TradedocWritten statement of particulars
A blank Section 1 written statement you can print and fill by hand. Or the faster option — fill it on your phone before the lad starts, signed copy in his inbox on day one. Tracks Employment Rights Act 1996 s.1 plus the Employment Rights Act 2025 day-one rights and trade union notice (in force 6 April 2026).
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What it is
A written statement of employment particulars (a 'Section 1 statement', after Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996) is the document every employee and worker is entitled to receive on or before their first day of work. It sets out the terms of the engagement — pay, hours, holiday, place of work, notice, sick pay, pension. From 6 April 2026 it must also include a notice telling the worker they have the right to join a trade union.
UK legal requirement
Employment Rights Act 1996, sections 1–7B. The principal statement must be supplied on or before the first day of employment; certain additional particulars (training entitlement, pension, collective agreements) may follow within two months. Employment Rights Act 2025 added a new mandatory item — a standard written notice that the worker has the right to join a trade union — taking effect 6 April 2026. Failure to comply allows the worker to apply to a tribunal under Section 11; tribunals award up to four weeks' pay if the failure is found alongside a successful substantive claim.
Compliance status
This template tracks Employment Rights Act 1996, s.1 (written statement of particulars); Employment Rights Act 2025 day-one rights (in force 6 April 2026). Our compliance radar crawls the publishing bodies every six hours — see the standards we build to today or the radar of what's coming next.
Engineer remains responsible for verifying compliance with the version applicable to their work. TradeDoc is a tool, not a regulator.
Who needs it
- ·Every UK employer hiring an employee or worker — sole traders hiring their first apprentice or labourer included
- ·Construction firms employing CIS subcontractors who fall on the employee/worker side of the line
- ·Small-firm directors taking on a self-employed contractor whose engagement looks like worker status
- ·Letting agents and small landlords directly employing a maintenance worker or property manager
What goes on it
Every mandatory field, in the order the inspector or auditor will check them.
Parties and start date
Employer's name and registered/trading address, employee's name and address, the date employment begins, the date continuous employment counts from (relevant for prior service or TUPE).
Job title and main duties
Job title or short job description, the main duties expected. Specific enough that a tribunal could understand what the worker was hired to do — 'general operative' is rarely sufficient.
Pay
Rate of pay or method of calculation (hourly/daily/salaried), pay frequency, pay date, deductions made (PAYE, NI, pension, student loan), any benefits in kind. National Minimum Wage compliance baked in.
Hours of work
Normal hours, working days, whether hours vary, any night-work or shift requirements, overtime arrangements (paid, unpaid, time-off-in-lieu), any predictable-hours rights.
Holiday entitlement
Statutory minimum 5.6 weeks per year (28 days for a five-day worker), whether the bank holidays are included or additional, how holiday pay is calculated, how unused leave is handled at termination. Holiday-pay record-keeping mandatory from 6 April 2026.
Sick pay and incapacity
Statutory Sick Pay arrangement and any contractual scheme. From 6 April 2026 SSP is a day-one right with no waiting days and no Lower Earnings Limit — reflect the new regime in the statement.
Notice period
Notice from employer and notice from employee. Statutory minimum is one week from one month's service, rising to a maximum of twelve weeks at twelve years. Set the contractual notice no lower than the statutory minimum.
Place of work and any required travel
Primary place of work; any sites the worker is expected to attend; any home-working arrangement; any mobile/peripatetic work expectation.
Pension and probation
Auto-enrolment scheme details (qualifying earnings band, employer/employee contribution rates), probationary period if any (length, review process, notice during probation).
Trade union notice (NEW from 6 April 2026)
Standard written notice that the worker has the right to join a trade union and to take part in trade-union activities. Mandatory from 6 April 2026 under Section 1 as amended by the Employment Rights Act 2025. Form of words is short and prescribed by the Act.
Day-one statutory rights summary
Brief acknowledgement of day-one rights from 6 April 2026: paternity leave, unpaid parental leave, statutory sick pay, protection from unfair dismissal in defined cases. Not strictly required content but signposts the rights and reduces ambiguity in disputes.
Signatures
Employer signature, employee signature, date. Two copies — one to the employee on or before day one, one retained on the employee's file.
Common mistakes on a hand-filled one
The small things that get picked up on audit, insurance review, or when the next engineer reads it.
- ✗Issuing the statement on day three or day five — Section 1 says on or before the first day of employment, no exceptions
- ✗Forgetting the new trade union notice from 6 April 2026 — short prescribed wording, but its absence is a clear breach picked up on any tribunal hearing
- ✗Treating SSP as still having three waiting days — from 6 April 2026 SSP is paid from day one and the Lower Earnings Limit no longer disqualifies low-paid workers
- ✗Using a 'consultant' label to avoid Section 1 when the engagement is plainly worker status — the statutory test is reality, not labels, and tribunals award up to four weeks' pay for the breach
- ✗Setting probationary notice below the statutory minimum once the worker has accrued one month's service — statutory floor applies regardless of contract
- ✗Naming the bank holidays as additional to 5.6 weeks but writing the contract to suggest they are inclusive — pick one and be explicit
- ✗Skipping the holiday-pay-record duty from 6 April 2026 — the obligation to keep accurate records of annual leave taken and holiday pay paid is independent and audit-checkable
The faster option
Fill one on your phone in 2 minutes
Pick the template. Answer the fields. Customer signs from their inbox. PDF saved in the vault with a unique number. Free forever on your first 100 docs a month. Pro £15/month adds custom branding and one-tap customer email. No card at sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
When does the written statement have to be given?+
On or before the worker's first day of employment. This is a day-one right under Section 1 ERA 1996 (since 6 April 2020). Some additional particulars — pension scheme, training entitlement, collective agreements — may follow within two months, but the principal statement is day one.
What changes on 6 April 2026?+
Three things. (1) The Section 1 statement must include a new mandatory notice telling the worker they have the right to join a trade union. (2) Statutory Sick Pay becomes a day-one right with no waiting period and no Lower Earnings Limit. (3) Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave become day-one rights too. The written statement should reflect all three.
Does this apply to workers as well as employees?+
Yes. Since 6 April 2020 both employees and 'workers' (the wider statutory class — anyone who personally performs work for the employer) are entitled to the Section 1 statement. The traditional employee/self-employed split does not turn off the duty. Sole-trader CIS subcontractors who function as workers are caught.
What if I miss something out?+
The worker can apply to an employment tribunal under Section 11 to determine the missing particulars. If a substantive claim is also won (unfair dismissal, wages, discrimination), the tribunal can award between two and four weeks' pay as a top-up for the Section 1 breach. Cleaner to get it right on day one.
Can I issue the statement digitally?+
Yes. ERA 1996 does not require paper. Email, secure portal or a signed PDF in a vault all satisfy the duty provided the worker has access. Keep both copies — yours and the worker's signature on the same document.
Does the statement double as a contract?+
Not technically — the contract of employment can be wider and oral terms still bind — but in practice a properly drafted Section 1 statement covers most of the contract. For a sole-trader hiring their first apprentice the statement is normally enough; for senior roles, a separate fuller contract sits alongside.