Employment Lawyers › Employment Contracts
Employment Contract Lawyers — Review Before You Sign.
An employment contract you do not fully understand is a risk you carry throughout your entire employment relationship. Restraints of trade, classification errors, below-NES provisions, excessive probation terms, and unfair termination clauses are common — and often go unchallenged. Whether you are about to sign a new contract or disputing what your existing contract entitles you to, get connected with an employment lawyer before you act.
⚠ Once you sign an employment contract, challenging its terms becomes significantly harder. If you have been given a contract to review, get legal advice before signing. Submit your request now.
What We Help With
Employment contract matters — review, disputes, and drafting.
Employment contract issues arise at every stage — before signing a new contract, during employment when a contract term is disputed, and on exit when entitlements on termination are at issue. A lawyer advises at each stage.
New Contract Review
Reviewing a new employment contract before signing — identifying unfair terms, below-NES provisions, enforceable vs. unenforceable restraints, excessive probation periods, and classification issues.
Contract Disputes During Employment
Where the employer is seeking to change your contract without consent — reducing pay, changing duties, altering hours, or imposing new terms. Unilateral contract variation is generally unlawful.
Termination Entitlements Under Contract
What the contract entitles you to on termination — notice pay, enhanced redundancy pay, ex gratia payments, unvested equity, and any specific contractual exit provisions. Checking these against what the employer has paid.
Independent Contractor Agreements
Whether your contractor arrangement is genuinely independent contracting or disguised employment — with significant implications for tax, super, and entitlements. The High Court's test applies.
Executive & Senior Employee Contracts
Senior employment contracts often contain complex equity arrangements, performance-based remuneration, extended notice periods, and multi-layered post-employment restraints requiring specialist review.
Contract Drafting (Employer)
Drafting employment contracts that protect legitimate employer interests — enforceable restraints, IP assignment, proper classification, and compliant probation and termination provisions.
What the Law Says
Employment contracts — what matters and what to watch for.
An employment contract operates alongside the National Employment Standards, Modern Awards, and the Fair Work Act — not instead of them. Terms that give less than the minimum are void; terms that give more are valid.
The NES as a floor — not a ceiling
The National Employment Standards set the minimum entitlements for all national system employees — maximum hours, leave entitlements, notice periods, redundancy pay, flexible work, and more. A contract term that provides less than the NES minimum is void to the extent of the inconsistency — the NES entitlement applies regardless of what the contract says. Employers cannot contract out of the NES. However, contracts can — and should — provide more than the NES minimum in many areas.
Modern Award interaction — the annualised salary trap
If your employment is covered by a Modern Award, your contract must ensure you are paid at least the Award minimum rates. An "all-in" or annualised salary that is intended to satisfy Award obligations must pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT) — the salary must leave the employee better off overall than if the Award rates applied. For employees who regularly work overtime or shift penalties, many annualised salary arrangements fail this test. A lawyer checks whether your salary satisfies the Award obligations for your actual working patterns.
Probation — what it does and doesn't mean
A probationary period does not allow an employer to dismiss an employee for any reason without risk. During probation, the employer can dismiss without giving unfair dismissal-equivalent notice — but the Fair Work Act's general protections still apply (an employee cannot be dismissed because they took sick leave or made a complaint). Many contracts also have probation periods that exceed the Award notice period, which can be a trap for employees who expect to receive a month's notice on early termination.
Unilateral contract variation — can an employer change your contract?
Generally no — a contract cannot be varied unilaterally by one party. An employer who purports to reduce an employee's salary, change their classification, or alter their duties without consent is potentially in breach of the employment contract. An employee who accepts the changed conditions by working without objection may be taken to have agreed to them — which is why early legal advice on a proposed unilateral variation is important. Specific rights of variation may be written into some contracts, particularly for senior employees.
Equity and incentive arrangements — review before signing and on exit
Contracts for senior employees often include share options, performance rights, long-term incentive plans (LTIPs), or deferred cash bonuses. These arrangements have complex vesting conditions, good leaver / bad leaver provisions, and interaction with termination pay. Understanding what happens to unvested equity on voluntary resignation, genuine redundancy, and dismissal for cause requires careful contract reading — and the terms can be worth significant amounts to the employee and the employer. Always seek advice before resigning if you have unvested equity.
Employee vs. independent contractor — the High Court test
The High Court in CFMMEU v Personnel Contracting (2022) clarified that the characterisation of a work relationship as employment or contracting is determined primarily by the terms of the written contract — not by the conduct of the parties over time. This makes getting the written agreement right — for both contractors and employers — more important than ever. A written contractor agreement that reflects genuine independent contracting may successfully characterise the relationship as contracting even where the day-to-day work looks like employment.
How It Works
One request. Contract clarity.
Tell us what you need — a pre-signing review, a dispute about existing terms, or advice on a termination payment. An employment lawyer will follow up for a free consultation.
Submit Your RequestDescribe the contract issue
Tell us whether this is a review before signing, a dispute about existing contract terms, an exit entitlement question, or a contractor characterisation issue. Include your industry and state.
Matched to an employment lawyer
Your request is matched to a lawyer experienced in employment contract review and disputes — including senior executive contracts, Award compliance, and contractor arrangements.
Free consultation arranged
An employment lawyer contacts you for a free consultation — reviewing the relevant contract terms and advising on your rights and any issues that need to be addressed.
Common Questions
Employment contracts — frequently asked questions.
My employer wants to change my contract — do I have to agree?
No — a contract cannot generally be varied without the consent of both parties. If the proposed change reduces your pay, alters your conditions, or removes existing entitlements, you are not obliged to accept it. However, working under the new conditions without objecting can imply acceptance — which is why getting advice before the employer implements the change is important. A lawyer advises on how to respond to a proposed variation without inadvertently agreeing to it.
What should I check before signing an employment contract?
Key things to review: the base salary (and whether it complies with the applicable Award rate for your role); the classification and whether it correctly reflects the duties; the notice period (for both parties); any probation clause and its duration; post-employment restraints (non-compete, non-solicit, confidentiality); intellectual property assignment clauses; and any terms that appear to limit or override statutory entitlements. A lawyer reviews the whole contract against the NES and applicable Award to identify any issues before you sign.
Am I an employee or an independent contractor?
Following the 2022 High Court decisions, the written contract is the primary indicator — a genuine written contractor agreement will generally be treated as contracting, even if the working arrangements look like employment. However, if there is no written agreement, or if the written agreement was never genuinely the parties' arrangement, the actual conduct of the relationship becomes relevant. The distinction matters for tax, super, leave entitlements, and access to Fair Work protections. A lawyer assesses your specific arrangement and advises on how it is likely to be characterised.