Terms & Conditions of Employment: Why they really do matter

AS WELL as being a dull read, terms and conditions often require us to spend time doing something we wouldn’t ordinarily do; try and anticipate situations or events that haven’t yet happened and may never do so.

If T’s & C’s aren’t drawn up carefully, don’t address potential eventualities, or are not communicated effectively, they can lead to minor problems becoming much more significant issues.

Terms and conditions relating to employment contracts are no exception.

Recently, we’ve seen an increase in small to medium-sized businesses seeking advice on tightening up their HR infrastructure– including contracts of employment. Here are five key reasons why people come to us:

They need protection and security for employer and employee alike

They want to avoid a repeat of a situation they now know could have been avoided with the benefit of a specialist’s experience. Free templates are free for a reason

The conversation about the terms has become important at the point of dispute. We know documents support conversations, they don’t replace the need for them.

It can feel awkward, but it doesn’t need to be, if you’re clear about your approach

There’s an increase in understanding about discrimination. Terms of employment need to be inclusive for everyone. It’s not difficult to get right, but it’s not difficult to miss something either. It’s worth getting your ideas checked out before committing them to writing you’ll need to rely on later.

They don’t like language and tone of typical contracts. We think that’s a good thing as these are just as important as for any other correspondence form.

They’ll never be friendly but you can adjust to suit your desired employment relationship.

From tribunal outcomes and our own experience, we know it isn’t necessarily what’s written down in a contract that gets relied on in a dispute.

In making a judgement, a tribunal will place significant emphasis on how a contract is ‘carried out in practice’.

Documents need to reflect what happens, not just the intention.

If you’d like to focus on managing your business while Organic P&O Solutions manage your HR, contact us today to find out about the cost-effective packages we’ve developed specifically for companies with between 11- 75 employees.