Express Terms and Implied Terms

When you have a contract, the terms involved are what’s known as your ‘Contractual Terms’. These terms are written so that both parties are able to get the best from the job. To stop you from becoming exploited with the number of hours you work, or the pay that you receive for example, they have to stay within the law. Therefore, employment contracts have to agree to pay at least the National Minimum Wage. Generally, there are two types of contractual terms that are agreed upon. These are ‘express terms’, and ‘implied terms’.

Express terms are when both the employer and the employee explicitly agree on the terms. Whilst the terms themselves are specifically agreed upon, they might not always be written down. Because of this, it’s a good idea to keep track of what’s said so that you are fully aware of the contract at hand, because within the terms are very important pieces of information that you’ll want to know. These can include your rate of pay, allowed time off, weekly/monthly hours, and how much warning you’ll have to give if you want to leave.

Implied terms on the other hand are more mutually understood. They act as more guidelines to the contract as opposed to what is part of and not part of the contract. For example, you and your employer have the implied terms to trust one another. You have the implied trust that your employer is doing the most for you, and being fair towards you whilst you’re at work, and your employer is trusting you to be reliable, hard-working and honest. If this implied term was to be broken for example, that in itself is a breach of the contract.

And speaking of breaches, contracts can be broken. If you’re not pulling your weight in the job, you can be fired from it. Essentially, this is the employer breaking the contract, but you also have the right to break a contract, should there be a breach. If you’re being underpaid, or overworked then it’s your right to break that contract and get what you deserve.

Employment is a crucial part of life. You’ll need work to get through in life, and it helps when you know what the role and responsibilities that you have include. Knowing what your rate of pay is, your working hours, and any other benefits that might be involved can help you to enjoy your work more. Like I said, work is important in life, and it’s much better to work to live, rather than live to work. For that reason, understanding what your employment contract is, and how it affects you is important to learn, and take with you into the future.