Know Your Rights with Innocent Chuzwueki
Further points of note on contract law
The Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 and 2001 obliges an employer to provide to an employee, within two months from the date of employment, a written statement of the terms and conditions of employment which must include the following:
- Full names of employee and employer;
- Address of the employer;
- The place of work;
- Job title;
- Commencement date of the employee’s contract of employment;
- Duration of Contract in the case of temporary employment and in the case of fixed term contract, the date the contract will expire;
- The rate or method of calculation of employee’s remuneration;
- Whether the remuneration is going to be paid weekly, two-weekly or monthly;
- Terms and conditions relating to hours of work, paid leave, sick pay, incapacity due to illness or injury;
- Period of notice employee is required to give or entitled to whether under the contract or statute;
- Reference to any collective agreements which impacts directly or indirectly to the employee’s contract of employment;
- Details of the times and duration of rest periods.
An employer should be aware that failure on his part to send to the employee a written statement containing the above terms and conditions, within two months of the date of commencement of work, could result to a claim against him by the employee before the right commissioner.
The right commissioner could make a compensation order of up to four weeks’ remuneration in favour of the employee. The requirement to send a written statement of certain terms and conditions does not, however, apply to employees who have been employed for less than a month.
Apart from the terms and conditions required by the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994-2001, it has become increasingly common for employment contracts to include additional clauses for a probationary period; grievance and disciplinary procedures; bullying and harassment procedures; layoff/short time; internet usage; retirement age; and extended illness pay.
Employers can lessen the risk of claims by employees, and enhance the workplace relationship, if the terms of employment are clearly spelled out in writing and agreed between them and their employees.
However, it should be pointed out that such clearly spelled-out and agreed written terms are not the full picture. In addition to the written contractual document or documents containing the agreed terms, employers should know that there are terms implied into all employment contracts by common law, statute, custom and practice, collective agreement and so on.
Much as it is advisable and preferable for employment contracts to be in writing for reasons already outlined, employers should seek legal advice in this area, as the effect of a badly drafted contract of employment will far outweigh the cost of seeking help from a legal professional.
Innocent Okey Chukwuezi is a qualified solicitor of the Law Societies of Ireland, England and Wales. He was called to the Nigerian bar in October 1987, and holds a BL degree from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and a Master’s in Commercial Law from University College Dublin.
