Creating an employment agreement

Employment agreements, often called ‘contracts’, contain all the details about what will be paid for doing the job. Before agreeing to take on a job, the employee should read the employment agreement, ask questions about anything they do not understand, and seek professional advice if they wish. 

The employee can negotiate with you if they want to try to obtain better terms and conditions in their employment agreement. Both you and your employee will need to act in good faith towards each other during negotiations. If the employee is a union member, the union negotiates the terms of the contract on their behalf.

Even if not listed in the employment agreement, the employee must still be granted the minimum employment rights established by law. These include their right to at least the minimum wage and four weeks of annual holidays per year (once the employee has worked there for 12 months), for example.

As an employer, any employment agreement with your employee must include all agreed-upon terms and conditions and must not contain anything that is contrary to law or inconsistent with the Employment Relations Act 2000.