Full Time Employment Contract

What is a Full Time Employment Contract?

A Full Time Employment Contract is a contract used to document your employment arrangement with a full-time employee.

It covers all of the important terms of employment, including start date, position and duties, hours of work and remuneration.

Who is this Full Time Employment Contract for?

• Business looking to employ full time staff
• Suitable for any industry
• All Australian states and territories

What is a Full Time employee?

A full-time employee:

• works, on average, 38 hours each week
• usually works regular hours each week
• is a permanent employee or on a fixed-term contract

The actual hours of work for an employee in a particular job or industry are agreed upon between the employer and the employee and/or set by an award or registered agreement.

What does our Full Time Employment Contract template include?

Our Full Time Employment Contract template covers all of the essential terms you need:

• Position – details of the position, including start date, location, manager and duties
• Probation– optional clause, allows you to have a trial period to assess performance and suitability for the position
• Ordinary Hours of Work – regular hours per week, including days and times, and paid or unpaid breaks
• Remuneration – salary, superannuation
• Leave – entitlements to annual leave, personal/carers’ leave and other types of leave
• Your Obligations – employee obligations to the business, including duties, conduct and standards
• Termination – how either party can terminate the employment agreement, including notice period
• Confidential Information – to protect your confidential information
• Intellectual Property – to protect your intellectual property
• Personal Information – consent to collect personal information for payroll and HR purposes
• Surveillance – consent to monitoring the use of IT systems etc
• Restraint – to prevent an employee from interfering or disrupting the relationship with customers, suppliers, employees and contractors

What’s the difference between full time and casual?

A full-time employee works, on average, around 38 hours each week and has an expectation of ongoing work.

A casual has no guaranteed hours of work or expectation of ongoing work in the future.

Casual employees provide businesses with flexibility as they can be hired as needed. Casual employees are not entitled to the same benefits as full-time employees. They do not receive entitlements such as annual leave, sick leave, notice upon termination and redundancy pay.

Casual employees are paid a higher hourly pay rate than equivalent full-time or part-time employees. This is called a ‘casual loading’ and is paid because they don’t get benefits such as sick or annual leave.

Casual Conversion (becoming a permanent employee)

A casual employee has the right to change to full-time or part-time employment in certain circumstances. This is known as casual conversion.

Casual employees who have worked for their employer for 12 months need to be offered the option to convert to full-time or part-time (permanent) employment by their employer. Certain eligibility requirements need to be met for this to occur. If they have been employed for 12 months, worked a regular pattern of hours for 6 months and could continue working their regular hours as a permanent employee without significant changes, then the employer must offer them casual conversion in writing (they don’t have to accept).

A small business employer (fewer than 15 employees) does NOT have to offer casual conversion to employees. However, an eligible casual employee working for a small business employer can request to convert to permanent employment at any time on or after their 12-month anniversary.

To read the full details about rules and eligibility for casual conversion, visit Fair Work.

Does this Full Time Employment Contract template include a restraint clause?

Yes, it does.

A restraint of trade clause helps to protect your business interests. It prevents the ex-employee from soliciting or approaching your employees, contractors, clients and customers after they have ceased employment with your company.

Keep in mind that restraints of trade are only enforceable if you can prove that the restraint is necessary to protect your legitimate interests. This may not be the case if the restraint runs for an excessive period of time, covers a geographical area that is too broad, or extends beyond the industry in which you primarily operate.

Employer Obligations

We recommend that you consult the Fair Work website to check any Awards and agreements which may apply before you use this template.

As an employer, it is your responsibility to pay at least the minimum wage and entitlements to your employees under the applicable modern award or enterprise agreement.

You must also provide all new employees with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement by law.

Is my employee covered by an Award?

Awards apply to employers and employees depending on the industry they work in, and the type of job worked. Every award has information about who it covers in the coverage clause (usually clause 4) and the job classifications (usually in the pay clause or a schedule).

More than 100 industry or occupation awards cover most people who work in Australia. An employer can be covered by more than one award, depending on the employees’ jobs.

You can use the Find My Award tool to check for award coverage on the Fair Work website. In some cases, there may not be an award that covers your industry/job role (this is known as “award-free”).

If you are unsure about an employee’s status, you should seek legal advice.

Do I need a Full Time Employment Contract?

Yes, absolutely! A Full Time Employment Contract protects both you and your employees.

You should always have a contract signed before a new employee starts working for you.

An employment contract will help to set the ground rules in black and white so everyone is clear on their obligations from the start. You need a written contract to enforce your rights and make sure your business is legally protected in case something goes wrong.