Most small employers think of the contract as a document you get round to. A template gets adapted, someone signs it in week three, everyone moves on.
The law doesn't see it that way. Since 6 April 2020, giving a written statement of employment particulars has been a day one right — it must be issued on or before the first day of work, and it applies to workers as well as employees.
Here's exactly what has to be in it, what can wait, and what it costs when it's missing.
The rule, in one paragraph
An employer must give employees and workers a document stating the main conditions of employment when they start work. The bulk of it — the principal statement — must be given on or before the first day. A smaller set of terms can follow within two months. The duty applies to both employees and workers, with separate rules for agency workers (source: Acas — What the written statement must include).
The change that catches people out is the timing. Before April 2020 employers had two months to issue the statement, and it only covered employees. Any contract template or onboarding process still running on those assumptions is out of date by six years (source: The Employment Rights (Employment Particulars and Paid Annual Leave) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, in force 6 April 2020).
What must be in the principal statement
Everything below has to reach the person on or before day one.
| Must be stated | The detail people get wrong |
|---|---|
| Employer's name and address | The address is easy to leave off a template |
| Employee or worker's name | — |
| Job title, or a brief description of the job | A description is acceptable; vagueness isn't |
| Start date | — |
| Date continuous employment began | A separate field from the start date. Differs after a TUPE transfer or a rehire, and it drives statutory rights |
| Pay, and how often and when it's paid | Amount and frequency |
| Working hours, including which days | Including whether hours or days vary, and how |
| Holiday entitlement, including public holidays | Enough detail to calculate entitlement and pay |
| Sick leave and sick pay | Frequently deferred to a handbook — it can't be |
| Any other paid leave | Maternity, paternity and similar |
| Benefits, contractual and non-contractual | Includes things like lunch or childcare vouchers |
| Notice periods, both sides | — |
| Work location, and whether relocation is possible | Plus multiple sites if relevant |
| Expected duration, if not permanent | And the end date for a fixed term |
| Probation period — length and conditions | Added in 2020. Older templates rarely mention it |
| Obligatory training, and whether the employer pays | Added in 2020. Same problem |
| Overseas work of more than a month | Duration, currency, extra pay or benefits, and terms of return |
What must be given on day one but can sit elsewhere
Some information must reach the person on the first day but doesn't have to be inside the principal statement itself. You can choose whether to include it or provide it in a separate document, as long as it's issued by day one (source: GOV.UK — Written statement of employment particulars):
- Sick pay and sickness procedures
- Other paid leave, such as maternity and paternity
- Notice periods
The practical trap: these are exactly the items that live in a staff handbook, and the handbook is exactly the thing that gets emailed "once you're settled in". If your sickness procedure lives in the handbook, the handbook has to reach the person on day one.
What can wait two months
These can follow, no later than two months after employment starts:
- Pension arrangements
- Collective agreements affecting the terms
- Non-compulsory training the employer provides
- Disciplinary rules, and disciplinary and grievance procedures
Two months is a deadline, not a target. If the process for issuing them is "when someone remembers", it will be missed for somebody eventually — and that somebody is disproportionately likely to be the person who later brings a claim.
Workers count too, not just employees
This is the single most common gap. The duty covers employees and workers. If you engage casual staff, zero-hours staff or anyone on irregular hours, they're entitled to a written statement in the same way and on the same timescale.
Businesses that would never dream of skipping a contract for a salaried hire routinely take on weekend casual staff with nothing in writing at all. Same duty. Same day-one deadline.
If you employ irregular-hours staff, their holiday accrues differently too — at 12.07% of the hours they actually work. Our holiday entitlement calculator handles that, and the figure belongs in the statement.
What it costs to get wrong
Here's the mechanism almost nobody explains properly, and it's worth understanding precisely because it changes how you should feel about the risk.
Failing to give a written statement is not a standalone claim. Nobody walks into a tribunal solely because their statement was late. What happens instead is set out in section 38 of the Employment Act 2002: if a tribunal finds in the person's favour on some other claim, and you were in breach of the duty to give a written statement, it must award two weeks' pay — or four weeks' pay if it considers that "just and equitable in all the circumstances".
That applies whether or not the tribunal awards anything on the underlying claim. If it makes an award, it must increase it. If it finds for the worker but awards nothing, it must still award the two or four weeks.
There's an exception where "exceptional circumstances" would make the award unjust or inequitable, but you would not want to be arguing it.
So the missing statement costs nothing at all, right up until something else goes wrong. Then it becomes an uplift on a loss you were already taking, awarded almost automatically, for a document that would have taken twenty minutes to issue.
That asymmetry is why this sits near the top of the list of things worth getting systematic about. The cost of compliance is small and predictable. The cost of non-compliance is invisible until it isn't.
Five things employers most often miss
- Casual and zero-hours staff get nothing. They're workers. They're covered.
- The probation clause isn't in the template. Length and conditions became a required item in 2020. If your contract template predates that, it's missing.
- Obligatory training isn't mentioned. Also added in 2020, including whether the employer pays for it.
- The sickness procedure is in a handbook issued in week two. It's a day-one item wherever it physically lives.
- Continuous employment date is set equal to the start date by default. For a rehire or a TUPE transfer that's wrong, and it quietly understates someone's statutory rights.
Keeping it straight without relying on memory
Everything above is a checklist problem before it's a legal problem. The duty is clear, the deadline is clear, and the failure mode is always the same: a busy week, a new starter, and a document that gets issued late or not at all — then sits in somebody's sent items rather than against that person's record.
What you actually need is three things: the statement issued on or before day one, stored against the individual, and evidence they received it.
HR Henry holds employee records, documents and policy acknowledgements in one place, so day-one paperwork is attached to the person rather than scattered across inboxes — and you can see at a glance who has acknowledged what. Have a look at how that works, and if you want the other half of this subject, read how long you have to keep employee records.
Frequently asked questions
When must a UK employment contract be given?
The principal statement must be given on or before the first day of work. It has been a day one right since 6 April 2020.
Does a written statement apply to workers as well as employees?
Yes. The duty covers both employees and workers, with separate rules for agency workers. Casual and zero-hours staff are covered in exactly the same way.
What can be given within two months rather than on day one?
Pension arrangements, collective agreements affecting the terms, non-compulsory training the employer provides, and disciplinary and grievance procedures.
What happens if I do not give a written statement?
It is not a claim on its own. But if a tribunal finds in the person's favour on another claim, and you were in breach of this duty, it must award two weeks' pay - or four weeks' pay if it considers that just and equitable.
Is a written statement the same as an employment contract?
Not exactly. The contract is the whole agreement, written and unwritten. The written statement is the specific set of particulars the law requires you to put in writing. In practice most small employers issue one document that does both jobs.
Does the statement need to be signed?
There is no signature requirement in the legislation, but you should be able to show the person received it. A record of issue and acknowledgement is worth more than a signature in a drawer.
Sources
All checked 31 August 2026.
- GOV.UK — Written statement of employment particulars
- Acas — What the written statement must include
- Employment Act 2002, section 38
- The Employment Rights (Employment Particulars and Paid Annual Leave) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 — in force 6 April 2020
This guide sets out statutory requirements and is not legal advice. Where a situation is unclear, take advice.