The contract of employment

The contract of employment is central to British labour law. • many statutory rights – for example, unfair dismissal, redundancy

payments – are dependent on the presence of a contract of employment. In addition, common law contractual concepts are used to define certain elements of the statutory rights;

• there is no legal structure for collective agreements. They become enforceable only when incorporated into an individual contract of employment;

• the economic torts which are the basis for controlling industrial action are based on a breach of the contract of employment;

• the contract itself is an important source of employment rights and duties, both in respect of express terms – for example, salaries, hours of work holidays – and terms implied by the court.