Contract template. General and fixed term Vol 2 (3)

Sample Fixed Term Contract of Employment

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This Sample Agreement is provided for your information only and may

not be relied upon as legal advice. This sample agreement might not

be appropriate for your requirements. The NRF accepts no liability

arising out of the use of this sample agreement. Please consult your

legal or business advisor for further information or advice.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.

PARTIES

Employee: [INSERT NAME & ADDRESS ]

Employer: [INSERT NAME] (hereinafter called “the Company”).

DATE OF COMMENCEMENT:

This contract will commence on the ( Insert Date ) and expire of the

( Insert Date )

CATEGORY

You are employed as a (eg General Operative)

You will be required to be flexible in this position and must be prepared to

undertake such other work as may be assigned to you by the Company

from time to time. Such work can be outside the area of your normal duties.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIP

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You will report initially and directly to ( insert Title ) )or to any person who

in his/her absence, or otherwise, is designated by the Company.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD

On joining the company, you will be required to undergo an initial

probationary period of 6 months. This may be extended at the discretion of

the company but in any event will not exceed 11 months. Termination of

employment within the probationary period is at the discretion of the

company.

HOURS OF WORK

Your normal working week will be (39) hours over 5 days, Monday - Friday.

Your normal working hours will be from 8:00am to 4:30pm (Monday -

Thursday) and 7:30am to 3:00pm on Fridays. The Company reserves the

right to change these working hours. You will receive as much notice as

reasonably possible prior to any change.

REST BREAKS

Your rest arrangements will be given in line with the Organisation of

Working Time Act 1997.

Where you do not get an opportunity to take your break(s), please inform

your manager within 7 days and an alternative break period will be

assigned.

REMUNERATION

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You will be paid at a rate of €______ per (hour / week / month)

Overtime will be paid at a rate of time and a half only after (39) hours have

been worked.

You will be paid (1 week/fortnightly/monthly) in arrears, by credit transfer to

your bank account on every Friday./Fortnight/x date of the month)

PLACE OF WORK

Your place of work will be located at ________ The Company reserves the

right to relocate its operations and/or establish further operations and you

may be required to transfer to another department and/or place of work

PENSION

The company does not operate a pension scheme, however, we will

facilitate stopping at source, any scheme to which you are a member.

Information will be supplied on an annual basis regarding pensions by an

approved Insurance Broker.

DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

Any employee suspected of having consumed alcohol while on duty or

presenting themselves for duty under the influences of alcohol may be

suspended with pay pending an investigation. This may lead to disciplinary

action up and including dismissal.

Any employee suspected of having taken any banned substances including

(but not limited to) cannabis and/or abuse of prescribed drugs on the

premises, or presenting themselves for duty under the influence of such

substances, and may be suspended with pay pending an investigation.

This may lead to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

The Company will be entitled, at its expense, to require you to be examined

by an independent medical practitioner of the Company’s choice.

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CCTV

The company may avail of the use of recording equipment to monitor

activities in relation to health and safety and the implementation of policies.

This recorded footage may be used in disciplinary hearings to establish the

facts of a case and may be used as material evidence in any disciplinary

hearing including dismissal.

ILLNESS/ABSENCE FROM WORK

In the event of absence from work you are required to contact the Client as

soon as possible, but no later than 1 hour prior to normal starting time on

the first day of absence. Leaving a message or speaking to a team member

is not accepted. You must speak to another Line Manager or HR if your Line

Manager is not around, emails, texts or other people calling in your behalf

will not be accepted.

A medical certificate must be submitted to the organisation by the end of the

3rd day of absence and weekly thereafter. A poor record of attendance may

lead to disciplinary action up to, and including, dismissal.

At all times the organisation reserves the right to refer an employee to the

organisation's nominated medical practitioner for an independent medical

assessment.

The organisation will not make any payment for any day of illness or

unauthorised absence from work that you do not attend for work. You may

be entitled to claim social welfare benefit from the Department of Social,

Community and Family Affairs.

The Company does not operate a sick pay scheme

PUNCTUALITY

If you are late for work, it impedes your colleagues, your clients and your

ability to effectively carry out your responsibilities. Poor punctuality may be

considered misconduct and may result in disciplinary action, up to and

including dismissal.

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HR POLICIES

The company has set out a number of key HR policies that coma part of

your terms and conditions of employment at Appendix 1. These policies

may be reviewed and updated form time to time.

ANNUAL LEAVE & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

Your holiday entitlements shall be 20 days per annum plus public holidays

which must be approved in advance.

The final decision in allocating annual leave dates rests with the

management.

Payment for annual leave will be calculated in accordance with the

provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997. Holiday

entitlement is not cumulative and may not be carried over to the following

year.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

The company will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that its

employees are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. It is your

duty while at work, to conform to the company’s health and welfare policy

and practices to ensure your own safety. You will inform your immediate

Site Manager/Supervisor of all accidents/injuries sustained by you at your

place of work immediately, which will be entered on a Company Accident

Report Form.

The wearing of any designated personal protective equipment and

adherence to all other safety regulations is a condition of employment. The

wearing of safety helmet ,safety boots, safety harness, life jackets,

goggles / eye protection etc… must be worn as required by management.

The company may deduct reasonable cost of replacement of tools and

protective clothing which have been lost, misplaced or damaged due to

carelessness from the employee’s weekly pay

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The company reserves the right to search any / all employees leaving or

entering site and to inspect any parcel, package, handbag or motor vehicle.

Any goods, not the property of an employee, must not be removed from site

without the written permission of management

LAY-OFF AND/OR SHORT-TIME

The Company reserves the right to lay you off from work or reduce your

working hours where, through circumstances beyond its control, it is unable

to maintain you in employment or maintain you in full-time employment.

RETIREMENT

The retirement age in the Company is set to con inside with the age at

which people qualify for State pension and you must retire on this date or

as may be amended in legislation in the future

• If you were born before 1 January 1955 the minimum qualifying State

pension age will be 66.

• If you were born on or after 1 January 1955 the minimum qualifying

State pension age will be 67.

• If you were born on or after 1 January 1961 the minimum qualifying

State pension age will be 68.

The Company has set the above retirement ages(s) in order to facilitate the

professional growth and development of all employees and to aid the

Company’s policy of internal succession within the Company and having

regard to the health and safety of employees in the context of the nature of

the business of the Company. It is agreed and accepted by you that you

will retire at this time.

REDUNDANCY – SELECTION CRITERIA

Should the company need to introduce lay-off , short time or redundancy, it

will, place a premium on retaining employees with the necessary skills to

carry out work.

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REVIEW

The terms and conditions of employment of this contract may be reviewed

due to unforeseen circumstances or changes in legislation, and any

changes/alterations will be discussed with you in advance and amendments

will be set out in writing.

Notice

This is a fixed term contract employment and therefore the provisions of the

Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2007 will not apply to the termination of this

contract where such termination is by reason only of the expiry of this fixed

term.

You are required to give the company ( 1 week / 1 month ) notice of your

intention to terminate your employment .

The company undertakes to give you notice in accordance with the

Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment. Acts, 1973 to 2001

Please indicate your acceptance of the terms and conditions set out above

by signing the enclosed copy of this document.

Signed: _____________________ Date: _________________

Employee Name

Signed: _____________________ Date: _____________________

Employer

_________________________

Position:

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Appendix 1

Key HR Policies

1 Dignity at Work Policy

a) Bullying is defined as;

Bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether

verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against

another or others, at the place of work or in the course of employment,

which could reasonably be regarded as undermining the individual’s right to

dignity at work.

b) Harassment is defined as;

Harassment is any act or conduct including spoken words, gestures or the

production, display or circulation of written words, pictures or other material

which is, unwelcome and could be reasonably regarded as offensive,

humiliating or intimidating. (Section 35(5) Employment Equality Act.

The harassment has to be based on or motivated by one or more of the

nine relevant characteristics of the employee(s) targeted;

This organisation respects the right to dignity in the workplace for all its

employees, so will deal with any issue of harassment, whether or not it is

characterised by the nine areas listed below;

These are;

Gender

Marital Status

Age

Sexual Orientation

Family Status

Race

Religious Belief

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Disability

Membership of the Traveller Community

c) Sexual Harassment is defined as;

Any act of physical intimacy, requests for sexual favours or any other act or

conduct including spoken words, gestures or the production, display or

circulation of written words, pictures or other material that is unwelcome

and could reasonably be regarded as sexually offensive, humiliating or

intimidating.

d) Reporting procedure

If an employee feels that they are being bullied/harassed or sexually

harassed, they should do the following;

1. In the first instance, raise the issue informally with the person who is

creating the problem, pointing out that their conduct is unwelcome,

offensive or interfering with work and request that it stop immediately.

Every effort must be made to ensure that the person causing the

problem is clear on how unacceptable you consider the behaviour to

be.

2. Alternately, if you feel uncomfortable with this direct approach, raise

the issue with your Manager.

3. If the behaviour persists, take note of all instances and again bring

the behaviour to the attention of your Manager, or if this is not

appropriate to the attention of Managing Director

An employee is encouraged to try to resolve any issue of

unacceptable behaviour informally where possible.

Investigation Procedure

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If an allegation of bullying/harassment or sexual harassment is reported

to any member of management, they are committed to treating it

seriously and confidentially. They will take the following steps.

1. Listen to the complaint privately, sensitively taking note of all details

available. The person may be accompanied by a colleague, if requested.

2 An investigation will be instigated which will involve detailed

interviews of both the employee making the complaint and alleged

bully/harasser or sexual harasser. Interviews of any witnesses will

also take place to determine what happened.

3. In the interests of natural justice the person against whom the

allegations are being made against, must be made aware of the

nature of the complaint, be given every opportunity to respond to the

detailed allegations and to be accompanied by a colleague, if

requested.

4. If, following a thorough investigation, there is a reasonable belief that

that the behaviour complained of has occurred then, depending on

the seriousness of it, appropriate disciplinary action up to any

including dismissal will be taken having regard to the seriousness of

the allegations.

2 DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE

Disciplinary Procedures

The company expects that you will conduct your duties and behave in such

a way as to achieve the expected result and that you adhere to normal

business practices and with due regard to our various rules and

procedures.

The company regularly carries out continuous assessment of employees

using scoring matrices.

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The purpose in introducing disciplinary procedures is not intended to punish

but to be remedial and is aimed at giving employees the opportunity to

improve on below standard performance or unacceptable behaviour.

It is hoped that you and your manager will usually be able to resolve any

performance or misconduct problem through discussion in the normal

course of your work. Therefore, in the first instance you may receive

counselling, or an informal oral warning.

Please note; An employee may be accompanied by a union representative

or work colleague at any stage of the disciplinary or grievance procedure if

they wish.

Disciplinary procedures will ensue in the case of any of the following;

A. Misconduct

Habitual lateness or absenteeism.

Failure to comply with legitimate instructions, policies and

procedures.

Neglect of duties and responsibilities.

Unreasonable standards of appearance or inappropriate dress for

work

B. Gross Misconduct

The following list represents examples of offences for which an employee

may ultimately be dismissed without notice; however, it is neither

comprehensive nor complete;

Action or omission which endangers the health and safety of

other employees or members of the public.

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Absence from work without authorisation or failure to follow the

proper notification procedures.

Gross insubordination or wilful disregard to carrying out any

superior’s reasonable requests.

Breach of confidentiality or security.

Fighting, quarrelling or behaving in a way which is either

injurious to discipline or seriously affects good working relations.

Roughness, rudeness, aggression or other unacceptable

behaviour towards clients or colleagues

A criminal offence related to the employee’s work for the

company.

A criminal offence committed outside working hours, such as to

adversely affect the company’s reputation, or the employee’s

suitability for his/her acceptability to other employees.

Drunkenness or being under the influence of illegal drugs at

work.

Offering or receiving bribes.

Theft

Discrimination - as set out in Employment Equality Act 1998,

2004

Bullying

Harassment/Sexual Harassment

It is emphasised that any action which is a fundamental breach of contract

or is so grave that you cannot be permitted to continue your employment

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whether or not it is included in the above list, will make you liable to

summary dismissal.

C. Incapacity

Incapacity arises when the company considers that you do not have,

or not longer possess, the requisite skills, aptitude or certification for

your work.

You will be told of your shortcomings and given a chance to improve.

If the required improvement does not take place, you will be warned

in accordance with the disciplinary procedure that if you do not

improve within a reasonable period of time, you will be dismissed with

the notice to which you are entitled under your terms and conditions

of employment. Please note that continued absence may constitute

incapacity

Warning Procedure for Misconduct

InformalCounselling:

Before embarking on formal disciplinary action, every effort will be made to

resolve the matter by an informal approach. Where an employee’s

performance or conduct falls below an acceptable standard, management

will initiate a counselling session with that employee.

Stages of Formal Warnings

1 Verbal warning

2 First written warning

3 Final written warning

4 Dismissal

You will be given reasonable notice of disciplinary meetings and

reminded that you can have a colleague attending with you if you

wish.

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1. Verbal Warnings

In cases of unsatisfactory performance or misconduct, you will be

warned orally of the offence or shortcoming and of the possible

consequence on any repetition or failure to improve. This verbal

warning will be confirmed in writing.

A note of verbal warnings will be entered on your personnel record

and remain for 6 months. If during that period there has been no

further disciplinary action taken against you, the oral warning will,

unless otherwise stated, cease to have effect

2. First Written Warning

In the event of further misconduct or failure to improve standards of

work performance, a written warning will be given, stating that any

further misconduct or continued failure to improve performance will

render you liable to a final written warning. A First Written Warning

will be entered on your personnel record and remain for 12 months.

3. Final Written Warning

In the event of further misconduct or failure to improve standards of

work performance, a final written warning will be given, stating that

any further misconduct or continued failure to improve performance

will render you liable for suspension or dismissal

Written warnings will remain on your personnel record for 18 months.

If during that period no further disciplinary action has been taken

against you, the written warning will, unless otherwise stated, cease

to have effect.

Please note;

There may be occasions where a first or final written warning or even

termination of employment is justified immediately, so it should not be

assumed that the first stage is always the oral warning.

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Before any decision regarding disciplinary action is made, or penalty

imposed, you will be interviewed and given the opportunity to state

you case. You have the right to be accompanied at any stage of the

disciplinary procedure by a fellow employee of your choice.

Appeal Procedure

You may appeal against any disciplinary action within 5 days of

receiving notice of the action. The appeal will be heard by an external

HR mediator or other suitably qualified person as appropriate.

If on appeal the case is considered to warrant a lesser penalty or

even to be unproven, the warning/dismissal may either be reduced to

a lesser penalty or cancelled.

3 Grievance Procedures

The company understands that when people work together there are going

to be issues or misunderstandings that need to be dealt with from time to

time. If a person has a grievance the following procedure will be applied.

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You have the right to seek redress over any grievance. Should you have a

grievance you should follow the following procedure as it is described. In

most cases you should be able to resolve your grievance by discussion with

you manager. However, further stages are available to you.

Stage One

Discuss your grievance with your manager as soon as possible or

within 5 days of the grievance arising.

Stage Two

Should the grievance remain unresolved you should take it up as

soon as possible, or within 5 days, through your manager with the

next level of management.

Final Stage

Should the grievance still remain unresolved, your final recourse is

directly to the most senior level of management and that will be the

final stage in the process

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