All employees in Ireland must get a written statement of their terms of employment, including their pay and hours of work. This written statement should be provided to the employee within 5 days of starting the job and include the five core terms of employment.
- The full name of the employer and employee
- The address of the employer
- The expected duration of the contract (if the contract is temporary or fixed term)
- The Rate or method of calculating pay, and the pay reference period (weekly, monthly)
- What the employer reasonably expects the normal length of the working day and weeks to be worked (for example – 8 hours a day, 5 days a week)
Employers can face serious penalties if they do not comply with the statutory obligations to provide new employees with these statements of terms of employment, as set out in the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018.
The remaining terms of employment.
Each new employee must get a written statement within 2 months of starting work, setting out the remaining terms of employment.
- The place of work
- The job title or nature of the work (such as a brief job description)
- The date the employment started
- Pay intervals
- Any terms or conditions relating to hours of work (such as overtime)
- Paid leave, including annual leave and public holiday entitlements.
- Sick Pay
- Pension and pension schemes
- Period of notice to be given by employer or employee.
- Details of any additional agreements.
An employment contract may contain more details than set out above, but it must make reference to these 10 elements. The employer must sign and date the written terms but there is no legal requirement for an employee to sign it. The absence of their signature does not imply that they have not accepted the Terms and the Contract is in place once it has all the required elements once it has been provided to the employee. Subsequent attempts to amend or change the terms or conditions of employment must have the agreement of both parties.
Where there are changes in legislation that affect the existing terms or conditions of employment, the employer shall make the necessary changes to incorporate the changes and advise the change to the employees so affected. This will be necessary presently where the new Statutory Sick Leave Scheme will come into force.
The Association will provide detailed advice to all members on this matter once Ministerial Regulations have been signed.