LAW-CALL
The team at Law-Call, a 24-hour legal helpline available to Alliance members, walk you through the next steps in the recruitment process
Once an offer has been made following a successful recruitment process, the candidate will need to be provided with key information and a number of documents – both before and at the start of employment.
Key information is usually found in the job offer letter and may include:
For employment offers granted on a conditional basis to proceed, all conditions must be met before employment begins. Dealing with outstanding references or DBS certificates can be more difficult once employment begins, thus it’s preferable to ensure conditions such as these are met prior to the commencement of employment.
Failure to meet any outlined conditions before employment means the employer has the right withdraw the offer; however, once employment has begun, an offer cannot be withdrawn. Once the employment contract commences, removal of an employee would require a dismissal – a trickier process.
If all conditions are satisfied and the offer accepted, arrangements can then be made for a start date.
All employees have to be provided with a principal statement no later than the first day of employment.
This statement must include:
Also on the first day, the employee needs to be provided with information regarding sick pay and procedures, notice periods, and any other paid leave (such as family-friendly maternity/paternity leave). While these don’t need to be included in the formal principal statement of employment, it’s usually easier to provide all of this information together in one document.
Within two months of the employment commencing, the employee will need to be provided with information related to a pension scheme, if any collective agreements are in place, details of any non-compulsory training that may be provided by the employer, and disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Legally, although this information all has to be provided within the time frames outlined above, it may be beneficial to provide sooner.
Candidates who have received an offer may request this information in advance to enable them to make the decision on whether to accept the role. It may then be helpful to provide a contract of employment containing all of this information before the start date to ensure that all terms are agreed in good time, particularly if this information is largely the same as other employment contracts already provided to staff.
As an Alliance member, you have access to Law-Call's 24-hour legal advice telephone service, which can help you navigate through the process. Contact details can be found in the Alliance member benefit overview section of EYA Central: bit.ly/U5Law-Call.