 Permanent Agreements
Sample employment agreement and sample clauses
Drafting your own individual employment agreements
The information available in this section of our website is designed to help you draft your own employment agreements. Please read this section and relevant A-Z guides for further information and call AdviceLine if you need clarification on any terms in the sample agreement. However, if do-it-yourself is not for you, one of our experienced consultants/lawyers can prepare employment agreement templates that are tailor-made to your specific needs and requirements and designed to protect your rights as an employer. Contact AdviceLine and ask to speak to a consultant about the charges for this service.
Entering into an individual employment agreement
Before an individual employment agreement is entered into, the employer must follow this process:
- Provide in writing, a copy of the intended agreement to the prospective employee;
- Advise the prospective employee they can get independent advice about the agreement; and
- Give the prospective employee a reasonable opportunity to get that advice.
- Consider and respond to any issues raised by the prospective employee.
Penalty: Note there is a penalty (maximum $10,000) for non-compliance with the above procedure.
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Employment Relations Act 2000 requirements
The Employment Relations Act 2000 requires that all employment agreements must be in writing. It also prescribes a process for entering into them and prescribes that all agreements have the following minimum terms:
- It contains the names of the employee and employer (registered name and trading name).
- It includes a brief description of the work to be performed.
- It indicates where the work is to be performed.
- It indicates the hours of work.
- It sets the wages or salary to be paid.
- It has a clause on the services available to resolve employment relationship problems, including reference to the 90 days within which a personal grievance must be raised.
- It contains an employment protection provision. [This requirement was imposed by the Employment Relations Amendment Act (No 2) 2004, with effect from 1 December 2004.]
Holidays Act 2003 requirements
The Holidays Act 2003 requires that:
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All employment agreements must include a provision that confirms the right of the employee to be paid at least time aand half for work on a public holiday.
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An employer must (at the time of entering into an agreement) inform the employee about their entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003.
Additonal agreement terms
In addition to these minimum terms, the parties are able to include any other matters they agree upon. However these cannot be unlawful or contrary to any minimum terms of employment set out in other legislation such as:
It is strongly recommended that any additional terms or conditions governing the employment are also recorded in writing and signed by the parties before the employment commences.
Continuity of Employment and Restructuring
Employers who employ staff who are covered by schedule 1A of the ERA should call EMA to discuss their special protections and rights in the event of restructuring. Employees covered by schedule 1A include those providing cleaning services and food catering services.
Please refer to our A-Z guide on vulnerable employees.
Employment Protection Provision
Employment agreements for all other employees who are not covered by schedule 1A must include an employment protection provision.
Please refer to our A-Z guide on employment protection provisons.
Probationary arrangements
If the employment has a probationary arrangement or trial period, this must be specified in writing within the employment agreement. Please refer to our A-Z guide on probationary periods.
If you need further information please refer to our A-Z guide on employment agreements
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