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Hire a senior employee on the right terms

We will get the contract right for a senior hire, so the things that matter are settled before they start.

A senior hire is agreed at the point when both sides most want it to work. That is exactly when the difficult terms are easiest to settle and least likely to be raised. What happens to their equity if they leave in eighteen months, who owns what they build, whether they can take the client relationships with them. Six months later none of those are easy conversations. We draft senior agreements so they are had now.

Speak to a lawyer What is included

Discretion that stays discretionary

Incentive terms are drafted so a bonus paid three years running does not become contractual.

A restraint that can be enforced

Cascading periods and areas give a court something reasonable to uphold if the widest version fails.

One story across both documents

The contract and any equity agreement say the same thing about vesting and exit.

What should a senior employment contract actually cover?

A senior contract does more work than a standard one. The ordinary terms are still there: role, remuneration, hours, leave and notice. What distinguishes a senior agreement is everything built on top of that.

Incentives have to be defined precisely, because a bonus described as discretionary and paid every year for three years may stop being discretionary. Intellectual property created in the role needs to be assigned expressly rather than assumed. Confidentiality has to survive the employment. Restraints have to be drafted in cascading terms. A court will not rewrite one that is too wide, and an unreasonable restraint is simply unenforceable. Where equity forms part of the package, the contract and the shareholders agreement have to agree about what happens on exit.

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Are restraints of trade enforceable in Australia?

They can be, but only so far as they protect a legitimate business interest and go no further than necessary. Courts do not rewrite an unreasonable restraint to make it work. Drafting it in cascading form, with alternative periods and areas, gives a court a narrower version to enforce if the widest fails.

Can I make the bonus discretionary?

You can, but the drafting has to support it and so does the practice. A bonus described as discretionary, calculated the same way and paid every year, can be found to be a contractual entitlement. If you want real discretion, say so clearly and exercise it as if you mean it.

Who owns what a senior employee creates?

Work created in the course of employment usually belongs to the employer, but usually is not a basis to plan on. Express assignment removes the argument. It matters most for anything the business will later want to sell or borrow against.

Should the contract deal with equity?

If equity is part of the package, the contract should reference it and the detailed terms should live in a separate plan or shareholders agreement. What matters is that the two documents agree. Most disputes here come from a contract promising something the equity documents do not deliver.

Settle the hard terms while everyone still wants the deal

Tell us about the role and what has been offered. We will tell you which terms matter for a hire at this level and where the standard template will not carry them.

The contract is the only part of a good hire that survives it going wrong

You are bringing in someone senior, and the commercial terms are agreed. What has not been settled is what happens if it does not work, or if it works and then they leave. Who owns the work, who keeps the clients, what happens to any equity, and what they can do next.

Raising any of that now feels like distrust at the worst possible moment. Not raising it means you find out the answer when the relationship is already over.

We will draft the employment agreement for the role rather than adapt a template.
We will define the incentive and bonus terms so discretion is preserved.
We will assign intellectual property expressly and extend confidentiality beyond the employment.
We will draft cascading restraints that stand a chance of being enforced.
We will align the contract with any equity or shareholders agreement.

You have found the right person and the offer is out

They are the person you wanted. They have said yes in principle and you have agreed a package. Somebody has pulled the standard contract off the shared drive and changed the name and the salary. That document was written for a different kind of role. It says nothing useful about incentives, intellectual property or confidentiality. Nor about what happens if this person leaves and takes half your client list with them.

What's included in your senior employment contract service

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Role and term structure advice.
Senior employment agreement drafting.
Incentive, bonus and commission terms.
Intellectual property assignment and confidentiality provisions.
Cascading restraint of trade clauses.
Alignment with shareholders agreements and incentive plans.

What a borrowed template does not cover

The gaps appear in the same places every time. A bonus that was meant to be discretionary is found to be contractual, because it was paid consistently and described loosely. Intellectual property created by the employee is not clearly assigned. Ownership then becomes arguable at precisely the moment the business wants to sell or borrow against it.

The restraint is the one that hurts most. A clause drafted too wide, covering too long a period or too broad an area, is not read down to something reasonable. It fails entirely, and the departing executive is free. By the time you discover that, they are with a competitor and the clients have started to move. The correct version of the clause would have cost nothing extra when it was drafted.

How we make the contract do its job

We start with what the role actually is, because a senior contract has to fit the work rather than the title. Then we draft the terms a template will not carry. Incentives defined so that discretionary means discretionary. Intellectual property assigned expressly, including anything created before the start date that comes with them. Confidentiality drafted to survive the employment.

Restraints we draft in cascading form, with a range of periods and areas. A court that finds the widest version unreasonable can still enforce a narrower one. Where equity is part of the package we align the contract with the shareholders agreement. The two documents then say the same thing about vesting and about exit. And we deal with the other side’s lawyer without turning the negotiation into an obstacle, because you still want this person to start.

How the agreement gets settled

Everything difficult is agreed while both sides still want the deal.

Define the role

We work out what the position actually involves, because the terms that matter follow from the work rather than the title.

Draft the protections

We prepare the incentive, intellectual property, confidentiality and restraint terms the standard template does not carry.

Agree and sign

We deal with the other side, align any equity documents, and get it executed before the start date.

Senior agreements drafted for the terms that get tested

The instinct at this point is to keep the paperwork light. Raising restraints and intellectual property with somebody you have just persuaded to join feels like starting on the wrong foot. In practice, senior people expect these terms and are unsettled by their absence. A vague contract signals a business that has not thought about the role.

We have 2 Accredited Specialists in Business Law, and we draft senior agreements alongside the shareholders agreements and incentive plans they usually sit with. That matters, because the failures we see are rarely in the employment clauses alone. They are in the gap between the contract and the equity documents, where each assumed the other dealt with it.

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 terms settled before they start

Tell us about the role and what has been agreed so far. We will tell you which terms this hire needs, where your current template falls short, and what to settle before the start date.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590