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OUTLINE
OF PROVISIONS (cont'd)
What must
the note of disciplinary and grievance procedures contain?
The note must:
-
cover any disciplinary rules (and from 1
October 2004, any disciplinary or dismissal procedures) which
apply to the employee;
-
specify, by description (for example job title)
or by name, the person to whom the employee can apply and
the manner in which an application should be made if he or
she is dissatisfied with any disciplinary (or, from 1 October
2004, dismissal) decision relating to him or her, or for the
purpose of seeking redress of any grievance relating to his or her
employment; and
-
cover any further steps which follow from
the making of such an application.
Until 1 October 2004 (when this exemption will be removed)
employers with fewer than twenty employees, however, need give only
the name of the person to whom the employee can apply for the
purpose of seeking redress of any grievance relating to his or her
employment and the manner in which such an application should be
made.
These requirements do not apply to rules, disciplinary or
dismissal decisions, grievances and procedures relating to health
or safety at work.
The note must also state, in every case, whether or
not a contracting-out certificate under the Pensions Schemes
Act 1993 is in force for the employment in question.
Which of the required particulars may be given by reference
to some other document, rather than in the written statement itself?
Most of the required particulars must be set out in the
written statement itself. There are however a number of exceptions.
Particulars of:
-
entitlement to sick leave, including any
entitlement to sick pay;
-
pensions and pension schemes;
-
disciplinary rules
and
disciplinary or dismissal procedures; and
-
any further steps which follow from the
making of an application under the employer's disciplinary,
dismissal or grievance procedures;
may be given by
reference to some other document which the employee has
reasonable opportunities of reading in the course of his or her
employment or which is made reasonably accessible to him or her in
some other way. It is for individual employers to make suitable
arrangements to ensure that this requirement is complied with should
they choose to make reference to some other document.
In addition, particulars of the entitlement of employer and
employee to notice of termination may be given by reference
to the provisions of the relevant legislation or to those of
any relevant collective agreement which the employee has
reasonable opportunities of reading in the course of his or her
employment or which is made reasonably accessible to him or her in
some other way.
When must the written statement be given?
All the required particulars must be given within two
months of the date when the employee's employment begins. In the
case of an employee who leaves the UK within two months of the
beginning of his or her employment to work abroad for a period of
more than one month, the required particulars must be given to him
or her before he or she leaves. It is not necessary, however, for
all the information to be given at the same time. It can instead be
given in separate documents or instalments if this is more
convenient, provided that certain particulars are collected
together in one single instalment, referred to in the legislation as
the 'principal statement'.
The particulars which must be included in the principal
statement are:
-
the names of the employer and the
employee;
-
the date when the employment (and the
period of continuous employment) began;
-
remuneration and the intervals at which it is to be paid;
-
hours of work;
-
holiday entitlement;
-
job title or a brief job description; and
-
either the place of work or, if the
employee is required or allowed to work in more than one location,
an indication of this and of the employer's address.
Although the
principal statement must take the form of a single document,
employers may find it convenient to meet this requirement by
attaching photocopies of relevant extracts from staff handbooks or
other literature and making it clear in the statement that these
contain part of the information required to be given.
(If an
employee whose employment began before 30 November 1993 requests a
statement meeting the requirements described in this booklet - see
Who is entitled to receive a written statement? - it must be
provided within two months of when the request is made.)
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