3 Vital Clauses To Include In An Employee Contract
Your business probably requires you to hire a certain number of employees to run it efficiently. As a way to cement your relationship with your employees and to ensure a reasonable degree of productivity and commitment to the business, you'll want to create a binding contract. Here are some vital clauses you'll want to include in your employee contract, which a skilled commercial solicitor specialising in employment law can help you with.
Details Of Employment Type
Every employment contract should include details of employment type, including duration of employment and whether the job is a permanent, contract or casual role. For example, a contracted employee may be hired for a specific project or duration with the option to extend for a certain period if necessary, while a permanent employee may have a more indefinite employment timeline. To avoid any conflicts or potential for dispute, make sure you include the type and duration of employment in writing. This will eliminate any possibility of disgruntled employees taking you to court. Your solicitors will help you draw up a few contract versions based on your specific business needs.
Leave Rights Of Employees
Depending on the type of business you run, you may have certain leave stipulations that you want to add to the contract. For example, if you run an advisory business, then you may have a mandatory Christmas shutdown, which needs to be detailed in the contract. However, if you run a services-related business like a café or restaurant, then you may need your employees to work over the holidays. Make sure you include these details as clearly as possible, including number of sick days, casual leave and carer's leave to eliminate any room for clashes.
Confidentiality Clauses
If you run a business that requires a certain amount of discretion, then you must include confidentiality clauses to protect your interests. For example, as a marketing consultancy, you may have to pitch some ideas in order to win new clients. You'll want your employees to keep the pitch confidential to avoid it reaching the ears of your competition. You'll also want to ensure that your employees don't disclose things like client databases, trading information and other business secrets, which is why confidentiality clauses are so vital in any employee contract. It's important to be as specific as possible about external disclosures to protect your own interests.
Once an employee signs this agreement, he or she is compelled to follow the terms laid out, so make sure you're as clear as possible for the benefit of your business.