Contract of employment
What it really means
The agreement setting out your job, pay, hours, holiday and notice. By law you must get a written statement of the main terms on or before your first day. Read it before signing and keep a copy.
Context, tips & common mistakes
You are legally entitled to a written statement of the main terms on or before day one — pay, hours, holiday, notice, sick pay, probation — so 'we'll sort the paperwork later' should be politely resisted, and a job that never produces anything in writing is a warning sign in itself. A contract cannot take away statutory minimums: clauses purporting to waive holiday, pay below minimum wage 'during training', or make you cover normal business losses are unenforceable even with your signature on them. Read three things hardest: notice periods, anything about repaying training costs if you leave early, and restrictive covenants limiting where you can work next.
Verbal promises made at interview ('you'll get a review after six months') are hard to enforce — ask for them in the written offer. Keep a signed copy somewhere permanent; disputes years later invariably turn on a document one side can no longer find.