Written Statement of Particulars

In plain English

Under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, every UK employer must give every worker a written statement setting out the principal terms of the employment relationship — pay, hours, holiday, notice, place of work, and so on. Since April 2020, this must be provided on or before the first day of employment.

Two parts

The legislation splits required information into two tiers:

• Day-one items — must be in a single document on or before the first day: pay, hours, holiday, notice, job title, place of work, start date, length of contract, probation, paid leave, training, employer and worker names.
• Within two months — pension scheme details, collective agreements, longer-term training entitlements.

Most employers simply put everything in the day-one document.

Who's entitled

Every employee and worker — extended in 2020 from "employee" to all workers. This includes casual and zero-hours staff, agency workers (as workers of the agency), and apprentices.

Statement vs. contract

The statement is a legal disclosure, not the contract itself. The contract may also include:

• Restrictive covenants (non-compete, non-solicit)
• Confidentiality and IP assignment
• Disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Bonus and commission rules
• Code of conduct

Most employers combine the statement with a full contract into one signed document.

Penalty for not issuing

If the worker brings a separate successful tribunal claim and the employer hasn't issued a statement, the tribunal can award an additional 2–4 weeks' pay. More importantly, missing statements signal a wider compliance gap — and become an evidence problem in any subsequent dispute.