Formation of the contract

To be legally binding a contract of employment must fulfil all the normal contractual requirements, i.e.

a. Offer and acceptance. There must be offer and acceptance. The offer must contain the terms of the contract or indicate where they may be found. No particular form is required, the contract may be oral, or in writing.

b. Consideration. The consideration is the employer’s promise to pay the agreed wages in return for the employee’s promise to perform a particular task. Generally speaking the courts would not be concerned with the adequacy of the consideration.

c. Capacity. There is some restriction on the contractual capacity of minors. Protection is given both under common law and statute. Protection is also given to women, disabled persons and ethnic minorities.

d. Legality. A contract of employment must not be tainted with illegality, e. g. a contract which deliberately seeks to defraud the Inland Revenue.

Written Particulars

a. Law requires an employer to provide his employees with a written statement of the terms of his employment not later than two months after starting work. These statements are not contracts, but are taken into account by courts and tribunals. Employees are not required by the Act to sign anything in connection with these written particulars.

b. Some of the written particulars include:

—Terms and conditions relating to hours of work,

—Terms and conditions relating to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provision for sick pay,

—Length of notice to terminate employment (both employer and employee),

—Job title.

—Any collective agreements directly affecting the terms and conditions of employment,

c. Employees’ remedies for failure to provide written particulars. If an employee has not been given written notice or thinks that his notice is incorrect he can apply to an industrial tribunal. If the tribunal upholds a complaint they can state the particulars that should have been given. If the employer is in breach of any of those terms the employee can then commence an appropriate action.

f. Variation to the contract of employment. Normally a contract cannot be varied unilaterally. Contracts of employment tend to be flexible and, in the absence of written terms the following may be implied:

—Implied in fact. A term may be implied because it lends business efficacy to the contract.

—Implied by law. Some terms may be implied at common law or statute.

Find in the text the English equivalents for the following Russian phrases:

1. оплата труда, 2. правоспособность, 3. детали, подробности, 4. постановления и условия договора, 5. нетрудоспособность, 6. оплата больничного листа, 7. название должности; период уведомления, 8. коллективный договор, 9. средство судебной защиты, 10. производственный арбитраж, 11. принять (поддержать) жалобу, 12. возбудить дело, 13. в одностороннем порядке, 14. следующий из фактических обстоятельств, 15. следующих из предписаний закона.

Dwell on the following issues:

1. Describe the rights and obligations of the employer and the employee specified in the contract of employment.

2. Point out and explain the main contractual requirements.

Study the text containing the main provisions of the Contract of employment in the Republic of Belarus.

TEXT 5

According to the Employment Code of the Republic of Belarus, labour contracts may be signed for:

· an indefinite time;

· any fixed period (not more than five years);

· the period during which the permanent worker (for whom his/her job place is reserved) will be temporarily absent;

· the period of any seasonal work.

The contents and terms of any labour contract shall be deemed agreed between the parties, subject to meeting the following mandatory requirements:

· data on the employee and employer;

· the place of work, indicating the structural subdivision;

· labour duty (work within one or more professions, specialties, positions; indication of qualification, functional duties, job description); names of professions, positions, specialties shall correspond to the same listed in the skills manual approved in accordance with the procedure established by the Government of the Republic of Belarus;

· the main rights and duties of the employee and employer;

· the period of the labour contract;the order of labour and leisure;

· the terms of labour remuneration (including the base wage rate (salary scale) of the employee, extra-payments, increments and incentive payments).

Any labour contract may provide for additional conditions, i.e. to fix trial period as well as any other provisions that do not deteriorate conditions of the employed as compared to the legislation and the collective agreement. Any labour contract may be changed only by consent of the parties.

Match the words and word combinations from the text with their synonyms:

1. labour contract 2. remuneration	a) approval, permission, assent, sanction, authority
3. consent	b) answer, satisfy, correspond
4. to meet requirements 5. incentive	c) motivation, spur, incitement, motive, encouragement, stumulus
6. position	d) obligatory, compulsory, binding, fixed
7. mandatory	e) payment, salary, wage
	f) contract of employment
	g) rank, standing, status

Answer the questions:

1. What periods may labour contracts be signed for?

2. What mandatory requirements are to be observed in labour contracts?

3. What additional conditions may be provided for in labour contracts?

4. On what condition may labour contract be changed?

Read the text about some features of the contract of employment in Ireland and insert prepositions in paragraphs 1, 2, 3.

TEXT 6

A contract of employment is an agreement entered ¹⁾ ___ between an employer and an employee, ²⁾ ___ which both have specific mutual obligations.

The contract of employment comes ³⁾ ___ existence when an employee starts work and, by doing so, demonstrates that he or she accepts the job ⁴⁾ ___ the terms offered by the employer. The contract need not be ⁵⁾ ___ writing and its terms can be written, oral, implied (those that are too obvious to be expressly agreed) or a combination of all three.

A statement of particulars of employment must be given ⁶⁾ ___ two months of the date when employment begins. However, it is not necessary for all information to be given at the same time. It can instead be given in separate documents, provided that certain particulars are given in one single document, referred ⁷⁾ ___ in legislation as the ‘principal statement’.

Anyone who works for an employer in Ireland for a regular wage or salary automatically has a contract of employment, regardless of whether it is written or not. It is legal to employ people on the basis of a verbal agreement

Custom and practice in a particular workplace may form part of a contract. An example would be a particular level of overtime pay for employees.

In recent times, some employers are adding in specific provisions in contracts of employment that limit the ability of employees to work in a certain sector, with certain suppliers, clients, for a period following termination of employment. (For example, it may specifically state that the employee cannot work in a certain sector, with or for suppliers or clients of the former employer, etc.). There is nothing in employment law in Ireland that strictly forbids this, but there is no provision in employment law that allows this either. If you have any concerns about this issue, you are strongly advised to seek legal advice from a competent legal professional in advance of signing this contract. However, even if the contract is signed, you are always free to seek such legal advice.

The contract can include a probationary period and can allow for this period to be extended.

Match the following English and Russian word combinations:

1. an entered into agreement	a) оплата сверхурочного труда
2. a statement of particulars of employment	b) добавить отдельные положения c) устное соглашение
3. verbal agreement	d) заключенный договор
4. in a workplace	e) обращаться за помощью к юристу
5. overtime pay	f) на рабочем месте
6. to add specific provisions	g) продлить испытательный срок
7. to seek legal advice 8. to extend probationary period	h) официальный документ о деталях найма

Compare the contracts of employment in Ireland and in Belarus pointing out common features and differences on the issues given below. Use additional information if necessary.

1. parties of the contract of employment, 2. form (oral, written, implied), 3. a statement of particulars of employment, 4. overtime pay, 5. specific provisions of the contract of employment, 6. seeking legal advice, 7. probationary period.

Read the text and make sure you understand the words and word combinations in bold type. Find their Russian equivalents. Consult a dictionary if necessary.

TEXT 7

Employment contracts can be very beneficial in circumstances where you want control over the employee’s ability to leave your business. If the employee is a high-level manager or executive, or if the employee is especially valuable to your business (for example, the secretary who is the organizational backbone of your office), then a contract can protect you from the sudden, unexpected loss of the employee. It can lock the employee into a specific term (for example, two years), or it can require the employee to give you enough notice to find and train a suitable replacement (for example, 90 days’ notice instead of two weeks).

Employment contracts can also be beneficial when the employee will be learning confidential and sensitive information about your business. You can insert confidentiality clauses that prevent the employee from disclosing the information or using it for personal gain.

Similarly, a contract can protect you by preventing an employee from competing against you after leaving your company.

Sometimes, you can use an employment contract as a way to entice a highly skilled individual to come to work for you instead of the competition. By promising the individual job security and beneficial terms in an employment contract, you can “sweeten the deal”, so to speak.

Finally, using an employment contract can give you greater control over the employee. For example, if the contract things specifies standards for the employee's performance and grounds for termination, you may have an easier time terminating an employee who doesn’t live up to your standards.

An employment соntract is not a one-way street. The contract binds both you and the employee. This may pose a problem if you later decide that you don't like the contract terms and want to get out of them. The employment contract limits your ability to alter the terms of employment if the needs of your business change. If you want to change the contract terms, you'll have to re-negotiate the contract.

Another disadvantage of using employment contracts is that they bring with them the obligation to deal fairly with the employee. In legal terms, this is called the “covenant of good faith and fair dealing”. If you behave in a way that seems unfair, you may find yourself in court.

Discuss in pairs advantages and disadvantages of using contracts from the position of employers. Use words and word combinations in bold type.

Read the text and get ready to discuss it.

TEXT 8