How to Write an Employment Contract in the UK (England & Wales)

Start with the section 1 written statement

The foundation of a UK employment contract is the written statement of particulars required by section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It must identify the employer and employee, the start date, the job title or a description of the work, the place of work, pay and the interval at which it is paid, hours of work, holiday entitlement, and notice periods, among other particulars.

Most of these particulars must be given in a single document on or before the employee's first day. Treating the contract itself as that statement — rather than promising details 'to follow' — is the cleanest way to comply and avoids a later tribunal claim for a defective or missing statement.

Get holiday and pay right against the statutory floor

Paid holiday is set by a statutory floor of 5.6 weeks per year, which is 28 days for someone working a five-day week. That entitlement can be stated as inclusive of bank holidays, and it is pro-rated for part-time staff. You can offer more, but a contract that provides less than 5.6 weeks is unenforceable to the extent it falls short.

Pay is constrained separately by the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage. Whatever salary and hours you set, the effective hourly rate — salary divided by the total hours actually worked, including any 'unpaid' additional hours — must never fall below the applicable rate for the employee's age band. This is the trap to watch when a salaried contract treats overtime as unpaid: reasonable extra hours are fine only while effective pay stays above the minimum wage.

Reference disciplinary and grievance procedures

The written statement must tell the employee about any disciplinary and grievance procedures, or at least where to find them. Common practice is to keep the detailed rules in a staff handbook or standalone policy that does not form part of the contract — so the procedures can be updated without varying the contract — while the contract itself points the employee to that document and confirms a copy is available on request.

Those procedures should follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. The Code is not itself law, but tribunals take it into account, and an unreasonable failure to follow it can increase a compensation award by up to 25%.

Handle fixed-term contracts and their protections

If the role is fixed-term rather than permanent, the contract should state the end date and that employment ends then unless terminated earlier under its terms. Fixed-term employees have the right not to be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees under the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002.

Be aware of the four-year rule: where an employee has been on successive fixed-term contracts for four years or more, the contract is generally treated as permanent unless a fixed term can be objectively justified. Fixed-term status is not a way to sidestep permanent-employee rights indefinitely.

Set notice, probation, and put it together

The contract must state the notice each side gives to end the employment. Contractual notice cannot undercut the statutory minimum: at least one week once the employee has a month's service, rising by a week for each full year to a maximum of 12 weeks after 12 years. A common approach is a flat contractual period — for example four weeks — expressed as 'or such longer period as required by statute' so the clause never drops below the floor as service builds.

A probationary period is optional but common. It typically runs one to six months with a shorter notice period during probation, and the contract should say the fuller notice period applies once probation is passed. Once these terms are settled, both parties sign and date the contract and each keeps an executed copy.

1. 1.Confirm the parties, start date, job title, and place of work (office, hybrid, or remote).
2. 2.Set salary and hours, checking the effective hourly rate stays above the National Minimum/Living Wage.
3. 3.Set paid holiday at 5.6 weeks or more (28 days for a five-day week), pro-rated for part-time.
4. 4.Choose permanent or fixed-term; for fixed-term, state the end date and less-favourable-treatment protection.
5. 5.State the notice period as the statutory minimum or longer, and add any probationary period and its notice.
6. 6.Reference the disciplinary and grievance procedures (ACAS-compliant) and any pension auto-enrolment.
7. 7.Provide it as the section 1 written statement on or before day one; both parties sign, date, and keep a copy.