UK · employmentSources checked
When must a UK employer give a written statement of employment particulars?
Under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the employer must give a written statement of particulars of employment not later than the beginning of the employment. It is a day-one obligation rather than something that can follow a probation period, and section 1 frames it as owed to the worker, not only to employees.
Sources
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 1 (Statement of initial employment particulars)legislation.gov.uk · checked 17 August 2026 · Latest available (Revised) version, with changes incorporated up to 16 August 2026. Section 1 was last substantively amended with effect from 6 April 2020.
Related questions
- Can the statement be given after the employee starts work?
- Section 1 requires it not later than the beginning of the employment, so a statement handed over weeks into the job is late by the terms of the section itself.
- Does this apply to workers as well as employees?
- Section 1 states the obligation as one owed to the worker, so it is not confined to people with employee status.
What this answer does not cover
- This covers the deadline only. What the statement must actually contain is set out across sections 1 to 3 and is not listed here.
- What happens when an employer misses the deadline is a separate question with its own remedies, not addressed on this page.
