I’m hiring my first employee. What should I check before sending the contract?

You agreed a salary and start date. Now a template asks you to decide probation, hours, benefits and several pages of other terms. The useful question is whether this pack describes the working relationship you intend to run.

Start with the actual job. Copying a previous employer's agreement can import promises you cannot keep or procedures your business does not have.

Establish the arrangement before filling blanks

Write down the employing entity, where the person will work, the role, start date, expected hours and whether the arrangement is permanent or fixed term. If the person will work in another country, resolve which local employment requirements apply before relying on a domestic template.

Choose an appropriate local starting document. For example, Acas provides written-statement templates for Great Britain. These are not universal employment contracts or a complete solution for every role. Acas also explains which particulars must be supplied and when, including the principal statement by the first day of work.

This guide is a practical consistency check. Local rules still determine what you must provide and which terms are permitted.

Audit the promises you already made

Put the offer email, recruitment messages and agreed compensation beside the draft. Make a table like this fictional example:

Do not silently use a template clause to undo a promise. Resolve the difference with the candidate and record what you both agree.

Walk through a normal week and an awkward month

Imagine the employee has started. Can a person reading the pack answer these questions without asking you to invent a policy on the spot?

• When and in what currency is salary paid? Who handles an incorrect payment?
• Where and when is work expected? What happens with travel, overtime or changing schedules?
• How are leave, sickness and expenses reported, approved and recorded?
• Who supplies equipment, and what happens when it needs replacing?
• When is probation reviewed, what are its conditions, and what happens at the end?

Now imagine the working relationship ends. Check notice from each side, handover, equipment return and any payment or repayment terms. Treat probation as something the business must administer, not a phrase that makes every other obligation disappear.

For a commission role, run a payout example before issuing the offer. Our sales commission guide shows the questions an employee will reasonably ask.

Make sure the referenced documents actually exist

A clause saying “see the employee handbook” creates confusion if you have no handbook. List every referenced policy, schedule and plan. For each, record its title, version, where the employee can access it and who maintains it.

Check whether the documents contradict each other. A benefits summary may describe something as guaranteed while the contract describes it as discretionary. Ask which wording governs and whether that reflects your intention. Remove irrelevant template options and complete genuine blanks before sending the pack.

This is also the time to consider role-specific issues. A developer may need an agreed record of existing projects. A mobile worker may need clear travel arrangements. Add the terms the role needs, rather than every restriction a template contains.

Prepare an issue list for the final read

Use this employer brief with your own reviewer or an AI first pass:

Employer: [legal entity]
Work location: [country/state; remote arrangements]
Role and arrangement: [job; permanent/fixed term; hours]
Agreed pay and benefits: [details]
Promises made during recruitment: [details]
Documents supplied with this draft: [list]
Please identify missing information, conflicting wording and
referenced documents that are not in the supplied file.
Separate document issues from questions requiring local legal checks.

Contracts.money can review a PDF or DOCX with that context and email quoted passages, concerns and suggested improvements. State which attachments are absent; it cannot inspect a policy you have not supplied or certify that your hiring process meets local law.

Resolve the issue list, send a coherent pack and give the candidate a clear route for questions. Keep a record of the agreed version. If you revise it after feedback, use the revised-contract worksheet to confirm the changes. The employee-side guide is a useful final check on what the recipient will want to understand.