Employment Agreement Template
The contract you give a new hire: what they are paid, what they do, who owns what they build, and what happens if it ends.
This is the most consequential document on the site and the one most often skipped. Hiring on a verbal offer and an email is common and it works fine right up until it does not, at which point termination entitlements default to common law and get expensive.
The template covers remuneration, duties, hours, confidentiality, assignment of intellectual property, non-solicitation and termination. It has 54 fill-in fields and 14 optional clauses, because employment is the area where terms actually vary.
Use it when
- Hiring your first employee, before their start date
- Converting a contractor into an employee
- Documenting a role change, promotion or compensation change
- Making sure IP created by employees belongs to the company
Use something else when
- The person is genuinely an independent contractor. Use the contractor agreement, and be honest about which one it is
- You are in Quebec, where employment law differs enough that local review is worth the money
What is in the document
Every section of the employment agreement template, as it appears in the file you download.
Questions
Do I legally need a written employment contract in Canada?
No, but without one the termination entitlement defaults to common law reasonable notice, which is routinely far more than the statutory minimum. A written contract with an enforceable termination clause is the single biggest reason to have one.
Can an employment agreement limit termination pay to the statutory minimum?
Sometimes, and it is heavily litigated. Courts strike down termination clauses that could fall below the employment standards minimum in any scenario, and striking the clause means common law applies. This is the clause most worth having a lawyer read.
Who owns intellectual property an employee creates?
Generally the employer for work created in the course of employment, but the default is narrower than most founders assume. The template includes an express IP assignment, which is why investors and acquirers ask for signed employment agreements during diligence.
Does this work in every province?
The structure is standard across common-law Canada, and you select the governing province. Employment standards differ by province, so notice periods, overtime and vacation minimums come from your provincial legislation regardless of what the contract says.
Can I use this for a part-time or fixed-term employee?
Yes. The optional clauses cover hours, overtime and fixed terms. Fixed-term contracts carry their own risk: ending one early can mean paying out the entire remaining term.