For trainees and junior lawyers · English law

Employment Contracts

A coffee machine company hires a Head of Sales from a rival and writes her contract. You act for the company.

How a company hires a senior employee, taught through one contract of employment, clause by clause.

A kitchen drawn straight on, in November. A wide window in the back wall looks onto a small winter garden: a bare tree, a plain board fence, and a bare raised bed with a spade pushed into it and leaning, its blade clean. On the left, a wall cupboard and a counter with a small coffee machine and a cup under its spout. In front stands the kitchen table. On it, propped on a cookbook stand, is the Contract, open at its last page: every page before it is turned over on the left, and on the right page, under the last lines of text, one signature in copper on the signature line. The pen lies on the table in front of it; a mug of coffee, still steaming, stands to the left. A kitchen chair stands pulled out from the table's right end. No one is in the room.

You will be able to:

  • Read a contract of employment and say what each clause does
  • Explain what the employer and the new hire each want, and why
  • Check a contract against the rules in force on the start date

10 chapters with tests · a final exam · a certificate · about 3 hours in all · published 13 October 2026

Start Chapter 1

Chapters

Module 1

The Hire

Module 2

Pay and Time Off

Module 3

Protecting the Business

Module 4

Change and Departure

One case runs through every chapter: a coffee machine company hires a Head of Sales from a rival. Read the full contract →

Glossary: every term in plain English · Final exam: 30 questions, open book