Employment Contract Lawyers
Employment contracts prepared for your business, written to sit alongside the National Employment Standards and any modern award that applies to the role.
- Full-time, part-time, casual and fixed-term contracts
- Confidentiality, intellectual property and restraint clauses
- Contracts for a single role or a set for your whole team
- Document preparation only, with no disputes work
Engaging employees
A Contract That Matches the Role
An employment contract records what has been agreed, but it cannot give an employee less than the minimum standards set by law.
Every employee in the national system is covered by the National Employment Standards, and many are also covered by a modern award or an enterprise agreement. A contract can add to those entitlements but cannot take them away. Where a contract offers less, the legal minimum applies regardless of what the document says.
The contract should therefore be prepared with the role in mind: whether an award applies, how pay is structured, whether the position is full-time, part-time, casual or fixed-term, and which protections the business needs for its confidential information, clients and intellectual property.
What we prepare
Employment Documents We Prepare
Each document is prepared for the role and the business, rather than taken from a generic template.
Full-time and Part-time Contracts
Duties, hours, pay and review, leave, probation and termination, with the award position identified for the role.
Casual and Fixed-term Contracts
Contracts that reflect the casual or fixed-term nature of the engagement, including the information statements that must be given to the employee.
Confidentiality and IP
Clauses that protect confidential information and confirm that work created in the role belongs to the business.
Restraint Clauses
Restraints limited to what the business can reasonably protect, so that they have the best prospect of being enforced.
Senior and Executive Roles
Contracts for senior employees, including salary above the high income threshold, incentive arrangements and longer notice periods.
Letters of Offer and Policies
Letters of offer and short workplace policies that sit alongside the contract, where these are needed.
Fixed fees for this work are published on our pricing page.
Get a Fixed-Fee QuoteHow it works
From Instructions to Signed Contract
Tell us about the role
We ask for the position, duties, hours, pay, start date and whether an award or enterprise agreement applies.
We confirm the fee
You receive a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
We prepare the contract
The draft is sent to you with a short explanation of the key clauses and any points that need a decision.
You issue the contract
Once you are comfortable with the draft, you issue it to the employee together with the required information statements.
Before you start
What to Have Ready
A contract can only be as accurate as the information it is built on. Settling these points first makes the draft quicker to prepare and less likely to need rework.
The award position: Whether a modern award or enterprise agreement covers the role, and at what classification. If you are unsure, tell us the duties and industry and we will raise it in the draft.
Pay structure: Whether the employee is paid an hourly rate or an annual salary, whether the salary is intended to absorb overtime and penalty rates, and how superannuation, bonuses or commissions are treated.
Type of engagement: Full-time, part-time, casual or fixed-term, the expected hours, and any probation period.
What needs protecting: Client relationships, confidential information, pricing, systems and anything the employee will create, so that the confidentiality, intellectual property and restraint clauses fit the role.
Workplace Policies
Why policies sit outside the contract: Policies set expectations for conduct, leave requests, IT and social media use, and work health and safety. Keeping them outside the contract lets the business update them without varying every employee’s terms.
Policies we prepare: Code of conduct, leave and flexible work, IT, email and social media use, anti-discrimination and bullying, and work health and safety policies, prepared to suit the size of the business.
Linking policies to the contract: The contract should require the employee to comply with policies as they are updated, while making clear that the policies themselves do not form part of the contract.
Points Worth Knowing Before You Engage Someone
Minimum standards apply regardless
A contract cannot reduce an employee below the National Employment Standards or an applicable award.
Pay secrecy clauses
Employees are entitled to disclose their pay, and a clause that tries to prevent this has no effect.
Fixed-term limits
Fixed-term contracts are restricted in length and in the number of renewals, subject to limited exceptions.
Information statements
New employees must receive the Fair Work Information Statement, and casual and fixed-term employees must also receive their own statements.
Restraints must be reasonable
A restraint that goes further than needed to protect the business may be read down or not enforced at all.
Records and payslips
Payslips must be issued and employment records kept for 7 years.
We prepare and review employment documents. We do not act in employment disputes.
Talk to Us About Your MatterEngaging a contractor rather than an employee needs a different document, and the choice between the 2 depends on how the work will actually be carried out.
Employment Contract FAQs
Do I need a written employment contract?
Can a contract override an award?
What is the difference between a casual and a part-time employee?
How much does an employment contract cost?
Do you handle unfair dismissal claims or other disputes?
Do I need workplace policies as well as employment contracts?
Can you prepare contracts for my whole team at once?
Have a question that is not answered here?
Contact UsEngaging Someone New?
Tell us about the role and we will confirm a fixed fee before any work starts.
Get a Fixed-Fee Quote