Written statement of employment particulars: what's due on day one

What must the day-one statement include?

These items must be in a single document, the principal statement, given on or before day one¹²:

• The employer's name and the employee's or worker's name.
• The start date and, for an employee, the date continuous employment began (it can be earlier if they transferred from another employer).
• Job title or a brief description of the work.
• Pay: the rate or how it is calculated, and how often it is paid.
• Hours and days of work, whether they can vary and how.
• Holiday entitlement, including bank holidays, and how holiday pay is worked out.
• Where they will work, or that they may work at different places, with the employer's address.
• How long the job is expected to last, or the end date of a fixed-term contract.
• Any probation period, its length and conditions.
• Any other benefits, such as childcare vouchers or lunch.
• Training they must do, and whether you pay for it.
• Any period working abroad of more than a month, and the terms that apply.

Sick pay rules, other paid leave such as maternity leave, and the notice each side must give must also be provided on day one, but they can sit in a separate document the person can easily read, such as a staff handbook¹.

What can follow within two months?

Giving everything on day one is simpler and avoids a second deadline. A new employee with a disciplinary procedure from the start also knows the rules that will apply during probation.

• Pension arrangements, including the auto-enrolment scheme.
• Any collective agreements that affect the terms.
• Any training you offer that is not compulsory.
• Disciplinary rules and grievance procedures, which can also be in a separate document.

Is the written statement the same as a contract?

Not quite. An employment contract exists as soon as a job offer is accepted, and it can be partly verbal. The written statement is the legal minimum record of the main terms. Most employers write one document that serves as both, headed as a contract and containing every required particular.

If you never give a statement, the employee can ask an employment tribunal to decide what the particulars should have been. If they win another claim against you, such as unfair dismissal or unpaid wages, the tribunal must add 2 weeks' pay and may add 4³.

Worked example: what a missing statement can cost

An employee on £31,200 a year (£600 a week) wins a holiday pay claim and never received a written statement. The tribunal must award 2 weeks' pay: £1,200. If it decides 4 weeks is just and equitable, the extra is £2,400. For someone earning over £751 a week the cap applies, so the most is £1,502 for 2 weeks or £3,004 for 4³.

That is on top of the award for the main claim. A one-page omission is cheap to fix and expensive to leave.

What is changing in 2027?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 adds a new duty to tell workers about their right to join a trade union, in a statement given at the same time as the written particulars. The government said in September 2026 that it now expects this to start in January 2027, with a standard form employers will complete.

Separately, from 1 January 2027 the qualifying period for most unfair dismissal claims falls from 2 years to 6 months. A clear probation clause in the day-one statement, followed by written reviews, matters more than before.

Checklist before handing it over

• Every principal statement item above is in one document, dated and with both names.
• Pay is at least the minimum wage for the person's age (£12.71 an hour at 21 and over from April 2026).
• Holiday is at least 5.6 weeks a year, pro rata for part-time hours.
• Notice periods are at least the statutory minimum: one week after one month's service.
• Sick pay terms reflect SSP from the first day of sickness, at £123.25 a week, from April 2026.
• You keep a copy and record the date it was given.