Technically, you do not require an employment contract to be written in Australia, a verbal agreement also constitutes a contract, however the Award does include a requirement to advise an employee in writing of their classification. The problem with this though, is it is easy to dispute what was agreed verbally.
A written employment contract will help to ensure that the rights and obligations of each party are clearly understood. Reducing the risk of any misinterpretations or misunderstandings which could potentially put the business at risk.

Practically, I also find it is much clearer to have key conditions summarised in a contract, rather than referring the employee to read a 30+ page Award if they have questions. Our contracts include rates of pay for ordinary and overtime hours or salaried provisions, meal break and rostering information, expected conduct including dress codes, treatment of confidential information, restrictions on working for competitors or soliciting clients to follow if they leave, probationary and notice periods and for permanent employees information relating to leave entitlements.

Many of my clients come to me when they already have a candidate they are ready to offer the role to. If this is you then congratulations! You’ve jumped the main hurdle and found someone to employ.
Ideally, watch the Masterclass to understand everything you need to know and purchase the First Time Employer Pack which will provide you with all the documents you need and the all important employment contract so you can make a formal offer to your candidate.

If you already have a team and have a good understanding of your obligations as an employer under the Award, then it isn't essential for you. 

In the resource library you’ll find pay rate guides and other fact sheets such as casual vs part time employment, template position description, example job ads and advertising options, subcontract vs wages example calculations and other new starter forms you'll need when you hire someone. I've also included a Xero Payroll setup cheat sheet for easy reference.

You’ll also find some basic HR documents such as remuneration review letters, variation of working hours forms and probation and performance review examples.

Congratulations on being ready for another hire!

If you hired a casual therapist first time around, and are hiring the same again - you can use the contract provided to you as a template. We have set these up so that they are easy to use - without the risk of you making edits that means the contract is no longer compliant. 

If you would still prefer we draft the contract, no issues. Please send an email to info@hrforhealthleaders.com.au and we'll just invoice you for our time. 

If you are looking to hire a different type of employee, and therefore need a different template, please follow this link to request an additional employment contract – I offer a discount for repeat clients, no need to purchase the full pack again.

We keep the contract basis the same for consistency however casual employees have different entitlements to permanent staff, so there are entire sections in their contracts which are different. This includes paid leave entitlements, rostering and ability to change shifts, work hours being variable and not fixed, probationary periods and notice periods. 

The structure of their remuneration is also different, with the permanent contract templates including options to either hourly rates or salaries. 

We know that sometimes you may want to pay an employee the minimum rates under the Award, or perhaps you want to pay Award rates for weekend work (which are already higher) but higher than the Award hourly rates for weekday shifts, or maybe you want to pay a salary to some employees. 

We have set up our contracts to accommodate for different options - whilst still ensuring Award compliance AND being easy for you to use. The wording is important and having "set off" provisions is critical. 

No you don’t – you just need to issue your employees with a remuneration review letter outlining their new rates of pay. Every year in late June / early July I will email my clients with an updated Pay Rate Guide and template Remuneration Review letter. You simply need to fill in the details and issue to your employee.