Before you sign
An employment contract usually covers the job title and duties, pay and benefits, hours, place of work, holiday, probation, notice, confidentiality, intellectual property and, for more senior roles, restrictions on what you can do after you leave. Most of it will be familiar. The problems tend to sit in a handful of clauses.
For employees, the usual trouble spots are a bonus described as entirely discretionary when the recruiter talked about it as a given, post-employment restrictions far wider than the role justifies, and an intellectual property clause that reaches work done in your own time. For employers, it is usually an old template: covenants too broad to enforce, holiday and pay terms that no longer match the law, and nothing on hybrid working.
QuickLegalCheck reads the whole contract from your side, whether you are the employee or the employer. Every clause is rated, anything missing is flagged, and you get suggested wording to send back. The full report is £49 + VAT.
Why it’s worth checking
When something goes wrong at work, whether you want to join a competitor, you are made redundant or you and your employer disagree about a bonus, the written contract is the first thing anyone looks at. Before you sign is the one point where you have some leverage to change it.
Restrictive covenants are the obvious example. Say your contract contains a 12-month non-compete covering any competing business in the UK, and you are a mid-level sales executive. A court may well decide that is wider than needed and refuse to enforce it, but you only find that out after the new job offer has been withdrawn or a letter from your old employer’s solicitors has arrived. Courts will not rewrite a covenant to make it reasonable. They can sometimes strike out an offending part and enforce the rest, which is why the precise wording matters. Asking for a shorter period, or a non-solicitation clause in place of a non-compete, is far easier at the offer stage.
Bonuses cause a different kind of dispute. If the contract says the bonus is at the employer’s absolute discretion, you are relying on the employer exercising that discretion rationally and in good faith, which is a limited protection. If you were told in interview that you would get a target-based bonus, you want that in writing.
For employers, the risk is an outdated contract. Holiday pay, working time and minimum wage rules have all moved over the years, and employment law is changing again as the Employment Rights Act 2025 is brought in over 2026 and 2027. A covenant copied from an old template may be unenforceable exactly when you need it, and a missing flexibility or mobility clause can make ordinary business changes harder than they need to be.
Key terms to look for
Job title and duties
Sets out the role. A catch-all such as “any other duties reasonably required” is common, but it should not let the job change into something different.
Start date and probation
Your start date fixes continuous employment, which some statutory rights depend on. Check how long probation lasts, whether it can be extended, and the notice that applies during it.
Place of work and hybrid working
Should say where you are based, whether home working is permitted and whether the employer can move you (a mobility clause). If it is silent, expect arguments later.
Hours of work
Should state normal hours and whether overtime is paid, given back as time off in lieu or expected without extra pay. Look for any opt-out from the 48-hour average weekly limit, which you can refuse.
Salary and benefits
Pay, when it is reviewed, pension and any other benefits. Check whether benefits are contractual or “in accordance with the policy from time to time”, which the employer can change.
Bonus schemes
Should say who is eligible, how the bonus is worked out and whether it is contractual or discretionary. Look for rules that you lose the bonus if you are under notice on the payment date.
Holiday entitlement
The statutory minimum for a full-time worker is 5.6 weeks a year, which can include bank holidays. The contract should say how holiday accrues, whether it carries over and what happens to untaken holiday when you leave.
Confidentiality
Reasonable during employment. After you leave, an employer can usually only protect trade secrets and genuinely confidential information, not the general skill and knowledge you have built up.
Intellectual property
The employer will generally own copyright in work you create in the course of your employment anyway. Watch for clauses that go further and claim things you make in your own time with your own equipment.
Restrictive covenants
Non-compete, non-solicitation and non-dealing clauses. They are only enforceable if they protect a legitimate business interest and go no further than reasonably necessary in length, area and activity.
Notice and termination
Notice on each side, garden leave, pay in lieu of notice and the grounds for dismissal without notice. The law sets minimum notice periods that the contract cannot reduce.
Common mistakes
Non-compete and non-solicitation clauses that are too wide
A covenant that is longer, wider in area or broader in activity than your role justifies may not be enforceable, but that is small comfort while a dispute is running. For most roles a long, UK-wide or worldwide non-compete is hard to justify. For employers, overreaching can mean ending up with no protection at all.
Vague or purely discretionary bonus terms
If the contract makes the bonus fully discretionary, what the recruiter said is hard to rely on. Without a clear basis for calculation, payment dates and leaver rules, employees can receive far less than they expected, and employers invite arguments about what was promised.
Confidentiality clauses that cover general skill and knowledge
After employment ends, an employer is unlikely to be able to stop you using the general skill and know-how you picked up in the job. A clause drafted as if it can still creates uncertainty, and employees often assume it binds them more than it does.
Intellectual property clauses that reach outside the job
Some contracts claim ownership of anything you create during your employment, even in your own time and with your own equipment. That can get in the way of side projects or freelance work, so it is worth asking for the clause to be limited to work connected with the role or the employer’s business.
Nothing on hybrid or remote working
If the contract names an office as your place of work and says nothing about home working, an informal hybrid arrangement can be withdrawn with little notice. Employees can make a statutory flexible working request, but the employer can refuse it on the permitted business grounds.
Best practice
If you are the employee, check that everything agreed during recruitment appears in the written contract, particularly salary, bonus, working pattern and any home working. Read the restrictive covenants against your own plans: if you might move to a competitor or set up on your own, now is the time to ask for a shorter period or narrower wording. Check the notice period against what you were told, how long probation lasts and whether it can be extended, and whether any benefits are really contractual. If something is unclear, ask for it to be explained and put in writing before you sign.
If you are the employer, tailor the contract to the role rather than relying on one template for everyone. Keep covenants tied to a real business interest, such as client relationships the employee will actually have, and set the length by reference to how long that interest genuinely needs protecting. Say plainly whether each bonus and benefit is contractual or discretionary. Review your templates regularly, and especially over the next year or so, as the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes come in. For senior hires or anything unusual, take advice from an employment lawyer.
Questions
What is the difference between a restrictive covenant and a non-compete clause?+
Restrictive covenant is the umbrella term for clauses that limit what you can do after you leave. A non-compete stops you working for, or setting up, a competing business. Other common types are non-solicitation (not approaching clients or staff), non-dealing (not working with certain clients even if they approach you) and non-poaching of employees. Each is judged separately, and each must protect a legitimate business interest and go no further than reasonably necessary to be enforceable. There is currently no statutory time limit on post-employment non-competes in England and Wales.
Can an employer change my contract without my agreement?+
Generally, a significant change to your terms needs your agreement. Some contracts contain a clause allowing certain changes, but courts read these narrowly, and they rarely justify a major change such as a pay cut. If your employer imposes a change you have not agreed to, it may be a breach of contract. Be careful about carrying on working under new terms without objecting, because that can be treated as accepting them. Employers sometimes dismiss and offer re-engagement on new terms; the Employment Rights Act 2025 restricts this, so check which parts of it are in force when the issue arises.
What should I do if there are blanks or unclear terms in my employment contract?+
Get them filled in or explained before you sign. Ask the employer or recruiter what the term means and, if the answer matters to you, ask for it to be written into the contract or confirmed in writing. A blank or vague term tends to be read against you in a later disagreement, simply because the written version is what everyone points to.
Do I have fewer rights during a probation period?+
Probation is a contractual arrangement, not a legal status. It usually means a shorter notice period and a review before you are confirmed in the role. Your statutory rights, such as the National Minimum Wage, holiday, and protection from discrimination and whistleblowing detriment, apply from day one. Protection from ordinary unfair dismissal depends on length of service, not probation: the qualifying period is currently two years for most claims, and the Employment Rights Act 2025 reduces it to six months from January 2027.