Employment Contracts

It is important to have independent advice on the terms of an Employment Contract before it is signed, and to understand the terms of the contract once you are a party to an agreement.

If there is no collective employment agreement covering the work that the employee does, or the employee is not a union member, the employer and employee must negotiate the terms and conditions of an individual employment agreement.

Negotiating an individual employment agreement

Employers and employees can put as many terms as they like in the employment agreement, but there are some that an agreement must contain. An employment agreement can’t have terms which are not as good as the legal minimum even if the employer and employee have agreed on them (if these types of terms are put into an employment agreement, they cannot apply and will have no effect).

Just because an employer gives an employee an intended employment agreement, it does not mean that the employee has to accept it. An employee can choose to turn down the offer, or negotiate any terms they want to change and suggest any additional terms that they would like to be covered. Employers and employees must negotiate in good faith.