Importance of Having Employment Agreements
All of your employee’s must have a written employment agreements, this is part of Employment Law. In a recent discussion with an employment lawyer they commented that only an idiot would employ staff without an agreement in place. It not only covers you as an Employer, but also the Employee.
These agreements MUST be signed prior to your Employee starting work for you.
By having an employment agreement it will help the Employee know exactly what is expected of them by their Employer. This should mean it is less likely for misunderstandings to happen and everyone is happier.
Did you know that if you don’t have a written agreement in place you could be liable for fines of up to $1,000 per Employee? Along with that you must keep copies of these and any “Intended” agreements on file, even if the Employee hasn’t signed it. Can you afford to be prosecuted and fined for not having an agreement?
Minimum rights (such as minimum wage and annual holidays) are legal requirements and apply even if they’re not in the employment agreement.
Things an employment agreement must contain:
Some things (like 4 week’s annual leave) don’t have to be in the agreement, however, the Employer must still provide them by law. It is advisable to have the times of breaks in the agreement.
Other things that can be included and help set you up to have good working relationships are things such as any Trial Periods, Workplace policies and procedures, custom and practice and manual how to guides. If you do not include trial periods within your agreement then your new Employee is deemed to have not agreed to the trial period and therefore you cannot enforce it. Imagine if you hire a new employee and after two months you find that they are really useless. If you don't have the trial period in your agreement you will find that is really hard to get of that employee assuming you can get rid of them in the first place.
The other key thing to keep in mind is that all Employment Records must be kept forever, they don’t fall under the 7-year guidelines. This is regardless of if they still work for you or not.
If you have any concerns or are looking to hire new employees, please let us know as we can assist with drawing up an Employment Agreement for you.
These agreements MUST be signed prior to your Employee starting work for you.
By having an employment agreement it will help the Employee know exactly what is expected of them by their Employer. This should mean it is less likely for misunderstandings to happen and everyone is happier.
Did you know that if you don’t have a written agreement in place you could be liable for fines of up to $1,000 per Employee? Along with that you must keep copies of these and any “Intended” agreements on file, even if the Employee hasn’t signed it. Can you afford to be prosecuted and fined for not having an agreement?
Minimum rights (such as minimum wage and annual holidays) are legal requirements and apply even if they’re not in the employment agreement.
Things an employment agreement must contain:
- Names of the Employer & Employee (making it clear who are the parties to the agreement)
- Description of work to be performed (making it clear what is expected of the employee)
- An indication of workplace
- Agreed hours or an indication of hours that the employee will work, this includes the number of hours, start & finish times and/or days of the week to be worked
- Wage rate or Salary payable and how it will be paid
- Plain explanation of how to resolve employment relationship problems including provision that personal grievances must be raised within 90 days
- Statement that the employee will get (at least) time and a half payment for working on a public holiday
- For relevant employees, an employment protection provision to apply if the employer’s business is sold or transferred, or if the employee’s work is contracted out
- Any other matters agreed on, such as trial periods, probationary arrangements, or availability provisions
- The nature of the employment if the employment is fixed-term and why it is fixed term
Some things (like 4 week’s annual leave) don’t have to be in the agreement, however, the Employer must still provide them by law. It is advisable to have the times of breaks in the agreement.
Other things that can be included and help set you up to have good working relationships are things such as any Trial Periods, Workplace policies and procedures, custom and practice and manual how to guides. If you do not include trial periods within your agreement then your new Employee is deemed to have not agreed to the trial period and therefore you cannot enforce it. Imagine if you hire a new employee and after two months you find that they are really useless. If you don't have the trial period in your agreement you will find that is really hard to get of that employee assuming you can get rid of them in the first place.
The other key thing to keep in mind is that all Employment Records must be kept forever, they don’t fall under the 7-year guidelines. This is regardless of if they still work for you or not.
If you have any concerns or are looking to hire new employees, please let us know as we can assist with drawing up an Employment Agreement for you.
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