Prepare/update template employment contracts

We will rewrite your employment contract template so the document you send to every new hire actually protects the business.

The employment contract sitting in your folder was probably drafted years ago, and it has been quietly running your business ever since. The trouble is, the rules around hiring in Australia have changed a lot, and a template that worked five years ago can land you in trouble today. We rewrite employment contracts for Australian businesses every week, so the document you send to every new hire is actually doing its job. Get it sorted once, properly, and you can stop second-guessing what you are sending out.

What is a template employment contract and why does it matter?

A template employment contract is the standard written agreement an employer uses across its workforce, usually with one version for permanent employees, one for casuals, and one for senior or salaried hires. The template has to carry the obligations imposed by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the National Employment Standards, and any applicable modern award, and then add the terms the business wants to impose on top: hours, place of work, set-off arrangements, confidentiality, restraints, IP assignment, and termination provisions. A current and well-drafted template reduces legal risk every time it is signed, because each new employee starts on terms the business has already vetted. An outdated template introduces risk every time it is signed, in ways that often only become apparent at the point of termination or a claim.

Why is my template employment contract probably out of date?

Major reforms over the last few years have changed how casual employment, fixed-term contracts, casual conversion, and the right to disconnect operate under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Templates drafted before those changes (broadly, before 2024) generally need to be reviewed and updated to remain compliant. If yours has not been touched in two years or more, it is almost certainly behind.

What are the most common drafting traps in standard employment contracts?

The recurring problems are templates that point to the wrong modern award, templates that have not been updated as the law changes, templates that accidentally grant entitlements above statutory minimums through loose drafting, and templates that fail to protect the business through proper confidentiality, IP, and restraint clauses. Each of these is much more expensive to fix at termination than at drafting.

Should the template include restraints?

Restraints in standard employment contracts should fit the seniority and role of the employee, and overly broad restraints in junior contracts are routinely struck down. For most of the workforce, a focused confidentiality clause and a targeted non-solicit are more enforceable than a sweeping non-compete. Non-compete restraints are best reserved for senior or executive staff, where the interest you are protecting is clearer.

How often should the template be reviewed?

At a minimum, the template should be reviewed whenever there is a significant change to employment law, a change to a relevant modern award, or a material change to how the business operates. In practice, that means a review every twelve to eighteen months for most businesses, plus an ad-hoc review whenever the legislation moves.

A template that reflects current law, not what the law looked like five years ago.

Separate templates for permanent, casual, and senior employees.

Set-off and entitlement clauses that work with your remuneration structure.

An outdated template is a risk you carry with every new hire.

The template is the default document the business signs with every new employee, and every flaw in it is repeated across the workforce. Update it once, properly, and every subsequent hire benefits.

A standard contract is only standard if it is also current.

Your business has been signing employees onto the same template for years, the law has moved underneath it, and you suspect the document no longer does what you need it to do. The risk is not theoretical: an outdated template carries the same flaws into every new contract signed, and those flaws are exactly the ones that matter when a staff member leaves badly or a claim turns up.

We will review your existing template and identify the gaps against current law.
We will prepare an updated standard contract for permanent employees.
We will prepare a separate template for casual employees that reflects the current definition of casual employment and conversion regime.
We will prepare a template for senior or salaried employees with appropriate restraints and confidentiality terms.
We will draft set-off and entitlement clauses that work with your remuneration structure.
We will integrate the contract with your modern award coverage where applicable.

Your business has been using the same employment contract template for years, and you are not sure it still reflects what the law requires.

Your business has grown a lot since the contract template was first drafted, and the document has been tweaked a few times along the way by whoever was around to do it. Every new hire signs onto a document you no longer fully trust, and you have a nagging sense that something in there is not quite right anymore. You do not want to find out the hard way (at a termination, an unfair dismissal claim, or a payroll review) that the template was the problem. You want it brought up to date, properly, in one go.

What's included in your template employment contract service

Review of the existing template and identification of legal gaps.
Updated standard contract for permanent employees.
Updated casual employment contract reflecting the current statutory definition.
Senior or salaried employee template.
Set-off and over-award entitlement clauses.
Restraint and confidentiality provisions appropriate to each role level.
Right to disconnect compliance.
Modern award integration where applicable.

What happens when the template is left to drift?

Businesses that continue to use outdated employment contract templates accumulate latent liability with every new hire. Casual employees signed onto old contracts are exposed to claims for permanent entitlements when the contract does not reflect the current definition of casual employment. Permanent employees signed onto contracts without proper set-off clauses are exposed to back-pay claims on annualised salary arrangements. Senior employees signed onto contracts with overly broad restraints walk out the door with no meaningful protection in place. By the time the issue surfaces, the affected contracts may be dozens or hundreds in number, and the cost of fixing the position retrospectively is significantly greater than the cost of a proper template update would have been.

Here is how we bring your template up to current law in a single coordinated update.

We start by reviewing the template you are currently using and identifying the specific points where it has fallen behind current law or current business practice. We then prepare an updated suite of templates: a standard permanent contract, a casual contract that reflects the current rules and conversion regime, and a senior employee template with the restraints and confidentiality terms the senior workforce requires. Each template is drafted to integrate with your modern award coverage, your remuneration structure, and your existing HR processes, so the rollout is straightforward. The result is a clean set of contracts the business can use with confidence for the next eighteen to twenty-four months.

Three steps to a current employment contract template.

Reviewed, redrafted, rolled out.

Review the existing template.

We identify the points where the current document no longer reflects the law or the business.

Draft the updated suite.

We prepare templates for permanent, casual, and senior employees, drafted to current law.

Hand over for rollout.

We provide the templates ready for use, with notes on which template to use in which situation.

Employment lawyers who keep Australian businesses on the right side of the rules without making it complicated.

Most business owners we work with on contract templates have had the same nagging sense for months: the document is probably out of date, but the day-to-day always wins. We get it. Until something goes wrong, the template feels like it can wait. Our employment lawyers do this work every week for businesses across professional services, technology, retail, and family enterprise, and we keep across the changes so you do not have to. You come away with a clean set of templates you can use with confidence, and one less thing to worry about.

We understand you want to know the cost, before we get started.

We will map out our process, from beginning to end, so you know what the journey will look like before you get started.

We will provide you with a clear and detailed Work Proposal covering each step along the way.

Our fair fees are all-inclusive. No hidden costs for telephone calls, emails, photocopying, couriers, or coffee.

Our great lawyer guarantee

We want to be part of your team over the long term. We achieve this by adhering to these core principles:

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve. Then we thoroughly explain our advice and step you through the documents. You can be sure you know the full consequences.

Share our knowledge

We will pass on as much knowledge as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions. We want to make you truly independent.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we're good at. You can be confident that we know what we're doing and don't pass on the cost of our learning.

Work as one team

Someone will always be available to answer your questions, or point you in the right direction. You will also benefit from a range of perspectives and experience.

Fair pricing

For advice and documents, we provide a fixed or capped quote so you don't take price risk. If you're in a dispute, we map out the process and costs so you know what to expect.

It's your show

We're not in this for our egos. We're in it for a front row seat to witness your success.

Ready to update the contract template your business uses every time it hires?

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