The starting point for knowing your rights at work is your contract of employment – hence the importance of ensuring your new contract of employment is a written, rather than just a verbal, contract. However, even if you have no written employment contract, you are still legally entitled to receive a written statement of your main terms and conditions of employment within two months of starting work. The information given to you must include: your job title, a description of the job (including your main responsibilities), the date when your employment began, your rate of pay and when you will be paid, your hours of work, your holiday entitlement, your place of work, sick pay arrangements, notice periods, information about disciplinary and grievance procedures, any collective agreements that affect your employment (e.g. agreements with trade unions), and information about pensions and pension schemes. If you are not a permanent employee, the information given to you must clearly state when your fixed-term contract is to end. Note that some of this information may be contained in your employer's HR documents, e.g. its sickness policy, its disciplinary and grievance policy, its staff handbook, and so on.

Note that you will probably not technically be an 'employee' if you have a ‘contract to provide services’ or a ‘contract for services’ with an organisation or company. Instead, your status will be that of a ‘contractor’ – i.e. you will effectively be self-employed – and you will have fewer legal rights than an employee. You will also be responsible for paying your own income tax and National Insurance contributions.

Common areas of dispute as between employer and employee include unfair dismissal, working hours, and pay. Employment law is a complicated area; it is always best to contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau (http://www.adviceguide.org.uk), Law Centre (http://www.lawcentres.org.uk), or an employment contract lawyer for specific advice as soon as you can if a problem or dispute arises. To locate a lawyer with the necessary expertise, visit: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law.

It is very important to be familiar with the terms of your employment contract before you sign it. Employment contract software, or even free downloaded contracts of employment, may be used by an employer to generate employment contracts – but these may then contain inappropriate or irrelevant terms and conditions. Do not be afraid to query anything in your contract that seems unusual and if in doubt consult an employment lawyer or an employment law adviser.

Once your employment contract has been signed, neither you nor your employer can change it without the agreement of the other. If your employer wants to change your terms of employment, they should consult you and/or your representative (such as a trade union), explain the reasons for the proposed change, and be prepared to listen to alternative ideas.

C. Morgan MA (Oxon), MSt, LLB (Hons)