Is a written statement the same as an employment contract?

No. The contract is the agreement itself, much of which can be verbal or implied. The written statement is a statutory notice describing the main terms of that agreement. Most employers issue one document that does both jobs, which is fine - but the statutory particulars must all be there, and a contract that omits them does not satisfy section 1.

What must be in the single principal document?

The names of both parties, the start date, the date continuous employment began, pay and how it is calculated, pay intervals, hours including which days and whether they vary, holiday and holiday pay, sick leave and sick pay, any other paid leave, pensions, other benefits, notice periods, job title or description, how long the job is expected to last if not permanent, any probationary period and its conditions, place of work, any relevant collective agreements, any overseas work of more than a month, and training entitlement.

What happens if an employer does not give a written statement?

There is no free-standing claim for the failure alone, but if the employee brings another successful tribunal claim, the tribunal can award additional compensation for the missing or incomplete statement. In practice the bigger cost is evidential: without a written statement, a dispute about what was agreed becomes the employer's word against the employee's.

Do casual and zero-hours workers get a written statement?

Yes. Since April 2020 the right extends to workers, not just employees, and it applies from day one regardless of how few hours they work. Where hours are variable, the statement has to say so and explain how they are decided rather than stating a figure that is not true.

Written statement of employment particulars

Q: When must a written statement of employment particulars be given?

Not later than the beginning of the employment. Section 1(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 makes it a day-one right, so it must be in the new starter's hands on or before their first day - not within two months of it, which was the old rule and is still what many templates assume.

It is a day-one right, it covers workers as well as employees, and most of it has to sit in one document. The old two-month deadline still appears in a lot of templates, and it has been wrong since April 2020.

By Abi Thomas · Guide · Employment law · Checked 15 August 2026 · 8 min read

In short

A written statement of employment particulars must be given not later than the beginning of the employment (s.1(2) Employment Rights Act 1996). Almost all of the required particulars have to be in a single document. A short list may follow later, but no later than two months after employment begins (s.2(4)). It applies to workers, not just employees, and to someone doing four hours a week.

The statement is not the contract

These get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. The contract is the agreement between you and the employee - it exists from the moment the offer is accepted, and much of it can be verbal, implied by conduct, or drawn from custom. The written statement is a statutory notice setting out the main terms of that agreement.

In practice nearly every employer issues one document that does both jobs, and that is sensible. But it means the document has to satisfy s.1 as well as saying what you want it to say - and a well-drafted contract that happens to omit, say, training entitlement or the date continuous employment began does not comply.

What must be in the single document

Section 1(2) requires these to be in one principal statement, not scattered across a handbook:

The names of the employer and the worker.
The date employment begins, and the date continuous employment began (they differ where service transfers in).
Pay - the scale or rate, or the method of calculating it - and the intervals at which it is paid.
Hours of work: the normal hours, which days, and whether either varies and how.
Holiday entitlement and holiday pay, in enough detail to work out accrued entitlement on termination.
Sick leave and sick pay.
Any other paid leave.
Pensions and pension schemes.
Any other benefits.
Notice, both ways.
Job title or a description of the work.
How long the job is expected to last, if it is not permanent.
Any probationary period, including its conditions and length.
Place of work, and the employer's address.
Any collective agreements affecting the terms.
Any requirement to work outside the UK for more than a month, and the terms attached.
Training entitlement, including any the employer requires and any it will not pay for.

The two newest items are the two most often missing

Probationary period and training entitlement were added in April 2020. Templates written before then look complete and are not. If you are reusing a contract you have had for a few years, those two are the first things to check - along with whether it still promises the statement "within two months".

What can follow later

A small number of particulars may be given separately or in instalments, but must be with the employee no later than two months after employment begins - and that deadline holds even if the employment has already ended by then. If the worker is posted abroad for more than a month within that window, they have to be given the outstanding particulars before they leave the country.

Variable hours, and the honesty problem

Where hours or days vary, the statement must say that they vary and how they are determined. A zero-hours or annualised-hours worker cannot be handed a statement claiming "37.5 hours, Monday to Friday" because that is the template's default. This is the clause tribunals find most useful when a dispute later turns on what was actually agreed, and it is the one most often left as boilerplate.

Changes to the terms

If a particular changes, the employee must be given a written statement of the change at the earliest opportunity, and in any event within one month. Note that issuing a statement of change is not the same as being entitled to make the change: a variation still needs a contractual mechanism or the employee's agreement. Documenting a change you were not allowed to make simply produces a well-evidenced breach.

What it costs to get wrong

There is no stand-alone claim for failing to provide a statement. What there is: where an employee succeeds in another tribunal claim and the statement was missing or incomplete, the tribunal can award additional compensation on top. The practical cost is bigger and quieter - a disagreement about notice, hours or pay with nothing in writing becomes one person's recollection against another's, and the employer is the party expected to have documented it.

The written statement template lays the required particulars out in order so nothing is missed.

Keep reading: All 66 HR guides · 30 free templates · 24 calculators

Day-one paperwork that is actually ready on day one

CoDash holds the start date, hours, pay, notice and probation per person and tracks which documents each new starter has been issued and acknowledged - so the statement goes out before they arrive, not two months after.

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