Staff contracts

It is important to prepare , to define your relationship and to safeguard your business. If you have or , you are legally required to provide them with various basic terms in writing on or before their first day of work. This section provides templates that you can use for , , and . It is also guides you through what to look out for when you are dealing with ’ or ’s standard terms and conditions.

Employment contracts

  1. 1.Am I required to give employees written employment contracts?
  2. 2.What happens if I don't provide my employees with written terms or an employment contract?
  3. 3.What information must I give a new employee when they join my business?
  4. 4.Do I need to change my existing employees' contracts to include the new information required from 6 April 2020 if it was not included before?
  5. 5.What do I do if an employee leaves my business before I've given them a contract?
  6. 6.What should an employment contract for a junior employee include?
  7. 7.What should an employment contract for a senior or business-critical employee include?
  8. 8.What should an employment contract for a temporary junior employee include?
  9. 9.What should a contract for a temporary senior or business-critical employee include?
  10. 10.How can I make sure that my employment contracts aren't discriminatory?
  11. 11.Must I treat temporary and permanent employees equally on pay and benefits?
  12. 12.Must I treat part-time and full-time staff equally on pay and benefits?
  13. 13.What should a contract for an apprentice include?
  14. 14.Can I require new employees to undergo a probationary period?

Confidentiality and restrictive covenants in employment contracts

  1. 15.How can I make sure that my employees don't leak confidential information about my business?
  2. 16.What information can be protected by a confidentiality clause in an employment contract?
  3. 17.What are restrictive covenants?
  4. 18.Can I stop my employee from working for a competitor or setting up a competing business after they leave?
  5. 19.How do I make sure that a non-compete clause in my employee's employment contract is valid?
  6. 20.Can I ban an employee from joining a specific rival business when they leave?
  7. 21.How long can I prevent my employee from working for a competitor for after they leave?
  8. 22.Can I ban my employee from taking my clients when they leave?
  9. 23.How do I make sure that a non-dealing or non-solicitation clause in my employee's employment contract is valid?
  10. 24.Can I stop my employee from taking any of my clients, or only those they dealt with specifically?
  11. 25.For how long after they leave can I stop my employee contacting or dealing with my clients?
  12. 26.Can I ban my employee from taking other members of my staff with them when they leave my business?
  13. 27.How do I make sure than an anti-poaching clause in my employee's employment contract is valid?
  14. 28.Can I stop my remaining employees from following a staff member who leaves my business?
  15. 29.What can I do if my former employee breaches the restrictive covenants in their employment contract?

Contracts for freelancers

  1. 30.What contract should I use to engage a freelancer?
  2. 31.How do I ensure I have complied with my data protection obligations when sharing information with a freelancer?
  3. 32.What should I look out for in a freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
  4. 33.What party names should I expect to see in my freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
  5. 34.What should I expect my freelancer's terms and conditions to say about the services they will provide?
  6. 35.What should I do if I want to rely on something that my freelancer has said and it isn't mentioned in their terms and conditions?
  7. 36.What can I do if my freelancer's standard terms and conditions say they are not responsible for any failure to carry out their obligations under the contract?
  8. 37.What should I expect to see in the intellectual property clause in my freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
  9. 38.What happens if my consultant's work breaches a third party's intellectual property?
  10. 39.What should I expect to see in the data protection clause in my freelancer's standard terms and conditions?
  11. 40.Is my freelancer allowed to sub-contract the work they do for me?
  12. 41.Can I prevent my freelancer from sub-contracting the work they do for me?
  13. 42.What are the IR35 tax rules (aka off-payroll working rules)?
  14. 43.Will the IR35 tax rules always apply when a freelancer is providing services to my business?
  15. 44.How do I work out employment status for the purposes of IR35?
  16. 45.Is it my responsibility to work out whether the IR35 tax rules apply, or my freelancer's?
  17. 46.What information do I need to provide to my freelancer if I am responsible for determining their IR35 status?
  18. 47.What happens if my freelancer disagrees with my IR35 determination?

Contracts for casual workers

  1. 48.What contract should I use to engage a casual worker?
  2. 49.What information must I give new casual workers when they join my business?
  3. 50.How do I ensure I do not discriminate against my casual worker?
  4. 51.Can I ban my casual workers from working for anyone else?
  5. 52.Can I insist my casual workers accept any work that I offer them?

Contracts for interns

  1. 53.Do I need to put a contract in place to engage an intern?
  2. 54.Do I need a contract in place for an unpaid intern who is shadowing my existing staff?
  3. 55.Do I need a contract in place for an intern who is working for my business?

Contracts with agencies providing temporary staff

  1. 56.What should I look out for in the terms and conditions to hire agency workers?
  2. 57.What warranties and indemnities should I expect to see in a temp agency's terms and conditions?
  3. 58.Why is there a clause in my temp agency's terms and conditions which requires me to provide the agency with information about my staff pay and benefits?
  4. 59.How can I make sure a temp agency I am using has an appropriate equal opportunities policy in place?
  5. 60.Is a temp agency allowed to charge me a fee if I want to take on one of their temps as a permanent member of staff?
  6. 61.Can a temp agency charge me a fee if I take on an agency worker as an employee or hire the same agency worker again but through a different agency?
  7. 62.Can a temp agency charge me a fee if I hire a worker they introduced me to but who never worked for me?
  8. 63.Can a temp agency charge me a fee if I introduce their worker to another business which then hires the worker?

Contract - casual worker

This casual worker contract is suitable for a casual or zero hours worker and is likely to be most suitable if your staffing needs fluctuate, for example if you have a business model that requires a bank of staff that you can call on as needed, without having to pay them if you have no work. The contract includes all the information that you are legally obliged to provide to your casual worker in writing about their terms of engagement, and is fully customisable to your individual requirements. It also includes a number of standard protections for your business, for example to guard your confidential information and ensure any intellectual property created by the casual worker belongs to the company.
£25 + VAT

Unpaid internship letter

Use this template letter to take on an unpaid intern for a period of time. Using this letter protects you as much as possible from the risk of your intern being considered an employee or worker (and suing you for the minimum wage and other benefits). It also protects your business by requiring the intern to: keep your business information confidential; and follow all your policies and procedures. An unpaid intern must genuinely shadow your existing staff for work experience (you cannot require them to do work that you would otherwise have to pay someone to do). You do not need a formal contract with an unpaid intern (as either of you can end the internship at any time) but it is best practice to make the relationship clear by providing this letter.
£20 + VAT
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