Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978

4 Changes in terms of employment. E+W+S

(1) If after the date to which a statement given under section 1 relates there is a change in the terms of employment to be included, or referred to, in that statement the employer shall, not more than one month after the change, inform the employee of the nature of the change by a written statement and, if he does not leave a copy of the statement with the employee, shall preserve the statement and ensure that the employee has reasonable opportunities of reading it in the course of his employment, or that it is made reasonably accessible to him in some other way.

(2) A statement given under subsection (1) may, for all or any of the particulars to be given by the statement, refer the employee to some document which the employee has reasonable opportunities of reading in the course of his employment, or which is made reasonably accessible to him in some other way.

(3) If, in referring in the statement given under section 1 or under subsection (1) of this section to any such document, the employer indicates to the employee that future changes in the terms of which the particulars are given in the document will be entered up in the document (or recorded by some other means for the information of persons referring to the document), the employer need not under subsection (1) inform the employee of any such change if it is duly entered up or recorded not later than one month after the change is made.

(4) Where, after an employer has given to an employee a written statement in accordance with section 1—

(a) the name of the employer (whether an individual or a body corporate or partnership) is changed, without any change in the identity of the employer, or

(b) the identity of the employer is changed, in such circumstances that,. . . F1 the continuity of the employee’s period of employment is not broken,

and (in either case) the change does not involve any change in the terms (other than the names of the parties) included or referred to in the statement, then, the person who, immediately after the change, is the employer shall not be required to give to the employee a statement in accordance with section 1, but, subject to subsection (5), the change shall be treated as a change falling within subsection (1) of this section.

(5) A written statement under this section which informs an employee of such a change in his terms of employment as is referred to in subsection (4)(b) shall specify the date on which the employee’s [F2 period of continuous employment] began.

[F3 (6) Any reference in subsection (1), (3) or (4) to the terms of employment which were to be, or were, included or referred to in a statement given under section 1 shall be construed as including a reference to any other matters falling within section 1(2)(c) and (4) of which particulars were to be given by that statement.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words repealed with saving by Employment Act 1982 (c.46, SIF 43:5), s. 20, Sch. 2 para. 8(3)(a), Sch. 4

F2 Words substituted with saving by Employment Act 1982 (c.46, SIF 43:5), s. 20, Sch. 2 para. 8(3)(b)

F3 S. 4(6) added by Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 13(4), Sch. 9 para. 4(1)