The employment contract 




The employment contract sets out the terms and conditions under which work is to be done and paid for. Employees should know what those terms are and how to enforce them. 




Once an employer has offered a job and the employee has accepted it, there will be a legal contract in place, even if there is nothing in writing. If the offer is later withdrawn, the employee may be able to claim damages for breach of contract (Sarker v South Tees Acute Hospitals [1997] IRLR 328). In most cases, damages are limited to the length of notice needed to terminate the contract legally, but if the contract is for a fixed period of time and there is nothing allowing for it to be ended earlier, damages could potentially cover its whole period (Gill and others v Cape Contracts [1985] IRLR 499). 


Although a verbal offer and acceptance can be binding, proving it is likely to be difficult. An offer is binding if a reasonable person would infer that the employer intended to be bound by the offer once it was accepted, whether or not this was actually the employer’s intention (Wright v Canterbury Christ Church University College [2005] EAT/0428/04/0604). There must be an intention to create legal obligations, not just moral ones.


In Jeffrey Blue v Michael Ashley [2017] EWHC 1928, the High Court gave useful guidance as to the factors likely to indicate an intention to enter into a legal contract:


To enforce a contract, you need to know who your employer is. This should be stated in the written statement of employment particulars (see below).