Employers should be aware of the risks involved when changing employment contracts, as employers cannot change contracts unilaterally, therefore employers should ensure that they adhere to the lawful processes when considering changing the terms of an employee contract.

An employer should make sure that they go through the correct procedure when making changes to a contract, ensuring that there will be no negative implications for the employee, as they may risk breaching the contract.

If a breach occurs then the organisation could face extensive damages, as well as unfair constructive dismissal claims.

A contract is a legally binding agreement in which an organisation or individual offers the terms and conditions of the contract to one or more parties followed by a process of negotiation, acceptance, and agreement to the offered terms. 

Before a contract can be deemed enforceable by law, the process of consideration must take place, which means all parties must mutually consent to the terms and conditions of the contract. I.e. Party A promises to provide a service in return for Party B’s payment.

A vital element to consider when drawing up a legal contract is the intention of all parties. For example, in some cases there is no initial intention to make an agreement legally binding, therefore it cannot be classified as a contract by law. It is sometimes assumed that an agreement is legally binding, especially when dealing with commercial contracts.

The Law Commission have now officially confirmed the validity of electronic signatures when signing formal legal documents i.e. employment contracts.

The reason for the confirmation comes after confusion surrounding the legitimacy of electronic signatures, which resulted in many organisations being discouraged from using the electronic format.

Utilising electronic signatures allows organisations to process contracts in a quick and efficient manner.

Law Commissioner, Stephen Lewis confirmed this, stating:

The most recent Equality Act was enforced in 2010, replacing previous legislation including the Equal Pay Act 1970. The Equality Act 2010 covers the equality of terms provisions to ensure that all men and women should receive equal pay when in similar roles.

Currently, there are issues for employees when comparing salary pay, as in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, employees are prohibited from discussing differences in pay with each other.

However, employees can compare their contract of employment with a comparator, which means an employee of the opposite sex with a similar role and equivalent terms. The equivalent terms can include the following:

From the 25^th May 2018, to avoid the risk of breaching the General Data Protection Regulation, employer’s are obligated to take on new responsibilities, as well as updating their contracts, policies and procedures, in order to maintain compliance under the GDPR requirements.

This means employer’s must: