How regular contract reviews for your people can save business costs

Contracts of employment are the foundation of the employment relationship. Having a poorly structured and non-compliant contract can cost businesses money. 

Contracts must be up to date, reflect the current employment legislation, business needs, as well as both the employer and employee expectations. 

Complimentary employment contract review   

If you require support with updating your terms and conditions of employment, Moore Kingston Smith People Advisory are offering a complimentary contract review for a limited time only.  

This review will highlight any areas that have become outdated in your current contracts of employment and identify any risks this could subsequently pose to your organisation.  

If your contracts of employment have not been reviewed for some time, or if you would like peace of mind that your updated contracts are legally complaint, please contact us before the end of January 2024 to arrange your complimentary and no obligation contract review.  

The statistics 

Statistics suggest that only one in five (just 22%) of employers have reviewed and updated their terms and conditions since 2020. 

This means that updated working practices towards working patterns, such as hybrid and remote working, are out of date in the majority of people’s contracts. This also demonstrates that most employers are not updating their contracts in line with employment legislation updates, over a significant period of time.  

A common misconception is that reviewing or updating terms and conditions of employment is a one-off task. However, it requires ongoing monitoring and review on an annual basis. 

Why is it important? 

Employment legislation is updated regularly throughout each year.  

Key court decisions are issued regularly, that affect how laws apply to employees.   

Those employers not reviewing and updating their contracts annually might be surprised to find out that they are likely:  

• Not complying with changing employment legislation, rules and regulations; 
• Not complying with HR and employment law best practice in light of statutory and case law developments; 
• Potentially in breach key employment rights, such as GDPR, working time regulations, handling flexible working requests or continually developing workers’ rights; 
• Potentially unprotected from leavers going to work for their competitors and seeking to solicit their customers, prospects and staff; 
• To be at risk of not complying with statutory pay rates, such as annual holiday, the national minimum wage or statutory leave and pay entitlements. 

Leaving these areas unreviewed, could result in employers being taken to employment tribunal for a breach of contract or statutory rights and having out of date and possibly non-compliant contracts and policies could lead a tribunal to conclude that an employer is not abiding by current employment laws and HR best practice and therefore weaken an employer’s defence to a claim.  

There are various issues we have seen clients encounter through poorly drafted or out of date employment contracts. Read examples here. 

If you require support with updating your terms and conditions of employment, please contact us.