An employment contract (also called an employment agreement) is a signed document that sets out the terms of a job in more detail than an offer letter: duties, pay, how long the job lasts, how either side can end it, and what happens to confidential information and work product. Employers use one for senior hires, fixed-term roles, or any job where those details really matter. This employment contract template is free in Word and PDF, written in plain English, and balanced so an employee can sign it without feeling ambushed.

When do you need an employment contract?

You need one when a simple offer letter won’t hold everything you’ve agreed. Common cases are a fixed-term role (say, a 12-month project manager position), a job with a notice period on both sides, a senior hire who’ll see sensitive client data, or anyone creating work you need to own, like software or designs.

For a hypothetical example: a small architecture firm hiring its first office manager on a normal open-ended basis probably only needs an offer letter. The same firm hiring a senior designer for an 18-month contract with a two-month notice period needs this agreement.

If the person will set their own hours, use their own tools and invoice you, you may be looking at a contractor rather than an employee. The IRS looks at behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship, not at what the paperwork calls the person. In that case start with the independent contractor agreement template and read its classification section.

What should an employment contract include?

Our template has twelve short sections. Here’s what each one does.

Parties and start date. Who the employer and employee are, and when the job begins.

Position and duties. Title, manager, location, and a line allowing reasonable changes to duties. Without that line, every small change to a job becomes a contract question.

Term. This is the big choice. You tick either at-will (no set period, either side can end it) or a fixed term with an end date. Pick one. Contracts that say “at-will” in one paragraph and promise two years in another are how disputes start.

Pay and benefits. Salary or hourly rate, pay schedule, exempt or non-exempt status, and a pointer to benefit plan documents.

Hours, time off and expenses. The normal schedule, paid time off, and how business expenses get reimbursed.

Confidentiality. The employee agrees not to share the employer’s confidential information, during or after the job. It includes a carve-out so the clause doesn’t stop anyone from reporting possible legal violations to a government agency or discussing their own pay and working conditions where the law protects that. It also carries the whistleblower immunity notice from the Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. 1833(b)), which says someone can’t be held liable under trade secret law for disclosing a trade secret in confidence to a government official or an attorney to report a suspected violation of law, or in a court filing made under seal. The statute says an employer that leaves this notice out of an agreement covering confidential information can’t win exemplary damages or attorney fees under it against that employee.

Work product. Work the employee creates as part of the job belongs to the employer. The clause is deliberately limited to job-related work, rather than claiming everything the employee makes on their own time, because a grab that wide is unfair and may not hold up.

Ending the agreement. Notice periods for each side, what “cause” means if you’ve picked a fixed term, and final pay.

Boilerplate. Entire agreement, changes in writing, governing law, severability, notices, and electronic signatures.

Why doesn’t the template include a non-compete?

On purpose. Whether a non-compete can be enforced depends heavily on the state and the job, and the rules keep changing. A clause that looks universal in a template is exactly the kind of trap we don’t want to hand you. If you need one, have a lawyer draft it for the state where the employee works.

What should you check for your state?

Start with at-will rules. The Legal Information Institute describes at-will employment as an arrangement where there’s no set period of employment, with state exceptions for public policy, implied contracts and, in some states, good faith. Montana is the clearest outlier: its wrongful discharge law says firing someone without good cause after they’ve completed the employer’s probationary period is wrongful. The Department of Labor also notes that, outside discrimination, whistleblower and similar protections, a termination is governed by any private contract between employer and employee. In plain terms: what you write in this contract about ending the job really matters.

Then check your state’s rules on final paychecks, required notices to new hires, and any limits on restrictive clauses. Your state labor department’s website is the place to start.

How do you fill in an employment contract and get it signed?

  1. Choose at-will or fixed term first, then fill in the matching section and delete the other.
  2. Fill in every bracket. If a section doesn’t apply, write “None” rather than deleting the heading.
  3. Give the employee time to read it. A day or two is reasonable for a document this long.
  4. Have the employee sign first, then the employer countersigns, so the employer only commits to the version the employee accepted.
  5. Give the employee a copy of the fully signed agreement.

E-signing is a normal way to do this. The ESIGN Act says a contract can’t be denied legal effect solely because it was signed electronically; our piece on whether electronic signatures are legally binding goes into more depth. Download it, fill in the blanks, and send it for e-signature with any tool you like. (We’re building SignWren for exactly this; join the waitlist.)

This page is general information, not legal advice. For a specific contract or dispute, talk to an employment lawyer licensed where you are.