Under article 33(2) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (“ER(NI)O”), an employer is required to provide an employee with an initial written statement of their employment particulars not later than two months after employment commences. This statement includes ‘the scale or rate of remuneration or the method of calculating remuneration’ and ‘the intervals at which remuneration is paid’ in accordance with article 33(4) of the ER(NI)O.

If there is a change to any of the particulars contained in the statement, the employer must provide the employee with a statement setting out particulars of the change. This must be provided at the earliest opportunity and, in any event, not later than one month after the change takes place, in accordance with article  36(3)(a) of the ER(NI)O.

Therefore, details of a pay rise must be communicated to the employee in writing. The written statement notifying the employee of the change must set out the rate of the employee’s new remuneration and/or the method of calculating same. It is insufficient for an employer to simply notify an employee that their salary will increase.