Published on August 23rd, 2022
Every employee needs to create contracts for their employees by law. An employment contract details all of the duties and rights of both the employer and employee. It also stipulates the covers of the employment, such as the job title, salary, bonuses, and termination details.
If you’re an employer, you’ll need to know how to effectively create an employment contract. This includes contracts for full-time and part-time employees, and freelancers that you hire for one-off projects.
Knowing what to include in your employment contract will prevent you from making any major errors or leaving loopholes in your contracts that could be taken advantage of by your employees.
Leaving out specific details could lead to legal trouble further down the line that could be time-consuming and financially detrimental to your business. Errors or loopholes could also cause a breach of contract that may lead to you dismissing employees and recruiting new ones, which is a stressful and costly process.
Hiring an Employment Attorney
Hiring an employment lawyer is one of the best things that you can do as an employer. They know this area of the law inside and out and can help you with every aspect of your employment contracts.
You can use an attorney can help you to draft your employment contracts or read through your existing contracts to check for potential mistakes. They can also step in if one of your employees breaches their contract or raises an issue with a contract stipulation.
What to Include in Your Employee Contract
Whether you find the best lawyer for your business or not, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the mandatory details that every employee’s contract should contain.
Here are ten essential things to include in all of your employment contracts.
- Job Title – the job title and department should be at the top of an employment contract.
- Job Description – you should detail the duties and responsibilities of the job role.
- Salary – the contract should state the total annual earnings or hourly wage before taxes
- Bonuses and Benefits – if you offer perks and incentives for your employees, they should be detailed in your employment contracts.
- Paid Leave Entitlement – your employees need to know how many days of paid holiday leave they are entitled to throughout the year.
- Sickness Policies – this part of the contract should inform your employees of the process that they need to follow if they’re sick and cannot come into work.
- Employment Period – whether permanent or temporary, the contract must contain the employment period.
- Probationary Period – most jobs have a probationary period and this should be specified in the employment contracts.
- Termination Policy – an employment contract should clearly define the notice periods and termination policies of the role.
- Pension Details – if you offer a pension scheme for retirement program for your employees, make sure to detail this in your employment contracts.
