Choose the right contract for your employment needs

Taking on new employees can be an exciting prospect, but also it’s important for both parties that it’s done properly and legally. An employment contract is the agreement between you and your employee setting out the terms and conditions of the employment.

There are different types of employment contract, depending on the job you’re hiring for, and the first points you’ll need to consider are:

• How long is the work available? E.g. is it temporary to cover staff absence, or permanent.
• Is the work Full-time or Part-time?
• Can you guarantee minimum/fixed hours? If not, you’ll need to use casual hours/zero-hour contract.
• Are you hiring an apprentice? This is where the main purpose of the work is training.

Permanent Contracts

These contracts are indefinite, without a fixed end date. Both employer and employee can end a contract by giving notice, and minimum notice periods required by law. Contracts can provide for longer notice periods.

• Suitable where work is available on an ongoing basis.
• Can be part-time or full-time.

Temporary/Fixed Term contracts

If the work is not ongoing, a temporary or fixed term contract should be considered. Some examples:

• To cover someone absent from work place e.g. maternity leave/long-term sick leave; to cover a busy period of work/ a busy time of year e.g. summer or Christmas period.
• The contract ends on a specified date, or on occurrence of an event e.g. when the person the temporary worker is covering for returns to work.
• These contracts still need to follow a fair dismissal process, particularly if the employee has at least 2 years’ service.

Casual/Zero-hour contracts

Casual and zero-hours contracts are contracts under which the worker is not guaranteed to work a set number of hours.

• They are paid only for the hours actually worked
• Where the amount of work is unpredictable or changes from time to time and can’t guarantee a minimum number of hours’ work.

See a template for ‘Casual Hours Worker Contract’ and ‘Zero hours Contract of Employment’, along with guidance notes, on the Legal Hub.

Apprenticeships

A type of employment contract where the employer promises to train the apprentice.

• Apprentices are normally required to spend at least 20% of their time in off-the-job learning
• 80% in on-the-job learning
• They must work towards achieving an approved "apprenticeship standard" or "apprenticeship framework“, leading to a formal qualification.

It’s important to ensure the apprenticeship agreement contains the correct information that’s required by law, rather than using a standard employment contract. 
Apprenticeship agreements and factsheets on Apprentices can be found on the hub.

Minimum legal rights

Remember ALL workers, regardless of contract type, have minimum statutory rights, including:

• National Minimum Wage
• Itemised pay statements
• Written contracts (workers, if recruited after 6 April 2020)
• Holiday/Holiday Pay
• Sick Pay, where meet eligibility requirements
• Minimum rest breaks
• Right to notice of dismissal
• Employees (but not workers) have additional rights, such as right to claim unfair dismissal.

Employment contracts, free on the Markel Hub

Our trusted partners, Markel, provide Just Eat Restaurant Partners with access to legal and business guides, including templates for employment contracts, documents and content written by their in-house specialists and solicitors.

You can view and use a template Contract of Employment, which can be adapted to cover part-time or full-time work and temporary or permanent work, on the Legal Hub at markel.co.uk. You’ll find details of how to sign up for 12 months’ free access below. 

The Markel Law Hub. How to sign up

To enjoy access to 12 months to a full range of free legal and tax advice, simply sign up and create an account with Markel.

1. Go to Markel Business Hub
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3. Enter your details and register with a valid email address
4. In the ‘Token or policy number’ box please enter code: HCpNmm8B
5. Click ‘Next’ to proceed
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