Employment contract template for England & Wales.
An employment contract is legally required in the UK in written form from day one: the written statement of particulars must be in the new hire's hands on or before their first day, and it has a prescribed list of contents.
This template generates the full contract from settings you control: role, pay, notice, probation, IP assignment. Every hire gets a consistent, compliant document instead of a copy of a copy of the last offer.
The moments this document comes up.
- You are making your first hire and the start date is close.
- Current contracts are inherited from another company and nobody has read them since.
- Investor due diligence asks whether every employee has assigned their IP in writing.
- You are standardising terms across early employees before a funding round.
What the template covers.
The sections below mirror the document the generator drafts. Every template is a starting point, not legal advice, and says so on its face.
01
Role, start date, and place of work
02
Hours, pay, and holidays
03
Sickness and pension
04
Confidentiality
05
Intellectual property
06
Notice and post-termination restrictions
Drafted from choices you make.
A downloaded template hands you someone else's prose with holes in it. Here the document is generated from a settings sheet, so the wording follows your answers, and changing an answer later regenerates the parts it touches.
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
SETTINGS- JurisdictionEngland & Wales
- Notice period1 month
- IP assignmentIncluded
- Probation3 months
After generating, the document opens in the editor like any other: edits arrive as tracked changes you accept or reject, compliance checks run against real rulepacks, and exports come out as print-ready PDF or DOCX your lawyer can redline. What a compliance check actually does →
Fair questions.
What must a UK employment contract include by law?
The written statement of particulars is a legal requirement from the first day of employment, and its contents are prescribed: names, start date, pay and interval, hours, holiday, sick pay, notice, place of work, probation terms, and more.
This template covers the required particulars and the startup-critical clauses the statutory list does not mention: IP assignment, confidentiality, and post-termination restrictions.
Why does the IP assignment clause matter so much?
Because investor due diligence asks one question early: does the company own what its people built? Employee IP largely vests in the employer by default, but an express assignment plus moral-rights waiver removes the argument, and covers the edges the default rules miss. A missing assignment from employee number two is exactly the kind of thing that surfaces mid-fundraise.
What notice period should an early startup use?
One month is the common early-stage choice and the template's default; statutory minimums still apply underneath whatever you pick. Longer notice (three months) is usual for senior hires. It is a setting, so different roles can differ without the documents drifting apart in wording.
Can I use this for contractors too?
No, and the distinction has tax consequences. A contractor on an employment contract, or an employee on a contractor agreement, invites exactly the status challenge you do not want. Use the contractor agreement template for genuine contractors; it is drafted around independence.
Related templates.
Contractor agreement
Engage freelancers with the IP, independence, and payment terms in writing.
Mutual non-disclosure agreement
A mutual NDA both sides can sign without a fight: obligations, carve-outs, and term.
Founders' agreement
Equity, vesting, roles, and what happens if a founder leaves, agreed while everyone still agrees.
Draft your employment contract this week.
Make it your fifth document: the first-week five includes one business template on every plan, drafted, checked, and exported inside the 7-day free trial. Pay and not have your documents? One email within 30 days refunds every penny, and every export stays yours.