For many of us, the New Year is a blank slate, the chance to make positive lifestyle changes and set personal goals. It is also the perfect time to get business affairs sorted for the coming months.
You might be spending January wading through any tasks that you didn't quite get round to in December, and many of these may be admin-related. As unappealing as it sounds, here's why you should consider adding a review of your employment and self-employment contracts to your ‘to-do for 2022’ list.
The contracts you already have in place may not be doing everything you expect them to. To protect your practice from misunderstandings and create a good relationship with your employees, you should not only understand the clauses in your contractual agreements but the effects of them too. Don’t be tempted to dismiss the small print and leave certain things up to trust – the devil is often in the detail.
You will need to review your contracts in line with employment regulations and work practices, which are constantly in a state of flux. As per Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations, a well-led practice should continually incorporate regulatory changes into its contracts.
You should keep contracts updated as and when any of your employments develop and keep copies of the amended contracts in case you need them for evidence at any point.
Many employers are hesitant to review and change their employment contracts – understandably so, as the process of providing and explaining new contracts alone can cause a headache, let alone ensuring they are signed and kept on record.
The most crucial thing in all of this is communication. If everyone understands the content of your contracts and understands that it’s in everyone's best interests to implement an updated version, the process should run smoothly.
Start the New Year off on the right foot by refreshing your old contracts and implementing new ones where necessary. For advice and guidance on this process, contact me at sarah.buxton@fta-law.com.