Employment Agreements
An employment agreement sets out the terms of work. It is an offence for an employer to hire someone without a written agreement, but bear in mind that the employment agreement potentially covers more than is written down in that document.
An employment agreement must, at a minimum, contain:
The name of the employer and employee
A description of the work
An indication of the location of the work
The agreed hours of work, or an indication of the arrangement for working times
The wages or salary
A plain language explanation for how problems between you and your employer should be handled
Though these may not be written in your employment agreement, there are also terms that are set by law. These include rest breaks, holidays and so on. These are just as binding on the employer as express (written) terms.
Some terms are ‘norms’ for an industry, or a business. An example might be the way that rest breaks have been treated in the past. These are parts of the employment agreement.
Sometimes, employment terms refer to a company’s policies. If your agreement does this, make sure you are aware of and understand these policies before you sign.
If you are considering signing an employment agreement, you must be given an opportunity to review it. If you would like a free, no obligation opinion on an employment agreement you are considering signing, contact me.
