Employment Contract Amendment

This employment contract amendment agreement can be used to make permanent changes to an existing employment contract. It is not designed to be used as a standalone contract.

It can be used to document revisions, additions and deletions to the terms and conditions of an employment contract that is currently in force. An amendment does not replace the entire original contract, just the part that is changed by the amendment.

If there only need to be several changes to a contract, it can be much easier to create an amendment than to create an entirely new contract from scratch.

If creating a new contract, consider using our Employment Agreement.

How to use this document

It is important that the employer complies with all relevant employment laws when altering an employee's contract.

For example, if altering employees' entitlements (such as by altering their sick leave or annual leave entitlements) the employer may need to consider any applicable employment award or enterprise agreement, as well as the National Employment Standards, as set out in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Commonwealth). The National Employment Standards apply to many employees in Australia, and set out various minimum standards of employment.

If necessary, review employment contracts and any applicable laws, or seek legal advice if there are any concerns. The Fair Work Ombudsman also provides some useful information in relation to Australian employment laws.

This amendment agreement should include information such as:

• the parties involved
• the execution date of the original employment contract
• the effective date of the amendment
• the part of the contract which is being changed
• the nature of the change (addition, deletion, edit etc)

Be sure to be as specific as possible, and to include the subsection numbers and names if there are any in the original contract.

This document creates permanent changes to the employment contract. If the parties intend the changes to only apply for a limited period of time, then they will need to ensure that they make this clear when drafting the changes. For example, if the parties only intend for the changes to remain in effect until a particular date or event, then they should make this clear when preparing this document.

Once the amendment has been completed, it should be signed by both parties.

The amendment should then be filed and maintained with the original employment contract so that anyone looking at the contract will know that it has been amended.

Applicable Law

General principles of contract law apply to contract amendments.

In addition, general principles of employment law will apply to the employment relationship. Employment contracts may be interpreted in accordance with general principles of contract law, as provided by the common law. In some cases, an employment award or enterprise agreement may apply. The National Employment Standards, as set out in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Commonwealth) may also apply.

If in doubt, seek legal advice.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.