Contracts of employment (written statements of particulars)

What is the difference between a contract of employment and a statement of written particulars of employment?
Why should my staff have contracts rather than written particulars?
Who do I need to give written particulars (as a minimum) to?
Do I need to give written particulars (as a minimum) to staff before they start work for me?
What does ‘breach of contract’ mean and what can happen as a result?
What is the penalty for not providing a written contract or a statement of written particulars within 2 months?
What do I need to do with the contract once I've produced it?
Do I need to issue a new contract every year or every time something changes?
My (existing) employees won't sign the contract! What do I do?
What does 'Continuous Service' mean & why is it significant?
Which contract should I use?
Can I write my own contractual clauses?
Annual subscription holders are able to use our 'Advanced Options' towards the end of the document building process. Using this facility you can amend any of the text in the standard contracts we provide and insert your own very specific clauses. We do urge caution however - writing contractual clauses (or indeed changing standard clauses) is a skilled business and we would advise you to email us a copy of the clause or change you would like to make so that we can check that it might not have any potentially damaging implications. In most cases we can do this for you as a part of your annual subscription, but if the changes are major, or demand a major re-write or research we will agree with you a fee for doing this before we undertake the work.
What is a contractual amendment?