Employees employed before 6 April 2020 have a statutory right to request an updated written statement of employment particulars that includes all the additional information required to be covered in new written statements. If they do, use our letter to reply.
Additional contents
Employees (and workers) who start employment on or after 6 April 2020 have a statutory right to receive a written statement of employment particulars that not only must be issued to them no later than when they begin employment, but also that statement must include the following additional mandatory information as compared to the old version of the statement:
Right to request
If you issue your employees with a more detailed employment contract, it’s possible that some of this additional information is already included in their contract, but probably not all of it. Therefore, existing employees (but not existing workers) who were already in your employment before 6 April 2020 have the right to apply for an updated statement that includes the additional content. They can do this at any time during their employment and for up to three months following its termination. Their application also doesn’t need to be made in writing, so watch out for verbal requests too.
Obligation to respond
Where you do receive a request, you must then provide the employee with an updated statement within one month of their request being made. You can reply using our Response to Employment Particulars Request. It encloses two copies of the updated statement (or contract), one for them to sign and return to signify their acceptance and the other for them to retain. It draws attention to the additional clauses but also makes clear that the remainder of the statement remains the same as their current terms and conditions - you must never use this as an opportunity to try and slip in unilateral adverse changes to the employee’s terms and conditions!