Drafting a contract of employment
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The answers are that you should agree about all the things which are important to you and that you should get the agreement you want. Suppose you want to take on a driver. You should ask yourself: • I run a group of companies; which one will be the employer? • How much, when and how will I pay the wages? • Can I deduct anything the driver owes me from his wages? • What will his job be? Is it just driving or can I ask him to do other work?
• When does he have to work for me? Are there going to be normal working hours? Can I put him on shifts or on nights?
• If I do put him on allowances be different?
• What is his base? Can I transfer him to another base and will I have to pay for relocation if I do? • Do I have to pay him if he is off sick? How? When? You may say: "I don't want to tie myself down on sick pay because I like to have the right not to pay employees who are swinging the lead." You can solve that problem by contracting that: "You have no right to sick pay apart from statutory sick pay. If the company pays you any sick pay apart from this it is entirely at its discretion." You can agree anything unless the law forbids it. There are some specific things that you cannot avoid, including a minimum statutory period of notice, statutory sick pay and the right to equal pay with members of the opposite sex. Drivers have special rules on their working hours. Otherwise you need the agreement of the other party. If he won't accept your terms then you have no deal, but then that is the way of the marketplace. nights, will the pay and
POINTS TO PONDER: O A contract is an agreemoli
• You can agree anything unless the law forbids it Drivers must comply with special rules gov erning their working hours,