Terms of the Contract

The employment relationship is a contractual one and as such must have all the basic elements of an enforceable contract to make it legally binding. In strict contractual terms, the offer is made by the employer and is formally or informally accepted by the employee. This acceptance may be oral or in writing, or conversely the employee may signify his acceptance merely by turning up for work on the appointed day. The consideration within the contract is the promise to pay wages on the part of the employer, and the promise to provide his services on the part of the employee. Once the acceptance has taken place there is a legally binding agreement, and a claim will lie against the party who breaches that agreement, even though it may only just have come into existence. In Taylor v Furness, Withy & Co Ltd (1969) 6 KIR 488, a dock worker was sent by the Dock Labour Board to a new employer. The employer sent him a letter welcoming him and an identity card to sign. When the employee arrived to begin his employment, the employer discovered that he had let his union membership lapse and, under the terms of the Dock Labour Scheme, the employer could not employ him. The employee was therefore sent home. He sued the employer for a week’s wages, the notice he was entitled to under the contract. The employer argued that as the plaintiff had never worked, the contract had not come into existence. It was held that, by signing the identity card, the plaintiff had accepted the employer’s offer, and at that time a legally binding contract came into existence. The plaintiff was thus legally entitled to one week’s notice which he did not receive and the court awarded a week’s pay as damages.