Template guide
Employment Contract Template (UK) — Hire Properly From Day One
UK law requires you to give every employee a written statement of their main employment terms on or before their first day — not within a month, not "once HR gets round to it," day one. This template does that job and the full contract's job in a single plain-English document, so a small business can hire correctly without a legal department. Every clause carries a short guidance note explaining what it does and where to adapt it.
Get the Employment Contract template
Buy the individual template, or start with the free Starter Pack — no card required.
When you need one
Every single hire — full-time, part-time, fixed-term. The day-one written statement is a legal duty owed to employees and workers alike, and an employment tribunal can award extra compensation where it's missing. Beyond compliance, the contract is what settles the questions that otherwise turn into disputes: exact pay and hours, holiday, notice, what happens in sickness, who owns work product, and what confidentiality survives after someone leaves.
What's in this template
Twenty-one clauses covering everything the statutory statement must include and everything a sensible SME contract should: start date and continuous employment, duties, place of work including hybrid arrangements, probation with a shorter notice period, hours, salary and lawful deductions, holiday, sickness and sick pay, pension auto-enrolment, benefits, training, confidentiality, intellectual property, notice and garden leave, disciplinary and grievance procedure references, data protection, outside interests, and governing law — plus signature blocks and a how-to page. Guidance notes in the margin explain each decision point, like whether your 28 days' holiday includes or excludes bank holidays (one word, eight days' difference).
Contract vs. offer letter
The offer letter confirms headline terms and conditions of the offer; this contract is the full, binding document that follows acceptance. Send the offer letter first, then this contract for signature before or on day one — and make sure the two match, because this contract's entire-agreement clause means it supersedes whatever came before. If you need the first half of that pair, see our job offer letter template.
Common mistakes to avoid
Missing the day-one deadline for the written statement; promising holiday "plus bank holidays" without realising that's 36 days; setting contractual notice below the statutory minimum (one week per year of service after two years — the statutory floor always wins); leaving out a deductions clause, which makes recovering overpayments genuinely difficult; and making the disciplinary procedure contractual, which removes flexibility — this template keeps it referenced but non-contractual, the standard approach.
Frequently asked questions
HarbourDesk templates are practical starting points, not legal advice. See our Terms of Service.
Get the Employment Contract template
Buy the individual template, or start with the free Starter Pack — no card required.