Template for an Employment Contract?
Discussion
Looking for some advice – does anyone have available for me to use/copy/plagiarise an employment contract suitable for a small UK software company? Or, can anyone recommend an organisation that would prepare such?
I looked on the Internet and the number of outfits offering downloadable contracts is mind-boggling. I had thought about plagiarising an old contract from a previous employer of mine but the companies are far apart in size and employment law has changed in the last 3 or 4 years so I it will be easier to start from first principles.
I guess I could ask my accountants if they know of any employment law specialists who would help draft one but I thought I would ask here first before engaging a firm of lawyers and get involved in several thousand pounds worth of costs.
I looked on the Internet and the number of outfits offering downloadable contracts is mind-boggling. I had thought about plagiarising an old contract from a previous employer of mine but the companies are far apart in size and employment law has changed in the last 3 or 4 years so I it will be easier to start from first principles.
I guess I could ask my accountants if they know of any employment law specialists who would help draft one but I thought I would ask here first before engaging a firm of lawyers and get involved in several thousand pounds worth of costs.
My advice would be to pay a firm to create employment contracts for your company or think seriously about using an employment law firm..
I pay a firm (Citation) several hundred pounds a month for unlimited H&S and employment advice which I see as an absolute necessity. We're a small business and have to keep an eye on costs but the outlay is small fry compared to possible (and experience) tribunal costs
Grab a freebee or copied contract off the web and come the time to use it and you'll wish you had invested some money doing it right.
Sometimes you just can't cut corners in my opinion.
I pay a firm (Citation) several hundred pounds a month for unlimited H&S and employment advice which I see as an absolute necessity. We're a small business and have to keep an eye on costs but the outlay is small fry compared to possible (and experience) tribunal costs
Grab a freebee or copied contract off the web and come the time to use it and you'll wish you had invested some money doing it right.
Sometimes you just can't cut corners in my opinion.
(ETA: of course the correct answer to this question is "go to a local employment lawyer, it'll be done properly and it'll be cheaper than you think. Certainly not thousands of pounds!")
As with all of these startup questions, it depends on the size of your business and your assessment of the risks.
For the first 10 years of trading, I relied on a contract that I'd cobbled together from various sources - I googled some stuff and also asked friends and colleges to send me theirs. Some people are going to jump up and down at me for saying that, and they'd be right, but the fact is that lots of small employers don't even have a contract. Having some terms written down (whether or not they'd be enforceable in the high court) with you and your staff working to them is step one. There is helpful advice out there for free if you want it on various websites and government agencies.
Later, I asked an employment law firm to produce one for me. It cost around £450 (from memory), and everyone thereafter was on that one.
(of course the perfectly written one didn't stop employees leaving without completing their notice, senior staff breaching their post-termination restriction clauses etc. etc. -- all it's doing is covering your nose if you're sued. Another answer to that is not to get sued in the first place
As with all of these startup questions, it depends on the size of your business and your assessment of the risks.
For the first 10 years of trading, I relied on a contract that I'd cobbled together from various sources - I googled some stuff and also asked friends and colleges to send me theirs. Some people are going to jump up and down at me for saying that, and they'd be right, but the fact is that lots of small employers don't even have a contract. Having some terms written down (whether or not they'd be enforceable in the high court) with you and your staff working to them is step one. There is helpful advice out there for free if you want it on various websites and government agencies.
Later, I asked an employment law firm to produce one for me. It cost around £450 (from memory), and everyone thereafter was on that one.
(of course the perfectly written one didn't stop employees leaving without completing their notice, senior staff breaching their post-termination restriction clauses etc. etc. -- all it's doing is covering your nose if you're sued. Another answer to that is not to get sued in the first place
Edited by PBDirector on Thursday 23 April 07:23
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