A contract of service or apprenticeship, whether express or implied and, if express, whether oral or in writing. Whether or not an individual is working under a contract of employment will determine whether they are entitled to certain statutory rights, such as statutory redundancy payments (www.practicallaw.com/3-200-3608) and statutory maternity pay (www.practicallaw.com/1-200-3510) and the right not to be unfairly dismissed (www.practicallaw.com/0-200-3624). This can be contrasted with a contract for services, where the relationship between the parties is not that of employer (www.practicallaw.com/5-200-3198) and employee (www.practicallaw.com/1-200-3195).
For a contract of employment to arise there must at least exist an obligation to personally perform the work, mutuality of obligations between employer and employee, and a sufficient element of control over the employee's work (Ready-Mixed Concrete (South East) Limited v the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance [1968] 2 QB 497). For more information on this, see Practice note, Employment status: How to identify a contract of service.
For a standard employment contract, see Standard documents, Employment contract for a senior employee (www.practicallaw.com/5-200-2047) and Employment contract for a junior employee (www.practicallaw.com/0-200-2040).