Advertising Agency Agreement

This agreement is intended as a simple agreement whereby a company can appoint an advertising agency or PR company to promote its products. It works best where the two parties are not sizeable companies or where one company may wish to consider the other company’s standard terms and conditions against another agreement. The agreement may be for a particular period of time and/or for certain territories only. It is suitable for use in England & Wales. In general, this agreement is biased in favour of the Advertiser to ensure that the Advertiser gets all the warranties and indemnities that he might want from the Agency, concerning the services that he is being provided with.

Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure

Every employer should have a clear disciplinary and grievance procedure. This will enable it to deal fairly with performance, attendance and / or conduct problems or complaints by employees. A disciplinary and grievance procedure will also help an employer to minimise the threat of a claim for unfair dismissal. This Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure is suitable for use by employers in England and Wales. The Procedure applies to all employees (but not to contractors). It offers set procedures and guidance in relation to disciplinary and grievance matters. The Procedure follows many of the recommendations contained in ACAS’s Code of Practice On Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (2000), which is often referred to by employment tribunals. To protect the employer’s interest, the Procedure is non-contractual.

E-mail Internet and Communication Systems Policy

Every employer should have a clear policy on use of its e-mail, Internet and other communication systems. Having such a policy allows employers to regulate employees’ use of the systems, reduce loss of productivity and protect themselves from future legal actions should employees use the systems negligently or for unlawful purposes (eg to harass a fellow worker). The Policy applies to all employees and contractors of the employer and covers all of its communication systems (eg telephone, fax and e-mail). The Policy is designed to safeguard the security and accessibility of the employer’s systems and to protect the employer from legal actions for discrimination and harassment, defamation, breach of contract and from criminal offences in relation to obscene and pornographic material.

Employment Contract (Clerical - Secretarial - Manual)

This contract is suitable for junior employees, (eg secretarial, administrative, or manual workers), in England and Wales. The contract contains all the information which the law requires an employer to give to an employee. For example, it details the employee’s job title and place of work, salary and sick leave/pay entitlement. It also covers comprehensively current legal requirements, eg in relation to working hours, holidays, pension and pay. This contract is not suitable where the employer is a member of a group of employers.

Employment Contract (Director)

This contract is suitable for employees in England and Wales who are also appointed directors of the employer (a private limited company). The contract contains all the information which the law requires an employer to give to an employee. It also provides special protection to the employer, eg in respect of directors’ obligations and employees’ duties, copyrights / patents, and restrictions on what the employee may do after the employment ends. In addition, the contract covers comprehensively current legal requirements, eg in relation to working hours and holidays. This contract is not suitable where the employer is a member of a group of companies.

This contract is suitable for middle / senior employees and managers and for professional staff in England and Wales. The contract contains all the information which the law requires an employer to give to an employee. It also covers comprehensively current legal requirements, eg in relation to working hours and holidays. In addition, the contract provides special protections to the employer, eg in respect of copyrights / patents, the employee’s duties, and restrictions on what he may do after the employment ends. This contract is not suitable where the employer is a member of a group of employers.

Equal Opportunities and Anti-Harassment Policy

This is an Equal Opportunities and Anti-Harassment Policy suitable for use by employers in England and Wales. It is designed to affirm the employer’s commitment to equal opportunities and help it avert or defend any complaints of sex, race or disability discrimination. The Policy is also designed to help employers to eliminate and / or resolve cases of sexual, racial and disability harassment committed by one worker against another. To benefit from the policy, the employer has to comply with its obligations and to enforce its terms fully. Provided they do so, they are likely to have a good defence for most claims of sex, race or disability harassment / discrimination. The policy can be extended to cover other forms of discrimination / harassment (eg age, political convictions).

Final Written Warning

This is a personalised final written warning suitable for use in relation to employees in England and Wales. A final written warning is often issued after an employee failed to meet the terms of an earlier written warning. It may also be given where an employee’s conduct is so serious as to justify an immediate final warning (even if the employee did not receive a lesser warning first). A final warning should be issued only following a disciplinary meeting in which the complaint / allegations against the employee were discussed and the employee had a chance to put forward his / her case. This warning takes account of current legal requirements and good-practice recommendations, eg in relation to the right to be accompanied and the right to appeal against a warning.

First Written Warning

This is a personalised first written warning suitable for use in relation to employees in England and Wales. A first written warning is often the first or second stage in a formal disciplinary process under a disciplinary procedure. It should be issued only following a disciplinary meeting in which the complaint / allegations against the employee were discussed and the employee had a chance to put forward his / her case. A first written warning is normally issued following a number of incidents of poor time-keeping, work performance or behaviour but where the employee’s conduct is not so serious as to justify a final warning. This warning takes account of current legal requirements and good-practice recommendations, eg in relation to the right to be accompanied and the right to appeal against a warning.

Freelance Designer Agreement

This is a relatively simple consultancy agreement, for an individual Designer who is hired on an ad hoc basis to provide designing services for the commissioning party (‘the Commissioner’). The agreement is intended to ensure that the Designer does not become inadvertently an employee of the Commissioner. This agreement will run for a limited period of time (specified by the Commissioner). The parties are free to extend the agreement, and either party may terminate it early. Generally speaking, this agreement is designed to protect the Commissioner’s interests. It is suitable for use in England & Wales.

Freelance Programmer Agreement

This is a relatively simple consultancy agreement, for an individual Programmer who is hired on an ad hoc basis to carry out certain programming services for the commissioning company (the Commissioner). The agreement is intended to ensure that the Programmer does not inadvertently become an employee of the Commissioner. The agreement may be for a limited period of time. This agreement will run for a limited period of time (specified by the Commissioner). The parties are free to extend the agreement, and either party may terminate it early. Generally speaking, this agreement is designed to protect the Commissioner’s interests. It is suitable for use in England & Wales.

Health and Safety Policy

This Health and Safety Policy is designed for use by employers in England and Wales who have up to 75 employees in total. It is an extensive document covering about 40 pages and will be downloaded to your computer using word. Employers must meet an array of health and safety obligations. If they have 5 or more employees, employers must have a written health and safety policy which records their health and safety procedures. This Health and Safety Policy sets out the various actions which an employer has to take to meet its health and safety legal obligations. It meets the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and applicable regulations made under it.

Letter Before Action

This letter is intended to be used where a creditor will be taking court action personally against a debtor (without using a lawyer), for example under the small claims procedure in the County Court. This letter may be used either by an individual or by a company, partnership or other business. This letter should be printed on the headed notepaper of the company, partnership, business or individual seeking to recover the debt. It is suitable for use in England & Wales.

Non-Disclosure Agreement

This is a standard form non-disclosure agreement designed to ensure that confidential or proprietary information disclosed by one party to another or exchanged between the parties will be kept confidential. The agreement is suitable for use in England & Wales.

Shrink Wrap Licence

This agreement is a simple shrink wrap licence for software distributed on CD-ROM. The licence granted is a non-exclusive one as it is assumed that multiple copies of the software will be distributed. The licence provides for different kinds of users (consumers and businesses) and for different types of use (on a single workstation only and on a server for a specified number of workstations). However, not all combinations are provided for as it assumed that consumers do not have servers and networks of workstations. This licence is suitable for use in England & Wales.

Trade Mark Assignment

This agreement is intended as a simple assignment of trade marks for a lump sum of money. Please note that if this assignment document relates to a registered trade mark, the assignee (purchaser) must register the assignment at the Trade Marks Registry or else the assignment will not be enforceable against others (third parties) and this will reduce the protection afforded by the registration. This agreement is suitable for use in England & Wales.