• The intent is to hire an employee, and not to engage an independent contractor. See General considerations for consulting agreements for a short explanation of the difference and the consequences.
• The agreement is intended for non-union employment.
• You have familiarized yourself with an employer's obligations under various legislation:
  • The Employment Standards Act. See also the information provided by the BC Employment Standards Branch, the BC government agency responsible for administering the Employment Standards Act.
  • The Human Rights Act. See also the information provided by the Ministry of the Attorney General  and the BC Human Rights Tribunal.
  • The Workers Compensation Act. See also the information provided by WorkSafeBC (the BC Workers Compensation Board).
• In particular, you will comply with requirements for payroll deductions and remittances. See the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) guide [PDF download].
• You have considered whether there are other terms you wish to include in the employment agreement, for example:
  • More detailed intellectual property and confidentiality provisions. These are often contained in a separate agreement. For more information on confidentiality agreements, see General considerations for confidentiality agreements.
  • Non-competition and non-solicitation provisions. These may be included in a separate agreement, along with intellectual property and confidentiality provisions.
  • Issuing stock options.
  • Other benefits like a car allowance.

• If the employee is a salesperson, you may wish to incorporate a commission pay structure
• If the employee will hold a senior or executive provision, other provisions may be appropriate. For example:
  • Issuing shares or stock options, or both.
  • More detailed provisions for the bonus -- the events that trigger a bonus, how the bonus is calculated and when it is paid.
  • Non-competition and non-solicitation provisions.
• If you have questions or concerns about whether this template is suitable for you, you will consult a lawyer in your jurisdiction.

Some issues not addressed in this employment agreement include:

• Non-competition and non-solicitation. The employer may want to include non-competition and related provisions, like non-solicitation of customers and of employees.
• Issuing stock options. Both parties may want to provide for the issuance of stock options, typically in accordance with a company-wide employee stock option plan (ESOP).

This contract template is intended to be compatible with British Columbia law.

Is this template suitable for you?

LexPublica can't choose a contract template for you nor give you legal advice (see our Terms of Service). No single employment agreement is appropriate for all circumstances. If you're not sure about what you need, you should consult a lawyer in your jurisdiction. You should also consult a lawyer if you need help customizing this template for your individual circumstances.

Filling out the form

1. The employment agreement is in letter form and you should cut and paste it or otherwise ensure it will be printed on your company letterhead. If you don't have company letterhead, type in your company's full corporate name and address at the top of the letter.
2. Fill in the date and the employee's name and address. Fill in the employee's first name after "Dear" and fill in the position title after "Re:".
3. In the introductory paragraph, fill in:
   1. your company's full corporate name,
   2. the position title,
   3. the name of the employee's supervisor (that is, the person to whom the person will be reporting),
   4. the supervisor's title.
4. In section 1, fill in the start date and the end date for the probation period. (The end date for the probation period should be three months after the start date.)
5. In section 2, fill in the position title.
6. In section 3, fill in the annual salary. Also, choose whether the salary is paid semi-monthly (default option) or every two weeks.
7. In section 4(a), fill in the effective date for the employee's participation in the company's benefit plans. There is sometimes a waiting period (check the terms of your benefit plans), so the date may be after the employment start date. If your company does not have benefit plans, replace the original wording with the optional wording (in red).
8. In section 4(b), fill in the amount of the available bonus. If there is no bonus available for the employee, delete this section and renumber section 4(a) simply as section 4.
9. In section 5, fill in the weeks of vacation. The default figures on the form are the minimum weeks of vacation required under the BC Employment Standards Act. You may increase the figures for weeks of vacation, but don't decrease them, to ensure you will be complying with the Act.
10. In section 8, fill in the length of notice the employee must provide when resigning. The default on the form is 2 weeks.
11. In section 10, fill in the number of weeks of notice the employer must provide when terminating the employment. The default figures on the form are the minimum notice periods required under the BC Employment Standards Act. You may increase the figures for the notice periods, but don't decrease them, to ensure you will be complying with the Act. Note also that these minimum notice requirements may not be appropriate – especially for more senior positions – and the employee may wish to negotiate for longer notice requirements.
12. In the closing paragraph, fill in the telephone number and email address for the person signing the letter on behalf of the employer.
13. In the signature block, fill in:
    • the employer name (the full corporate name) and the name and title of the person signing on behalf of the employer, and
    • the employee's name.

Attribution requirement

As noted at the end of the contract, you may use and share the template with anyone, free of charge, on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, and you must keep the notice (including links) on copies of the template, including on versions that you fill out and use.

You may also modify the template. If you do so, you must include the following notice at the end of the modified template: