What Is the Contracts of Employment Act?

The Contracts of Employment Act was a law passed by the British Parliament in 1963, to revise employer labor practices for the benefit of workers as well as to clarify and improve employer hiring and termination procedures of workers.

Part-Time Empoyee Coverage

Part-time workers were now eligible for coverage under the 1963 Act. One of the important goals of the act was to increase the numbers of employees who could not meet the former full-time work hour minimum to accrue employee benefits and employment protection given full-time workers.

Written Employment Terms

The worker also received written specification of his employment terms from the employer. The employer was now forced under the statutory mandate of the Contracts of Employment Act to provide each employee, in writing, salary amount, hours to be worked, type of job responsibilities and other terms in his contracted services. This gave employees an ability to measure their work production by the written documented terms in their job description and not an employer or supervisor's verbally changing their employment terms.

Written Notice of Termination

Under the Contracts of Employment Act, an employer was now required to provide a minimum period of notice in writing before the employer could terminate the employee. Although, some employers in Britain felt this was an interference in an employer's contractual relations with the employee, the Parliament passed the legislation to even the playing field between employers and employees, so the employee could not be terminated instantly without compensation or be able to confront the reasons why he was terminated.

References

• Safety At Work: Employment Legislation:
• The Department For Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform:
• Oxford Journals: Contracts of Employment: Written Statement of Employment Particulars: Guidance:
• Outlaw: Contracts of employment: the rules:
• The Personal Employment Contract: Lawful Termination Of The Employing Entity:

Resources

• Your Rights: The Contract of Employment:
• Oxford University Press: Selected Employment Law Terms:
• Free dictionary: British Labour Law:
• Electronic Journal of Comparative Law: Contract in Employment: Weathering Storms in Mixed Jurisdictions? :
• European Industrial Relations Observatory: Employment Act 2002 outlined: