En principe, il n’a pas à être écrit. Un contrat de travail peut donc être déduit d’un engagement oral, ou d’un échange de correspondance. Il nécessite non seulement une offre de l’employeur mais aussi une acceptation de l’employé (selon les règles classiques de la Common law anglaise).
Cependant, l'employeur doit, dans les deux premiers mois suivant le début du travail du salarié, donner à celui-ci un document contenant un certains nombre d'informations. Ce document est appelé "Statement of employment particulars" ou encore "Principal statement" est défini par la section 1 de la loi sur les droits du salarié de 1996 ( Employment Rights Act ) dont des extraits sont repduits ci-dessous.
EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT 1996
PART I EMPLOYMENT PARTICULARS
Section 1. Statement of initial employment particulars.
(1) Where an employee begins employment with an employer, the employer shall give to the employee a written statement of particulars of employment.
(2) The statement may [subject to section 2(4)] be given in instalments and (whether or not given in instalments) shall be given not later than two months after the beginning of the employment.
(3) The statement shall contain particulars of:
(a) the names of the employer and employee,
(b) the date when the employment began, and
(c) the date on which the employee's period of continuous employment began (taking into account any employment with a previous employer which counts towards that period).
(4) The statement shall also contain particulars, as at a specified date not more than seven days before the statement (or the instalment containing them) is given, of-
(a) the scale or rate of remuneration or the method of calculating remuneration,
(b) the intervals at which remuneration is paid (that is, weekly, monthly or other specified intervals),
(c) any terms and conditions relating to hours of work (including any terms and conditions relating to normal working hours),
(d) any terms and conditions relating to any of the following-
(i) entitlement to holidays, including public holidays, and holiday pay (the particulars given being sufficient to enable the employee's entitlement, including any entitlement to accrued holiday pay on the termination of employment, to be precisely calculated),
(ii) incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provision for sick pay, and
(iii) pensions and pension schemes,
(e) the length of notice which the employee is obliged to give and entitled to receive to terminate his contract of employment,
(f) the title of the job which the employee is employed to do or a brief description of the work for which he is employed,
(g) where the employment is not intended to be permanent, the period for which it is expected to continue or, if it is for a fixed term, the date when it is to end,
(h) either the place of work or, where the employee is required or permitted to work at various places, an indication of that and of the address of the employer,
(j) any collective agreements which directly affect the terms and conditions of the employment including, where the employer is not a party, the persons by whom they were made, and
(k) where the employee is required to work outside the United Kingdom for a period of more than one month-
(i) the period for which he is to work outside the United Kingdom,
(ii) the currency in which remuneration is to be paid while he is working outside the United Kingdom,
(iii) any additional remuneration payable to him, and any benefits to be provided to or in respect of him, by reason of his being required to work outside the United Kingdom, and
(iv) any terms and conditions relating to his return to the United Kingdom.
(5) Subsection (4)(d)(iii) does not apply to an employee of a body or authority if:
(a) the employee's pension rights depend on the terms of a pension scheme established under any provision contained in or having effect under any Act, and
(b) any such provision requires the body or authority to give to a new employee information concerning the employee's pension rights or the determination of questions affecting those rights.
Section 2. Statement of initial particulars: supplementary.
(1) If, in the case of a statement under section 1, there are no particulars to be entered under any of the heads of paragraph (d) or (k) of subsection (4) of that section, or under any of the other paragraphs of subsection (3) or (4) of that section, that fact shall be stated.
(2) A statement under section 1 may refer the employee for particulars of any of the matters specified in subsection (4)(d)(ii) and (iii) of that section to the provisions of some other document which is reasonably accessible to the employee.
(3) A statement under section 1 may refer the employee for particulars of either of the matters specified in subsection (4)(e) of that section to the law or to the provisions of any collective agreement directly affecting the terms and conditions of the employment which is reasonably accessible to the employee.
(4) The particulars required by section 1(3) and (4)(a) to (c), (d)(i), (f) and (h) shall be included in a single document.
(5) Where before the end of the period of two months after the beginning of an employee's employment the employee is to begin to work outside the United Kingdom for a period of more than one month, the statement under section 1 shall be given to him not later than the time when he leaves the United Kingdom in order to begin so to work.
(6) A statement shall be given to a person under section 1 even if his employment ends before the end of the period within which the statement is required to be given.
Section 3. Note about disciplinary procedures and pensions.
(1) A statement under section 1 shall include a note:
(a) specifying any disciplinary rules applicable to the employee or referring the employee to the provisions of a document specifying such rules which is reasonably accessible to the employee,
(b) specifying (by description or otherwise)-
(i) a person to whom the employee can apply if dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision relating to him, and
(ii) a person to whom the employee can apply for the purpose of seeking redress of any grievance relating to his employment,
and the manner in which any such application should be made, and
(c) where there are further steps consequent on any such application, explaining those steps or referring to the provisions of a document explaining them which is reasonably accessible to the employee.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to rules, disciplinary decisions, grievances or procedures relating to health or safety at work.
(3) The note need not comply with the following provisions of subsection (1):
(a) paragraph (a),
(b) in paragraph (b), sub-paragraph (i) and the words following sub-paragraph (ii) so far as relating to sub-paragraph (i), and
(c) paragraph (c),
if on the date when the employee's employment began the relevant number of employees was less than twenty.
(4) In subsection (3) "the relevant number of employees", in relation to an employee, means the number of employees employed by his employer added to the number of employees employed by any associated employer.
(5) The note shall also state whether there is in force a contracting-out certificate (issued in accordance with Chapter I of Part III of the Pension Schemes Act 1993) stating that the employment is contracted-out employment (for the purposes of that Part of that Act).
NOTE IMPORTANTE: cet article (section 3) sera modifié lorsque le décret d'application de l'Employment Act 2002 paraîtra.
Section 4. Statement of changes.
(1) If, after the material date, there is a change in any of the matters particulars of which are required by sections 1 to 3 to be included or referred to in a statement under section 1, the employer shall give to the employee a written statement containing particulars of the change.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1):
(a) in relation to a matter particulars of which are included or referred to in a statement given under section 1 otherwise than in instalments, the material date is the date to which the statement relates,
(b) in relation to a matter particulars of which:
(i) are included or referred to in an instalment of a statement given under section 1, or
(ii) are required by section 2(4) to be included in a single document but are not included in an instalment of a statement given under section 1 which does include other particulars to which that provision applies,
the material date is the date to which the instalment relates, and
(c) in relation to any other matter, the material date is the date by which a statement under section 1 is required to be given.
(3) A statement under subsection (1) shall be given at the earliest opportunity and, in any event, not later than:
(a) one month after the change in question, or
(b) where that change results from the employee being required to work outside the United Kingdom for a period of more than one month, the time when he leaves the United Kingdom in order to begin so to work, if that is earlier.
(4) A statement under subsection (1) may refer the employee to the provisions of some other document which is reasonably accessible to the employee for a change in any of the matters specified in sections 1(4)(d)(ii) and (iii) and 3(1)(a) and(c).
(5) A statement under subsection (1) may refer the employee for a change in either of the matters specified in section 1(4)(e) to the law or to the provisions of any collective agreement directly affecting the terms and conditions of the employment which is reasonably accessible to the employee.
(6) where, after an employer has given to an employee a statement under section 1, either:
(a) the name of the employer (whether an individual or a body corporate or partnership) is changed without any change in the identity of the employer, or
(b) the identity of the employer is changed in circumstances in which the continuity of the employee's period of employment is not broken,
and subsection (7) applies in relation to the change, the person who is the employer immediately after the change is not required to give to the employee a statement under section 1; but the change shall be treated as a change falling within subsection (1) of this section.
(7) This subsection applies in relation to a change if it does not involve any change in any of the matters (other than the names of the parties) particulars of which are required by sections 1 to 3 to be included or referred to in the statement under section 1.
(8) A statement under subsection (1) which informs an employee of a change such as is referred to in subsection (6)(b) shall specify the date on which the employee's period of continuous employment began.
Section 5. Exclusion from rights to statements.
(1) Sections 1 to 4 apply to an employee who at any time comes or ceases to come within the exceptions from those sections provided by section 199, and under section 209, as if his employment with his employer terminated or began at that time.
(2) the fact that section 1 is directed by subsection (1) to apply to an employee as if his employment began on his ceasing to come within the exceptions referred to in that subsection does not affect the obligation under section 1(3)(b) to specify the date on which his employment actually began.
Section 6. Reasonably accessible document or collective agreement.
In sections 2 to 4 references to a document or collective agreement which is reasonably accessible to an employee are references to a document or collective agreement which:
(a) the employee has reasonable opportunities of reading in the course of his employment, or
(b) is made reasonably accessible to the employee in some other way.