The honest way

Terms of employment

Employment contracts or equivalent written statements regarding working conditions – such as letters of commitment – must contain at least the following information - or give a reference to the relevant law.

Parties to the employment contract (employer and employee)

Place of work – if there is no fixed place of work,
you should highlight that the employee will work at
multiple locations and state where your business is registered.

Title, grade and category of the position or a brief job description.

Starting date

Expected duration of the job if the contract is temporary.

Number of days of paid annual holidays.

Length of notice period for you and the employee in case of contract termination.

Initial basic salary, frequency of payment,
as well as any other details of remuneration.

Working hours per week.

Rules of any collective agreements governing
the employee's conditions of work, if applicable.

Changes to staff contracts

As an employer, you must inform your employees in writing of any change to their terms of employment. If the change is due to a change in law or administrative provisions, you do not need to give them a written document modifying the original contract.

If your employees will be required to work for more than one month in a different country, including cases of posting abroad, you must provide them in advance with the following information:

Duration of their employment abroad.

Currency to be used for payment of their salary.

Allowances they may be eligible for while abroad.

Inform and consult staff

If your company employs at least 50 people – including staff employed on fixed-term contracts – in an EU country (or at least 20 if it is a branch of a larger business), you are legally obliged to:

Inform your staff about recent and probable developments
in company activities and the economic situation
of the company.

Inform and consult staff about the current
employment situation and its probable development.

Inform and consult staff about possible substantial
changes in work organisation or in contractual relations.

You must also make sure you provide the information with enough anticipation so employee representatives have enough time to prepare for consultation on any related issues.

Employee representatives (and any experts assisting them) may not disclose any confidential information you share with them to staff or third parties.