RHA Contracts of Employment
The law requires that all employees be given basic written terms and conditions of employment within two months of commencing work. All employers must provide employees with adequate written, internal disciplinary and grievance procedures in order to comply with the regulations on handling disciplinary, grievance and dismissal matters in the workplace.
Yet one of the most common problems raised by members is disputes with employees and ex-employees regarding terms and conditions of employment.
Some members’ concerns:
“Contracts give employees rights”
Rubbish! A properly written contract protects YOU, the employer.
“It doesn’t cover what I want”
Wrong! You can tailor the contracts to meet the needs and requirements of your business.
“I only have three drivers”
Maybe! But most of the law applies even if you have only one driver.
How contracts can help you
Carefully drafted contracts of employment set out your conditions in a clear way and ensure that disputes over disciplinary and other matters are avoided.
You can include clauses requiring repayment of training costs, deductions for private use of mobile phones, even a clause that makes employment conditional on a customer’s contract!
An Employment Tribunal can be very expensive for employers, large or small. The RHA LawPlan scheme will help - but only if you belong to the scheme and you have written contracts.
Your Area Manager will arrange to visit your premises and go through each contract with you.
There are a number of standard contracts to choose from, all specific to the haulage industry and all can be tailored to your requirements. You can choose from a Driver/Labourer, Vehicle Mechanic/Labourer, Warehouse Manager, Office Manager, Transport Manager to name but a few.
What do members think?
“We set the ground rules and we work by them. It makes everyone aware of how to deal with things. We can manage discipline better and the employees know how to raise grievances in the correct manner. The RHA Contract of Employment service is very good and backed by LawPlan, it gives us peace of mind.”
Lesley Robert, Strand Transport
To find out more
To find out more, contact your regional office