Directive (EU) 2019/1152 · Article 4(2) ·Transposed by 1 August 2022

What every employer owes every worker in writing

Article 4(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/1152 obliges the employer to inform the worker of the essential aspects of the employment relationship, and Article 4(2) lists fifteen points that information must include. This free tool assembles those fifteen in each of the 22 languages, in the Directive's own wording, and says beside each one whether Article 5 gives you seven calendar days or one month. It does not draft a contract and it does not know your national law.

The Union minimum, not the whole of your obligation

This is a minimum. Directive (EU) 2019/1152 is not a Regulation: it lays down minimum requirements, and Member States transpose it into their own law. Article 4(2) is the floor every Member State must reach — your national law may require more, and in several Member States it does. Ireland, for instance, requires a separate statement of five core terms within five days of starting work, on top of this one. What you produce below is the Union minimum in the Directive's own words. It is not a statement that your national obligation is met.

The Directive says where to find the rest, and it is worth going to look. Article 5(2) lets a Member State develop templates and models for these documents and put them at the disposal of worker and employer, including on a single official national website. Article 5(3) requires the information on the laws, regulations and collective agreements that make up the applicable legal framework to be made generally available free of charge, in a clear, transparent, comprehensive and easily accessible way, including through existing online portals. If your Member State publishes a template, that template — not this page — is the one to use.

Who and for whom

Employer Worker

What Article 4(2) requires

Article 4(2) fixes the content and nothing else — there is no model here, and no Member State's template. Everything below is the Directive's own wording with your answer beside it, in the order Article 4(2) prints it. The two labels on each point are ours: which deadline Article 5(1) gives it, and whether Article 4(3) lets a reference stand in for a description.

The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall include at least the following:

the identities of the parties to the employment relationship;

Within seven calendar days of the first working day

the place of work; where there is no fixed or main place of work, the principle that the worker is employed at various places or is free to determine his or her place of work, and the registered place of business or, where appropriate, the domicile of the employer;

Within seven calendar days of the first working day

either:

Within seven calendar days of the first working day

the title, grade, nature or category of work for which the worker is employed or

Choose this one

a brief specification or description of the work;

Choose this one

the date of commencement of the employment relationship;

Within seven calendar days of the first working day

in the case of a fixed-term employment relationship, the end date or the expected duration thereof;

Within seven calendar days of the first working day

in the case of temporary agency workers, the identity of the user undertakings, when and as soon as known;

Within one month of the first working day

the duration and conditions of the probationary period, if any;

Within seven calendar days of the first working dayA reference to the governing rules may be enough here

the training entitlement provided by the employer, if any;

Within one month of the first working dayA reference to the governing rules may be enough here

the amount of paid leave to which the worker is entitled or, where this cannot be indicated when the information is given, the procedures for allocating and determining such leave;

Within one month of the first working dayA reference to the governing rules may be enough here

the procedure to be observed by the employer and the worker, including the formal requirements and the notice periods, where their employment relationship is terminated or, where the length of the notice periods cannot be indicated when the information is given, the method for determining such notice periods;

Within one month of the first working dayA reference to the governing rules may be enough here

the remuneration, including the initial basic amount, any other component elements, if applicable, indicated separately, and the frequency and method of payment of the remuneration to which the worker is entitled;

Within seven calendar days of the first working dayA reference to the governing rules may be enough here

if the work pattern is entirely or mostly predictable, the length of the worker’s standard working day or week and any arrangements for overtime and its remuneration and, where applicable, any arrangements for shift changes;

Within seven calendar days of the first working dayA reference to the governing rules may be enough here

if the work pattern is entirely or mostly unpredictable, the employer shall inform the worker of:

Within seven calendar days of the first working day

the principle that the work schedule is variable, the number of guaranteed paid hours and the remuneration for work performed in addition to those guaranteed hours;

the reference hours and days within which the worker may be required to work;

the minimum notice period to which the worker is entitled before the start of a work assignment and, where applicable, the deadline for cancellation referred to in Article 10(3);

any collective agreements governing the worker’s conditions of work or in the case of collective agreements concluded outside the business by special joint bodies or institutions, the name of such bodies or institutions within which the agreements were concluded;

Within one month of the first working day

where it is the responsibility of the employer, the identity of the social security institutions receiving the social contributions attached to the employment relationship and any protection relating to social security provided by the employer.

Within one month of the first working dayA reference to the governing rules may be enough here

If the worker is sent to another Member State or a third country

Member States shall ensure that, where a worker is required to work in a Member State or third country other than the Member State in which he or she habitually works, the employer shall provide the documents referred to in Article 5(1) before the worker’s departure and the documents shall include at least the following additional information:

the country or countries in which the work abroad is to be performed and its anticipated duration;

the currency to be used for the payment of remuneration;

where applicable, the benefits in cash or kind relating to the work assignments;

information as to whether repatriation is provided for, and if so, the conditions governing the worker’s repatriation.

The written statement

A written statement is not an employment contract. It is information the employer owes the worker about the employment relationship, and Article 4(1) makes giving it the employer's obligation. It does not create the relationship, it does not replace a contract, and nothing here drafts one.

Seven days for some of it, one month for the rest, and the split is the act's. Article 5(1) puts points (a) to (e), (g), (k), (l) and (m) in a period starting on the first working day and ending no later than the seventh calendar day, and everything else within one month of the first working day. Each field carries which of the two it is; the marking is ours, the rule is the Directive's.

Where not previously provided, the information referred to in points (a) to (e), (g), (k), (l) and (m) of Article 4(2) shall be provided individually to the worker in the form of one or more documents during a period starting on the first working day and ending no later than the seventh calendar day. The other information referred to in Article 4(2) shall be provided individually to the worker in the form of a document within one month of the first working day.

Seven of the fifteen may be answered with a citation. Article 4(3) says the information in points (g) to (l) and (o) may, where appropriate, be given in the form of a reference to the laws, regulations and administrative or statutory provisions or collective agreements governing those points. Those fields are marked, and a reference in them is a complete answer where it is appropriate.

The information referred to in paragraph 2(g) to (l) and (o) may, where appropriate, be given in the form of a reference to the laws, regulations and administrative or statutory provisions or collective agreements governing those points.

If it changes, document it. Article 6(1) requires any change in the aspects referred to in Article 4(2) to be provided in the form of a document by the employer to the worker at the earliest opportunity and at the latest on the day on which it takes effect. Article 6(2) takes out changes that merely reflect a change in the laws or collective agreements the documents already cite.

Member States shall ensure that any change in the aspects of the employment relationship referred to in Article 4(2) and any change to the additional information for workers sent to another Member State or to a third country referred to in Article 7 shall be provided in the form of a document by the employer to the worker at the earliest opportunity and at the latest on the day on which it takes effect.

If the worker is sent abroad, more is due, and it is due earlier. Article 7(1) requires the documents to be provided before the worker's departure and to include at least four additional points, printed below the form. Article 7(2) adds three more for a posted worker covered by Directive 96/71/EC.

What this tool cannot do. It does not know your national law, so it cannot tell you what your Member State adds to this list. It does not draft a contract. And it does not decide whether what you write in a field is enough — whether a description of the work is a description, or whether a notice period is stated correctly, is not something a form can judge.

Member States may develop templates and models for the documents referred to in paragraph 1 and put them at the disposal of worker and employer including by making them available on a single official national website or by other suitable means.

Member States shall ensure that the information on the laws, regulations and administrative or statutory provisions or universally applicable collective agreements governing the legal framework applicable which are to be communicated by employers is made generally available free of charge in a clear, transparent, comprehensive and easily accessible way at a distance and by electronic means, including through existing online portals.