Employment contract: the terms that have to be written down before day one

An employment contract is the agreement between employer and employee setting out what the job is, what it pays, and the terms on which either side can end it. It comes into existence when an offer is accepted — in writing, verbally, or by the person simply turning up and working. What a written contract does is decide what those terms are, before a disagreement decides them for you.

Most jurisdictions also require certain particulars to be given to the employee in writing within a defined period, often by the first day. The specific list varies, and it is worth checking the requirement where the person actually works rather than where the company is registered — for remote hires those are increasingly different places.

What an employment contract has to cover

• The parties, the job title and a description of the duties.
• Start date, and where continuous service began if it carries over.
• Place of work — including whether it is remote, hybrid or mobile, which matters for tax and jurisdiction.
• Pay: amount, frequency, method, and how any variable element is calculated.
• Hours: normal hours, whether overtime is paid, and any flexibility clause.
• Holiday entitlement and how it accrues, plus public holidays.
• Sick pay, if any beyond the statutory position.
• Notice periods on both sides, and probation terms if there is a probation period.
• Confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, and any post-termination restrictions.
• Reference to the policies that apply, and whether they are contractual.

The last line is the one that quietly causes trouble. Policies stated to be contractual cannot be changed without agreement; policies stated to be non-contractual can be updated as the business changes. Handbooks that do not say which they are get argued about at exactly the wrong moment.

Clauses worth thinking about rather than copying

Post-termination restrictions — non-compete, non-solicit — are enforceable only so far as they protect a legitimate interest and go no further than necessary, and several jurisdictions have narrowed or banned them for most roles. A twelve-month blanket non-compete pasted into every contract is usually unenforceable and occasionally unlawful.

Intellectual property assignment matters more than it looks in any company where employees write, design or code. So does the definition of confidential information: too narrow and it protects nothing, too wide and a court reads it down.

Changing terms later requires agreement, not announcement. Where a change is needed, the routes are consultation and consent, or in some jurisdictions dismissal and re-engagement — which carries its own risk. Contracts written on the assumption that terms can be varied unilaterally create the dispute they were meant to prevent.

Getting it signed and keeping it

1. Issue the contract with the offer, not after the person has started.
2. Give them time to read it; a contract signed under pressure invites a later argument about it.
3. Have both sides sign, and keep the executed version — not the template it came from.
4. Record every subsequent variation in writing, signed, and store it with the original.
5. Keep the whole set for the retention period that applies to employment records.

The practical failure is rarely the drafting; it is that nobody can find the signed version, or that three variations exist and no one knows which is current. Ettex Signature records who signed, when, and what exact document, and keeps variations attached to the contract they amend — so the answer to "what are this person's terms" is one file rather than an archaeology exercise. Fitting the signature into the employee onboarding checklist is what stops it slipping past the first day.