All employees whose employment will last for one month or more must be given at least a statement of their main terms and conditions of employment. The only exceptions are where the employee works wholly or mainly outside Great Britain, but even these employees are entitled to a statement if they ordinarily work inside Great Britain and the work outside is for the same employer, or if the law which governs the contract is the law of England and Wales or Scotland. Independent contractors or freelance agents are not entitled to a statement.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 stipulates the essential minimum information which must be included in the statement, which must be provided within two months of the employee joining you. The statement will not necessarily cover every aspect of the contract but can provide important evidence of the main terms and conditions.

Failure to have an up-to-date, complete statement can lead to a financial award of 2-4 weeks' pay being given to an employee who successfully brings another claim to an employment tribunal.

We would recommend that casual workers are issued with an agreement which clearly states that the worker is not an employee whilst not working for you, and outlines the obligations on both parties.

Do still ensure that casual staff are not retained on a regular basis for any length of time, that no regular pattern of work is established and, where possible, that they turn down work from time to time - thus reinforcing the lack of "mutuality of obligation" which would enable them to claim they were effectively your employees.

It is advisable to guard against long-term relationships arising which may point towards an employment relationship: the longer the appointment, the more the job resembles one of employment, and the more you integrate the worker into your business, the greater your risk.

When using agency workers, do monitor the length of placements very carefully to reduce long-term placements and, where necessary, insist that temporary workers are replaced by the agency on a regular basis; do ensure that there is a written contract between the agency and the agency worker, spelling out who is the employer; and do be wary about integrating the worker into your business.

Note also that the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 are effective from 1 October 2011 (5 December in Northern Ireland). These give agency workers the same pay and basic terms as comparable permanent staff after they complete 12 weeks' service in the same job with the same hirer.

Except for some exempted categories of worker, workers working more than 6 hours a day are entitled to a rest break of at least 20 minutes. this should be taken during the shift, not at the end or beginning of a shift.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the UK government is breaking the law by not forcing employers to ensure their staff have their rest breaks; however it would seem that it is sufficient to schedule rest breaks and to stress to employees that they should take these. Do keep an eye on this and if you have employees who regularly fail to take a break during the working day, it would be worth encouraging them to do so.