Full-time employment contract template
Thirty-eight ordinary hours a week is the easy part. The clause worth spending time on is how those hours are worked, because that is what the roster has to live inside for the next few years.
This example wording was checked against the official sources on 21 October 2026. It is a starting point, not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.
| Clause | What it says |
|---|---|
| Parties | Between Harbourside Coffee (the employer) and the person named below (you). |
| Position | Cafe supervisor. Your duties are set out in the job description given to you with this contract. |
| Type of employment | Full-time and ongoing. |
| Start date | Monday 2 March 2027. |
| Probation | Your first three months are a probation period, during which we will meet at six weeks and again at the end. Your entitlements are the same during probation as they are afterwards, including leave accruing from your first day and notice when employment ends. |
| Ordinary hours | You work an average of 38 ordinary hours a week. |
| How the ordinary hours are worked | Those hours are worked in one of the ways the award or agreement allows, agreed between us and recorded here. We have agreed on five shifts a week across Monday to Sunday, each between 6 and 9 ordinary hours, with two consecutive days off a week wherever trade allows. |
| The roster | The roster is published every Thursday for the following week. Changes after publication are made the way the award allows, by agreement or on the notice the award requires, and we will consult you about a change that affects your hours. |
| Overtime and penalty rates | Hours beyond your ordinary hours, or outside the span the award sets, are overtime and are paid at the award rate. Overtime is worked by agreement and you can refuse overtime that is unreasonable. |
| Award or agreement | Your employment is covered by the award or agreement named in your letter of offer. Which award covers this business is read from the award’s own coverage clause. |
| Classification and pay | You are classified under that award at the level named in your letter of offer, and paid at least the minimum rate for that classification. Allowances come from the award as well. |
| Superannuation | Superannuation is paid on your ordinary time earnings at the rate the superannuation guarantee requires, into the fund you nominate. |
| Annual leave | You get four weeks of paid annual leave a year under the National Employment Standards, based on your ordinary hours. It accrues from your first day, including during probation, and unused leave rolls over. Annual leave loading, where the award provides it, is paid on top. |
| Sick and carer’s leave | You get ten days of paid sick and carer’s leave a year, accruing from your first day and rolling over. It covers your own illness or injury and caring for somebody in your immediate family or household. We may ask for reasonable evidence. |
| Public holidays | You are paid for a public holiday that falls on a day you would ordinarily have worked, at your base rate for those ordinary hours. If you are asked to work one, the request has to be reasonable and you can refuse on reasonable grounds. |
| Where the work happens | The cafe at the address on your letter of offer, and any other site we both agree to. |
| Workplace policies | Our workplace policies apply to you. They are not part of this contract and we may change them. We will tell you when one changes. |
| Confidentiality and business property | Customer details, supplier terms and our recipes and prices are confidential, during and after your employment. Keys, uniforms, a phone and any other business property are returned when your employment ends. |
| Notice of termination | Either of us can end this employment by giving the notice required by the National Employment Standards and by the award or agreement, or by payment in lieu of notice where that applies. Nothing here affects your protections against unfair dismissal. |
| Signatures | Signed by the employer and by you, each keeping a copy, with the date. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Harbourside Coffee.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Read the award’s clause on how the average of 38 ordinary hours may be worked, and copy one of the arrangements it allows rather than inventing one.
- Say which day the roster is published and how far ahead, because that is the clause people rely on.
- Fill in the award, classification and rate from the award itself.
- Have a workplace relations professional read it before you use it for a whole team.
Common mistakes
- An hours clause that says 38 hours and nothing about how they are worked, which leaves every roster question open
- A salary that absorbs overtime and penalties with no comparison against the award behind it
- Notice of termination left out entirely, as though a contract could remove it
This is example wording for a small business to adapt, not legal advice. Coverage, classification, pay rates, loadings, minimum engagements and notice periods are decided by the award or agreement that applies and by the Fair Work Act 2009, not by a template.
Sources
The official pages this wording was read against, on 21 October 2026.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Full-time employees
- Fair Work Ombudsman, National Employment Standards
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Information Statement
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Employment contracts
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Find my award
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Roster Flow publishes the week to everybody at once and keeps the history of what changed and who agreed to it, which is the record a roster clause like this one depends on.
Questions
What is on the full-time employment contract template?
20 sections down the side, running from parties to signatures. The example beside them is filled in for Harbourside Coffee: ordinary hours, the roster, overtime, leave and notice, for an ongoing full-time job.
Does the full-time employment contract template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 20 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the full-time employment contract template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open full-time-employment-contract.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with full-time-employment-contract.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the full-time employment contract template ready to use as it is?
The full-time employment contract template is a starting point for Harbourside Coffee or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 21 October 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.