Lesson 24: How time is referred to in the employment contract

This is the sixth lesson in which we have gone through a simple employment contract to learn how lawyers use verb forms, prepositions, key phrases, word choice and punctuation in their writing. In this lesson, we will see how lawyers refer to days, dates and times in a contract. This is no different from how all native-speaking English people use expressions of time, so it's a lesson in day-to-day English rather than legal English.

The first reference to a date in the contract is in paragraph 1.1:

Your employment with us under this contract will start on 1 April 2023 (the Start Date)

Compare this with paragraph 5.2:

We will review the rate of Salary payable to you annually in about April of each year

Paragraph 4.1 sets out the normal hours of work - from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on Monday to Friday, so you would say that William's working day starts at 9.00 am each day.

These are the three prepositions of time: at, on and in. You would use at to refer to a precise time, on to refer to a stated day or date, and in when a longer period is mentioned. For example:

You must report to your Manager at 1pm on each Wednesday in June (or in summer, or in 2024).

How long is six months?

Not all periods of time are equal. Each day is 24 hours, and each week is seven days. But some years have 366 days, and a month can have 28, 30 or 31 days. Paragraph 3.1 informs the employee that his Probationary Period is six months, and we know that his employment started on 1 April 2023, but when does it end? Not all six-month periods are equal. The first half of the year has 181 days (or 182 in a leap year) while the second half always has 185 days. This means that some employees may have a longer Probationary Period than others.

This is not an oddity of the English language. You will face this problem in your first language, so this is a reminder of the need for all lawyers to use language accurately. Since days and weeks are always of equal length, why not say the first 26 weeks or the first 180 days? Or better still, put the start and end dates in the contract.

The period from 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023 will be a Probationary Period ...

The period is now clear to all.

In reality, the word month will be universally understood by an employee or potential employee reading the contract to mean a calendar month. So, in paragraph 13.1 the requirement to give not less than one month's written notice would apply in this way. If an employee wanted to end their employment with Graham Gover Limited on 15 December, written notice must be given on or before 15 November. Another way of saying on or before 15 November is by 15 November, and this time preposition is also found in the contract, at 7.4:

... your holiday allowance, which must be used by 31 January of the following holiday year

Likewise, the word year would be understood to mean calendar year. The salary of £100,000 per year for employment starting on 1 April 2023 will be for the period ending on 31 March 2024.

What is the purpose of per?

The word per is used three times in the contract.

4.1 Your normal hours of work are 35 hours per week.

5.1 We will pay you a salary at the rate of £100,000 per year

7.2 ... holiday accrues at the rate of 1/12th of the annual allowance per completed month of service

This is an example of a Latin word that has been adopted as part of everyday speech, like et cetera (and so on; shortened to etc), agenda (things to be done) and ad lib (short for ad libitum, without preparation, or unrehearsed). Per means for each week, for each month, for each year. It is also how we have the word percent (or per cent): per centum means for each hundred.

You may see lawyers use the word in a different way also.

You were supposed to leave the property on 31 December 2021 as per your lease.

I have returned your file as per our agreement

Here, as per means in accordance with. I would always advise that when writing for a client the plain English alternative should be used but per is so well known and understood that it is fully acceptable to use per in an employment contract.

Other expressions of time

The expressions from time to time and at any time are dealt with in a previous lesson.