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Put your employment contracts on a sound footing

We will bring your employment documents up to date, so the terms you rely on are the ones that actually apply.

Most businesses are using an employment contract somebody adapted years ago from something else. It has been copied for every hire since. In that time the awards have been varied, the rules on casual employment and fixed terms have changed, and the pay rules have moved. The document is not wrong in any way you would notice. It is wrong in the ways that surface when somebody leaves badly. We rebuild the set so it matches the business you have now.

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A template per arrangement

Casual, fixed-term and permanent each get a document drafted for that arrangement rather than adapted.

Set-off that works

Salary absorbs award entitlements properly, instead of leaving them payable on top of what you have paid.

Policies you can change

Policies sit outside the contract, so updating one does not mean varying everybody's terms.

What should an employment document set contain?

Most businesses need less than they fear and more than they have. A workable set has a contract template for each employment type you actually use, which usually means full time, part time, casual and fixed term. Casual and fixed-term arrangements now carry specific statutory requirements, and the wrong template for the arrangement is a common source of liability.

Alongside the contracts sit the policies. A code of conduct, and policies on workplace behaviour, discrimination and harassment, leave, technology use and work health and safety. Policies are more useful when they are expressly not incorporated into the contract, so they can be changed without amending everyone’s terms. What matters most is that the contract, the policies and what actually happens in the business agree with one another.

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How often should employment contracts be reviewed?

Every two to three years as a matter of course. Sooner if you change what the business does, start using casuals or fixed terms, or an award covering your people is varied. A review is quick. Discovering the document is out of date during a dispute is not.

Do I need different contracts for casual employees?

Yes. Casual employment has its own definition and its own obligations, including what has to be provided to the employee and how conversion works. Issuing a casual a modified permanent contract is one of the more common and more expensive template errors.

Should my policies be part of the contract?

Usually not. If a policy is incorporated into the contract, failing to follow it can be a breach of contract. Changing it then means varying the employment terms. Keeping policies outside the contract, with a clear obligation on employees to comply, gives you the flexibility to update them.

Can I move existing employees onto new contracts?

You can, but not by simply issuing one. A variation needs the employee’s agreement, and usually something of value in exchange, such as a pay rise or a promotion. There are ways to manage that across a workforce. Doing it badly leaves you with a document the employee never agreed to.

The template is fine until somebody tests it

Send us the contract you are using now and tell us who you employ. We will tell you what it no longer covers and what needs rebuilding.

You find out the document is out of date at the worst possible moment

The contract you issue has been in use for years and nobody has read it properly since. You do not know whether it still matches the awards that cover your people, or the way you actually engage casuals. Nor whether it reflects the rules as they stand now.

It has never caused a problem, which is the reason it has never been looked at. That is also the reason it will cost something when it does.

We will review your current contracts and policies against the awards that apply.
We will draft a contract template for each employment type you use.
We will prepare set-off provisions that actually absorb award entitlements.
We will prepare policies that sit outside the contract and can be changed.
We will advise on moving existing employees onto the new terms.

You are still issuing a contract nobody has read since it was written

Somebody new is starting on Monday and the contract has gone out already. It is the same document you have used for years, with the name and the salary changed. You have a vague sense it should be reviewed. There has never been an obvious moment to do it, and no obvious cost to leaving it. Then an employee leaves unhappily, and their lawyer reads it more carefully than anyone in your business ever has.

What's included in your employment documents service

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Review of current contracts, policies and award coverage.
Full time, part time, casual and fixed-term contract templates.
Set-off, confidentiality and restraint provisions.
Code of conduct and core workplace policies.
Advice on varying existing employees onto new terms.
A schedule of what to review and when.

What an out-of-date contract set costs

An old template fails quietly in several places at once. The set-off clause meant to absorb award entitlements into the salary is drafted too loosely to do it. Those entitlements are then payable on top of what you have already paid. The casual conversion and casual employment terms do not reflect the current rules. A fixed-term contract runs past the limits that now apply, and the employee is permanent without anyone deciding that.

The restraint and confidentiality clauses are usually the weakest part, because they were drafted for a business a quarter of the size. And because every employee has been issued the same document, none of this is one person’s problem. It is the whole workforce, discovered all at once, usually during a dispute or during due diligence on a sale.

How we get the set back to current

We start with who you actually employ, which is often not what the paperwork says. Which awards cover them, what the real arrangements are, and where the practice has drifted from the document. That review usually turns up two or three things worth fixing regardless of the contracts.

Then we rebuild. A contract for each employment type you use, drafted to current requirements, with set-off provisions that actually work and restraints proportionate to the role. Policies that sit outside the contract so you can change them. Where existing employees need to move onto new terms, we advise on doing that properly. A variation imposed without consideration or consent is not a variation. You end with a set you can issue without thinking about it, and a note of what to revisit and when.

How the documents get rebuilt

One set, current, and matched to how you actually employ people.

Audit what you use

We review your current contract and policies against the awards and arrangements that actually apply to your people.

Rebuild the set

We draft a contract for each employment type you use, with set-off, confidentiality and restraint terms that work.

Roll it out

We advise on moving existing employees onto the new terms properly, and what to review in future.

Documents that match how you actually employ people

There is never a good week to do this. The template has not caused a problem, the business is busy, and reviewing employment paperwork loses to everything else on the list. That is why the work is usually triggered by a claim or by due diligence rather than by a decision.

We would rather do it before either. The review itself is quick, and it is the cheapest employment work a business ever does relative to what it prevents. We will also tell you which parts of your existing set are fine, because a rebuild of everything is rarely what is needed.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Get the paperwork current

Send us the contract you are issuing now and tell us who you employ and under what awards. We will tell you what it no longer covers, what needs rebuilding, and what can stay.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590