Every employee must have a written employment agreement.

If an employee does not sign their employment agreement, and says or does nothing specifically to indicate they do not agree to it, their employer may take their silence and other conduct by the employee as indicating acceptance of the employment agreement.

While the law requires an agreement to be in writing, there is no specific requirement for the agreement to be signed. This means that the employment agreement could still apply to the employee, even if they have not signed it, unless they can show they did not agree or accept part of it, or unless some part of it is unlawful.

From 1 July 2011 employers are required to retain a signed copy of the employment agreement or current signed terms and conditions of employment.

Where an employer has provided an employee with an intended agreement the employer must retain the "intended agreement" even if the employee has not signed it or agreed to the terms and conditions specified in the intended agreement. However, an intended agreement cannot be treated as the parties' employment agreement if the employee has not signed or not agreed to the terms and conditions in the intended agreement.

The employer is required to provide a copy of the areement on request of the employee.

Labour Inspectors can issue notices regarding any breaches of the requirements for employment agreements and give employers seven working days to fix the issue. Otherwise a financial penalty can be imposed by the Employment Relations Authority. Click here for more information. 

Clauses dealing with deductions from wages require written consent from the employee agreeing to any deductions made by the employer under the Wages Protection Act 1983.

It is important for an employer and employee to discuss the terms and conditions of employment fully as these should be reflected in the employment agreement. Once everything has been agreed, it should all be put in writing. Once an employee and an employer are happy with their employment agreement, it is good practice to show their acceptance of the agreement by signing it (or signing an offer of employment where an individual employee agrees to coverage by an existing collective employment agreement).

If during discussions about an agreement, an employee is not happy with the proposed agreement or some part of it, they should raise their concerns as early as possible with their employer, and seek to meet and negotiate those matters which are giving them cause for concern.