The majority of employees have never read their contract of employment

Forming the basis of the employment relationship between an employee and a company, a contract of employment is a fairly rudimentary aspect of taking on staff.

The vast majority of companies will issue an employment contract within the first few weeks of an employee starting with them, detailing the responsibilities and duties that are expected, along with the rights and conditions afforded to new employees. Certainly, at the very least, an employer must give new employees a ‘written statement of employment particulars’ within their first 2 months.

The study of 1,000 employees from across the UK found that only 6 had read their contracts of employment in full, with only a further 93 having partially or skim read their contract’s contents.

Considering the importance of the contents of an employment contract, this is quite a surprising set of results. After all, an employment contract is a legally binding document that not only sets out key information but can also be used to protect both employers and employees.

From an employer’s perspective, the contract also sets out parameters for conduct. When employees are fully aware of what is/is not acceptable, this can prevent instances of misconduct, saving the need to resort to disciplinary action or dismissal. One way to make it easy for employees to have access to their employment contract is via an online employee record system, such as the one favoured by KMC HR – BreatheHR. Once signed, the Breathe platform allows the contract to be uploaded to the employee's electronic personnel file so they always have instant access to it - along with any other documentation the company might choose to upload, such as performance reviews, training records, ‘right to work’ documents, disciplinary letters etc.