My Employer Won't Give Me a Written Statement
Employment Rights Act 1996, Section 1 · England, Wales & Scotland · Updated for 2026 rates
Draft a written statement now
Put your understanding of your terms in writing and send it to your employer for confirmation. This won't file a legal claim for you, and it currently uses our general Written Statement of Terms builder rather than a document tailored line-by-line to Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 — treat the output as a starting draft to adapt, not a finished Section 1 statement.
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Updates as you fill inIf your employer won't give you a written statement, you're dealing with a breach of a legal duty they owe you from your first day of work, not a favour they're choosing to withhold. Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires every employer to set out the core terms of your job in writing. Most employers comply through an employment contract that already contains this information. If yours hasn't, the law gives you a route to fix it, short of and including an employment tribunal. This guide covers what you're entitled to, what to do first, and when a tribunal claim becomes realistic.
Do you have a legal right to a written statement?
Yes. Since 6 April 2020, the right to a written statement of particulars is a day-one right under Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Employment Rights (Employment Particulars and Paid Annual Leave) (Amendment) Regulations 2018. There's no minimum length of service. You don't need a year of continuous employment, or even a month. If you started work yesterday, the right already applied.
A written statement is not the same thing as a full employment contract. A contract is a broader legal agreement that can include duties, restrictions and terms beyond what the law requires. A written statement is narrower: a fixed list of particulars the law says must be in writing, by a set deadline. Most employers meet the duty by putting those particulars inside the contract itself, so in practice you may never see the two as separate documents. What matters is whether the required information reached you in writing, not what the document is called.
Who is entitled to a written statement?
Covered
- Employees, full-time or part-time
- Workers, including most zero-hours and casual staff
- Agency workers, from the agency that pays them
- Apprentices
Not covered
- Genuinely self-employed contractors running their own business
- Members of the armed forces
- Some categories of merchant seafarer
If your employer calls you "self-employed" but controls your hours, tells you how to do the work and doesn't let you send someone else to do it for you, you may still be a worker or employee in law regardless of the label on your paperwork. Employment status is decided on the reality of the working relationship, not the title given to it.
What must a written statement include?
Section 1 splits the required content into two groups, on different deadlines.
| Due on or before day one | Can follow within 2 months |
|---|---|
| Names of employer and employee | Pension and pension scheme details |
| Start date, and date continuous employment began | Collective agreements affecting the job |
| Job title or a brief description of the work | Right to non-compulsory training |
| Pay, and how often it's paid | Any entitlement to training the employer requires |
| Hours of work, including whether they're variable | Details of disciplinary and grievance procedures |
| Holiday entitlement and holiday pay | |
| Place of work, or that it's variable, and the employer's address | |
| Sick leave and sick pay terms | |
| Notice periods, both sides | |
| Length of a fixed-term contract, if applicable |
Some particulars can be given by referring you to a reasonably accessible document, such as a staff handbook on the intranet, rather than restating them in full.
Timeline
What to do if your employer refuses
- 1Check what you already have. Look through your offer letter, contract, and any onboarding emails. Employers sometimes send the required particulars without labelling the document a "written statement," so the information may already exist in a different form.
- 2Ask in writing. Email HR or your manager, name the document, and reference Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. A written request creates a paper trail and starts the clock if things escalate. A sample email is below.
- 3Follow up with a formal letter. If the informal email goes nowhere after a week or two, send a letter through your employer's internal process, or raise it as a formal grievance if your workplace has one. Keep a copy and note the date sent.
- 4Get ACAS involved. ACAS offers free, confidential advice on employment rights and can help both sides resolve the issue without a tribunal claim.
- 5Consider a tribunal claim. A missing written statement usually isn't worth a standalone claim, but if you have another dispute with your employer, such as unpaid wages or a dismissal, add the written statement breach to that claim. See the tribunal section below.
Which route fits your situation?
Just started, employer seems disorganised rather than difficult
Send the informal email request. Most cases end here.
Already asked once, no response after a week or two
Send a formal letter or raise a grievance, and speak to ACAS for guidance.
You're also owed wages, or you've been dismissed
Start ACAS early conciliation for the substantive claim and include the written statement breach — this is when tribunal compensation for it becomes realistic.
You were dismissed for asking
Dismissing someone for asserting their right to a written statement is automatically unfair dismissal, with no minimum length of service required. Contact ACAS promptly — the 3-month-less-1-day time limit runs from the dismissal date.
Sample email request
Sample formal letter
Can you go to an employment tribunal?
A tribunal can order your employer to provide a compliant written statement, but a missing written statement on its own doesn't carry financial compensation as a standalone claim. Compensation becomes available under Section 38 of the Employment Act 2002, and only as an add-on to a separate successful claim, such as unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction from wages, or a discrimination claim.
Where that applies, the tribunal must add two weeks' pay to your award, and can increase it to four weeks' pay if it considers that just and equitable. Both figures are capped at the statutory week's pay limit, which rises to £751 from 6 April 2026 — so the maximum realistic top-up is around £3,004, and the minimum around £1,502, before any cap on your actual weekly earnings is applied.
Before filing, you must contact ACAS for early conciliation. There's currently no fee to bring an employment tribunal claim in England, Wales or Scotland — the fee regime introduced in 2013 was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in 2017 and, as of 2026, hasn't been reintroduced, though it has been discussed in government consultations.
The time limit to start ACAS early conciliation is normally three months less one day from the date of the issue you're complaining about, or from your last day of employment for a dismissal-related claim. Missing this window can end your claim before it starts, so don't wait until you've exhausted every internal step to get advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal for my employer not to give me a written statement?
Yes, in the sense that it's a breach of a statutory duty. Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires employers to give employees and workers a written statement of particulars on or before their first day of work. There's no criminal penalty for missing it, but it is unlawful, and it can cost the employer money if you later bring a separate tribunal claim.
Can I refuse to work until I get a written statement?
No. The written statement is a separate legal duty from your obligation to turn up and do your job. Refusing to work over it would put you in breach of your own contract and could be treated as misconduct. Raise it through a written request and, if needed, a grievance instead.
How long does my employer have to give me a written statement?
The principal statement — job title, pay, hours, holiday, notice, place of work — is due on or before your first day. A handful of secondary particulars, such as pension details or the disciplinary and grievance procedure, can follow within two months of your start date.
Can I make a written statement myself if my employer won't?
You can draft one setting out what you understand your terms to be and send it to your employer for confirmation. It carries more weight if your employer signs off on it, since a statement you write alone doesn't bind them to those terms. It's useful evidence of what was agreed even before they respond.
What compensation can I get if my employer never provided one?
You can't bring a standalone tribunal claim just for a missing written statement. But if you win a separate claim, such as unfair dismissal or unpaid wages, and your employer was in breach of the written statement duty when you started proceedings, the tribunal must add two weeks' pay to your award, and can increase that to four weeks' pay. Both figures are capped at the statutory week's pay limit, which is £751 from 6 April 2026.
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Sources
Methodology and editorial review
This page is checked against the current text of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Employment Act 2002 on legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK guidance, and ACAS guidance. Statutory figures, including the week's pay cap, are updated each April when the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order takes effect.
This is general information, not legal advice. Individual cases vary, and if you're facing dismissal or a serious dispute, get advice from ACAS or a solicitor before acting.
Last updated: July 2026.