A high-quality employment contract reduces the risks to the employer
Content of employment contract: Under employment law, employers are required to provide employees and workers with minimum “written particulars of employment”. This is a written statement which sets out the key details of the employment. This would include things like salary, working hours, holiday entitlement, probationary period, etc. An employment contract can be used to set out these “written particulars of employment” as well as other key employment terms under which the employee has been employed. If “written particulars of employment” are not included in an employment contract, they need to be provided to the employee via another method. Including them in an employment contract means that all information relating to the employment, including the information required to be told to the employee by law, is located in one place.
Make the contract in writing: While employers are legally obliged to provide a written employment contract covering at least the minimum “written particulars of employment”, if an employer fails to do so an oral employment contract would still be binding. However, in the absence of a written employment contract, not only would the employer be in breach of certain employment legislation, but it also could make it much harder to manage the employee's expectations and to establish what the terms actually are/were in the case of any dispute. With that in mind, it’s crucial to equip employees with a written employment contract that defines in clear terms the nature of the relationship. This means that both the employer and the employee are on the same page from day 1 of the employment relationship.
When to use and not to use Docue’s employment contract template?
When to use: You would use Docue’s employment contract template when hiring someone as an employee. An employment contract is known as a “contract of service”: an employer is required to give the employee work and the employee is required to undertake that work, with the employee working under the employer's control. Employees have particular rights under employment law - these are reflected in the employment contract.
When not to use: You wouldn't use this employment contract template where someone is providing services to you, but you don't need them to work exclusively or mainly for you and you don't need to exercise control of how, where and when they provide their services to you. Instead, such individuals are likely to be independent consultants and you would enter into a consultancy agreement with them instead.
What types of employment contracts can I draw up with Docue’s template?
Suitable for all situations: Docue’s employment contract template is suitable for hiring an employee whether on a part-time or full-time basis, and as a casual or fixed employee/worker. The template is suitable for employees both in junior-level and senior-level positions, and Docue's dynamic employment contract template will automatically adapt to include clauses suitable for that role. With just a few clicks, you can add suitable holiday and salary terms, probationary period terms, as well as non-disclosure and non-competition obligations to protect your trade secrets. The employment contract is fully customisable to meet your needs.
Dynamic template: The template is more than just a single employment contract template, but a combination of tens of templates. For example, junior employee employment contract, senior employee employment contract, fixed employment contract and casual employment contract. Forget traditional form templates and half-finished drafts, Docue will take out the hard work for you!
I am hiring a senior employee. What should I take into consideration?
Pros & cons: Senior hires will allow you to propel your company further while benefitting from the hard-earned wisdom of a senior employee. Despite this, there are risks a senior employee can impose on an organisation. These can include a high degree of influence or access to sensitive information.
Additional obligations & restrictions: To reflect the increased risk that a senior employee presents to the business compared to more junior staff, a senior employment contract typically imposes additional obligations and restrictions on the employee during and after the employment relationship. This is to mitigate potential negative impacts that can come with the loss of a senior hire.
Better benefits & longer notice periods: Senior employment contracts may include many additional benefits that are more commonly associated with senior employees than junior employees (such as company car entitlement, bonus, share/equity incentives etc.). They also tend to include longer termination notice periods to allow the employer sufficient time to recruit a suitable replacement (with the same experience/qualifications etc.). All of the matters above can easily be included using Docue's dynamic employment contract template.
How does a casual employment contract differ from other employment contracts?
More flexibility: Unlike a standard employment contract, a casual employment contract includes much more flexibility about where and when the casual employee is required to perform their role. Unlike with other types of employees, the employer is not required to provide work and the casual employee is not obliged to accept any offer of work they receive from the employer. Casual employees can usually work for multiple employers simultaneously (e.g. gig economy work).
What matters does Docue’s employment contract template cover?
High-quality model clauses: Docue’s dynamic employment contract template covers, among other things, the following matters, so you can easily choose what to include in your employment contract:
- The “written particulars of employment” (e.g. role, start date, salary, working hours, probationary period) - this information is required to be provided to employees by law;
- Holiday entitlement;
- Pension and other benefits;
- Sick pay and process for sick leave;
- Termination notice periods;
- Disciplinary and grievance procedures;
- Confidentiality;
- Garden leave;
- Bonuses;
- Intellectual property rights; and
- Post-termination restrictions (e.g. non-solicitation of clients, non-poaching of staff etc.).
Created by lawyers: The template is drafted and maintained by expert employment lawyers. Our cutting-edge technology combined with our lawyer-made document content allows you to create, customise, e-sign, store and manage your employment contracts all in one place with just a few clicks.
Easy to use: Our lawyer-crafted guidelines provide straightforward support to guide you through every stage of the drafting process. So if you need to make that key hire but don’t want the delays or dents in your bank balance that come with traditional legal services, give Docue a try now to create your employment contract!
Tags: employment contract, employment agreement, casual employment contract, fixed employment contract, senior employee, junior employee, employment law, written particulars of employment, HR, recruitment
