Abstract
The employment relationship is a contractual one and as such must have all the basic elements of an enforceable contract to make it legally binding. In strict contractual terms, the offer is made by the employer and formally or informally accepted by the employee. This acceptance may be verbal or in writing, or conversely the employee may signify his acceptance by merely turning up for work on the appointed day. The consideration within the contract is the promise to pay wages on the part of the employer, and the promise to provide his services on the part of the employee. Once the acceptance has taken place, there is a legally binding agreement and an action will lie against the party who breaches that agreement, even though it may only just have come into existence. In Taylor v. Furness, Withy & Co. Ltd (1969) 6 KIR 488 a dock worker was sent by the Dock Labour Board to a new employer. The employer sent him a letter welcoming him and an identity card to sign. When the employee arrived to begin his employment, the employer discovered that he had let his union membership lapse and under the terms of the Dock Labour scheme the employer could not employ him. The employee was therefore sent home. He sued the employer for a week’s wages, the notice he was entitled to under the contract. The employer argued that as the plaintiff had never worked, the contract had not come into existence. It was held that, by signing the identity card, the plaintiff had accepted the employer’s offer, and at that time a legally binding contract came into existence.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Further Reading
Dolding and FawlkJudicial Understanding of the Contract of Employment (1992) 55 MLR 562.
Honeyball Employment Law and the Primacy of Contract (1989) 18 ILJ 97.
McLean An Employer’s Right to be Unreasonable (1992) 49 CLJ 23.
Napier Computerisation and Employment Rights (1992) 21 ILJ 1.
Wilson Contract and Prerogative: A Reconsideration of the Legal Enforcement of Collective Agreement (1984) 13 ILJ 1.
Wynn-Evans Implication and Omission in Collectively Negotiated Contracts (1997) 26 ILJ 166.
Copyright information
© 1999 Deborah Lockton
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lockton, D.J. (1999). Terms of the Contract. In: Employment Law. Macmillan Law Masters. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15002-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15002-1_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-75358-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-15002-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)