when does employment legally start?

[PandaG]

I didn't question this at the time, but now have a new contract to sign, and have wondered what the correct position is...

when I started work I did a 3 month probationary period, which I passed, and continued work

my contract states ' your employment with xxxx begins on 15/11/07, your date of commencement of continuous employment is 15/2/08'

is this right, or should my continuous emplyment begin when I actually started work?

not sure how much ot metters in the grand scheme of things, but we are all resigining contracts, and I would like everyone's to be right.

I would query it if I were you. From what you have said here, the two dates should be the same. Don't sign anything yet. Ask them why there is a discrepency.

If you get into a redundancy situation, it would make a difference.

Yes when you started work. Occasionally the dates might be different, if your employment transferred from one employer to another for example, but in that case the continuous employment date would always be the earliest date.

thanks sparks and flowery, that is what I thought. Can you point me anywhere online that will have that in writing - I want to be able to be able to show this, and unfortunately while I know that you give good advice, saying 'a friend on the internet told me' won't hold much water with the office manager!

Oooh. No. Not "friends on the internet".

I use "the advice I've been given is..."

Strangely enough, nobody ever asks where the advice has come from. Sometimes it's from my lawyer, sometimes it's from a RL friend, sometimes it's from MumsNet or similar...

Ta da!

I always think 'I've taken some advice' sounds suitably formal...

thanks again - much appreciated!