Leaving

Pay review: confirmation of change to particulars letter

Confirms a pay increase (or other agreed change to terms) in writing, as the law requires within one month.

Any agreed change to a term that appears in the written statement: pay, hours, job title, place of work, holiday. The Employment Rights Act requires written confirmation within a month of the change. A pay rise is the commonest case, and the easiest to forget.

Before it goes

  • The change is agreed (a pay rise needs no agreement to accept, but a change to hours or place does).
  • Payroll has the new figure and the effective date.

The letter

[COMPANY NAME] [COMPANY ADDRESS] [DATE] [EMPLOYEE NAME] [EMPLOYEE ADDRESS] Dear [EMPLOYEE FIRST NAME], Change to your terms of employment: [pay / hours / job title] Following [the annual pay review / our discussion on [DATE] / your promotion], I am pleased to confirm the following change to your terms and conditions of employment, with effect from [EFFECTIVE DATE]: [Pay: your [salary / hourly rate] increases from [£ OLD AMOUNT] to [£ NEW AMOUNT] per [year / hour]. The first payment at the new rate will be on [PAY DATE][, including arrears from [EFFECTIVE DATE]].] [Job title: your job title changes from [OLD TITLE] to [NEW TITLE]. Your duties are as set out in the enclosed job description.] [Hours: your normal working hours change from [OLD] to [NEW]. Your holiday entitlement is [unchanged / recalculated to [NUMBER] days].] [Place of work: your normal place of work changes from [OLD] to [NEW].] All other terms and conditions of your employment remain unchanged. This letter forms part of your written statement of employment particulars; please keep it with your original statement. [Thank you for your contribution over the past year. / Congratulations on the new role.] Yours sincerely, [MANAGER NAME] [JOB TITLE] [COMPANY NAME]

Filling it in

Which changes
Delete the lines that do not apply. One letter can carry several changes made at the same time.
Effective date and first payment
Both. Backdated rises need the arrears line.

What the law says

  • Employment Rights Act 1996 s.4: where there is a change in any of the particulars required in the written statement, the employer must give the employee a written statement of the change at the earliest opportunity and within one month.
  • National Minimum Wage Act 1998: the new rate must be at or above the band for the employee's age; rates change every April.
Guidance, not legal advice. Employment law moves; check the current position before relying on any of it, and take advice on anything that could end someone's employment.

What turns this letter into a claim

  • Do not rely on the payslip as the notification. The Act asks for a written statement of the change; a payslip does not say what changed or why.
  • Do not forget the knock-ons of an hours change: holiday, pension band, overtime threshold.

Questions people ask

Do I really need a letter for a pay rise?

Yes. Section 4 of the Employment Rights Act requires written notice of a change to particulars within a month. It takes two minutes, it makes people feel valued, and it ends every "I thought my rise was more than that" conversation before it starts.

What if the pay review gives no increase?

No change to particulars, so no legal requirement to write. A short letter explaining the outcome is still good management.

The letter, with the names already in

Employ AI drafts letters like this one from the employee's record, so the dates, service and pay are already right, and the disciplinary module writes the invitation and outcome letters from the case itself. All 44 letter families, 49 UK policies, GPS clock-in, rotas, leave and timesheets: £2.50 a month plus £1 per employee. 14 days free, no card.

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