In the case of Stefanko and others v Maritime Hotel Ltd, the EAT has held that the Claimant should have received a statement of particulars despite the fact that she was only employed by the Respondent for 6 weeks.
Under section 1(2) Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee is entitled to receive a statement of particulars setting out their basic employment terms within the first two months of employment. In certain circumstances, an employee can claim a financial award of between two and four weeks’ pay if the employer fails to provide the statement.
In this case, the Claimant was employed by Maritime Hotel Limited as a waitress for just 6 weeks. She brought a claim for automatic unfair dismissal and won. As part of her claim, she also complained that her employer had failed to provide a statement of particulars.
Initially, the employment tribunal found against the Claimant in relation to the statement of particulars, on the basis that she had not been employed for the company for 2 months (the time by which the employer would have been required to provide the statement by).
The Claimant appealed the decision and the matter was then dealt with by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT). The EAT decided that the tribunal’s decision was incorrect as section 2(6) of ERA makes it clear that a person is entitled to receive a statement of particulars even if their employment ends before 2 months.
As it stands, there is no requirement for employers to provide a statement of particulars to employees who work for them for less than 1 month. However, the law in this area is set to change on 6 April 2020, from which point every employee will have a right to receive a statement of particulars by the first day of their employment.
If you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any other aspect of employment law, please contact us at 02920 345511 or employment@berrysmith.com.
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