whilst employing a zero-hours worker. They must have a contract when working for you, and if not – then they don’t count as a zero-hours worker. If they have no contract, then they are a part-time worker, not a zero-hours worker. [Read more…]
Most of us have a non-compete and confidentiality clause in the contract reminding employees that the data they work with is confidential and not to be taken outside of the company (if you don’t, give me a call!).
However, if you do have an ex-employee who you discover has taken your client data to a rival company or to set up on their own behalf, then an effective way to deal with it – especially with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation 2018) now in place – is to report the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who will enforce the regulations.
You could try a civil prosecution against them, but that will cost a lot in legal fees and you would have to prove a loss. Much better to leave it to the ICO.
Short answer to this is no (sorry, know you didn’t want to hear that!). They may have stormed out after a row. They may have calmly handed in their notice once their pay was on their bank account. But as far as they’re concerned, it’s over.
You could try and get them to stay with financial incentives. But a court won’t make them work their notice period, as it considers your relationship “broken” (so don’t waste your breath threatening to sue).
You won’t have to pay them though, as they are refusing to work their notice period.
And if you have a clause in your contract (like we do, of course), your can in addition reclaim one day’s pay for every day of their notice period not worked. Which is not meant as a penalty, oh no, just a realistic evaluation of the loss and costs we would have if they walked out and we had to find a short term replacement.
NB if you say that they don’t have to work their notice period, then you DO have to pay them!
If you know of an organisation that could do with our help, please let us know – we always reward referrals with chocolate!
When you employ a new person, it is important to check references. All you are looking for is confirmation that they really did work for that company as stated on their CV. More than that is unrealistic to expect nowadays. But what else do you need to have?
Professional negligence?!
I do tribunal audits on employment contracts and handbooks so that the company knows what needs to be updated, how much risk they are at, and whether the documents are really “fit for purpose”. Once they have that knowledge, they can make an informed decision about whether they will be updating their paperwork themselves or outsourcing it (to me hopefully!).
Most companies that have been doing HR themselves have fairly basic contracts where a couple of clauses are either void or non-existent.
