Employment contracts for professionals
Is your current contract suitable?
A generic contract template may not be suitable for your staff. There are specific issues that are particularly relevant to professionals, including ownership of intellectual property, poaching of staff (by ex-staff), conflict of interest and non-compete restrictions.
The employment contract should accurately reflect the mutual expectations of the employer and employee, to ensure that there are no potential misunderstandings or disputes in the future.
The contract should always be compliant with the Fair Work Act in Australia and be compatible with any applicable Awards.
Have you covered the following issues?
Confidentiality
Ensure that the employment contract sets clear guidelines about the staff member's confidentiality obligations to reduce any risk of future disagreements.
IP ownership
Your staff may be creating intellectual property as part of their employment. You should ensure that there are no disagreements about who the rightful owner of the IP is.
Non-compete
Whilst sometimes difficult to enforce, make sure that the employment contract contains a strong non-compete clause to restrict competitive behaviour by relevant ex-employees.
Non-solicitation
Protect your agency by preventing ex-employees from poaching your existing staff or enticing them to leave. This is an important industry issue that you should be on top of.
