Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Employment Law - Essay Example Those terms include the payment of 40,000 pounds annually and a discretionary bonus of 6,000 pounds provided he meets company deadlines. Although the bonus appears to be a flexible term in the sense that the company may at its discretion decline the payment of the bonus, the annual salary is a fixed term, agreed between the parties. A contract of employment is in many ways no different from a commercial contract in that it contains an exchange of agreements by which the parties are bound to observe.1 Like a commercial contract, an employment contract cannot be waived unilaterally unless the contract itself makes specific provision for variations of the type undertaken, although the contract may be varied by operation of statue without either parties’ consent.2 On the facts of the case for discussion there are no statutory provisions applicable to David’s salary under the contract with C Plus. It therefore follows that the variation could not be effected by the employer without David’s consent. It would appear that C Plus may be erroneously relying on a Section 4 Statement under the Employment Rights Act 1996 which permits variation of a Section 1 Statement.3 A Section 1 Statement is typically issued following the initial stage of employment and sets out the terms of employment. A Section 4 Statement will reflect changes to a Section 1 Statement. However, since a Section 1 Statement is not a contract in and of itself, but evidence of the existence of a contract,4 an employer can only logically rely on the validity of a Section 4 Statement if the employee to whom it relates agrees or does not voice an objection to it.5 Even if the employer fails to voice his or her objection to the Section 4 Statement the court may still deem it ineffective.6 David did however, voice his objection to the variation of his salary under the initial contract and by doing so makes the Section 4 Statement/variation of the contract invalid.