Negotiate an employment offer or contract
Before you sign that contract, we read it.
A new employment contract decides what your job is worth, what you can do after it ends, and what happens if it goes wrong. The standard template usually favours the employer on every clause that matters: notice, restraints, bonus discretion, claw-backs, pay-secrecy carry-overs, and termination grounds. We read the contract before you sign, flag the terms that will bite later, and help you negotiate a version that reflects what was actually agreed in the interview.
What does negotiating an employment offer involve?
An employment contract is governed by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act), the National Employment Standards, modern awards and enterprise agreements, and the contract law that sits beneath. Casual, part-time, full-time, and fixed-term contracts each carry different rights to leave, notice and ongoing employment. The contract terms also control post-employment restraints, bonus structures, equity treatment, confidentiality, and the procedure for changing rosters or duties. Recent changes to the Act have prohibited pay-secrecy clauses and capped fixed-term contracts at two years, so older template contracts are increasingly out of date.
What is the difference between casual, part-time, full-time, and fixed-term contracts?
Casual employment is shift-by-shift with no guaranteed ongoing work; casuals receive a loading instead of paid leave. Full-time and part-time are permanent positions with paid annual and personal leave accrued under the Act; full-time is typically 38 hours per week, part-time is set hours below that. Fixed-term contracts run for a defined period (capped at two years under recent amendments to the Act) and end automatically when the term expires.
Can I negotiate the post-employment restraints in the contract?
Yes. Restraint clauses are commonly the most negotiable terms in an employment contract because the law only enforces restraints to the extent they are reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate business interest of the employer. We negotiate restraints down on the way in, which is much easier than fighting them after the relationship ends.
What happens to my entitlements during the contract?
Permanent employees (full-time and part-time) accrue annual leave (four weeks per year under the Act, pro rata for part-time) and personal leave (around 10 days per year, also pro rata). Long service leave accrues over time depending on the state. Superannuation is payable on top of wages at the statutory rate.
Are pay-secrecy clauses still enforceable?
No. Recent changes to the Act have prohibited employers from requiring pay secrecy, so any clause in your contract that tries to stop you discussing your pay with colleagues is now unenforceable. If your contract still contains one, the rest of the contract is unaffected.
Contract read before you sign.
We flag the clauses that will bite later, not just the salary line.
Restraints narrowed on the way in.
Much easier than fighting them on the way out.
Bonus and equity structure clear.
Discretionary or guaranteed, vesting or claw-back: we make the maths visible.
Got an offer in front of you? Read it with us first.
Most contracts can be improved with a single round of negotiation if it happens before signature. The first call gives you a clear view of what to push back on.
New job. The contract is long, and the deadline is short.
You have a contract in front of you, a start date that is approaching, and a sense that the legal language is not really about the role you were interviewed for. You do not know which clauses are negotiable, which are non-negotiable, and which will quietly limit what you can do for years after you leave.
- We will read the entire contract against the role and the conversation you actually had.
- We will flag every clause that materially affects what you take home, what you accrue, and what you can do after you leave.
- We will draft suggested changes in a redline you can send back.
- We will negotiate directly with the employer's lawyers where useful.
- We will sign you off on a version that reflects the deal you actually agreed to.
The offer landed, the contract is attached, and the start date is locked.
You accepted the role in principle, the offer letter is warm, and the formal contract has arrived as a fifteen-page PDF with a request to sign and return by the end of the week. The headline salary is what you discussed, but the restraint clause is two years over all of Australia, the bonus is discretionary instead of guaranteed, and the notice on either side does not match what was said in the interview. You do not want to walk away from the role, and you do not want to start it with a contract that bites you later.
What's included in your employment contract review service
- Full contract review against the role, the conversation, and the relevant award.
- Annotated comments and redline of every clause that needs change.
- Negotiation strategy and sequencing of the asks.
- Negotiation correspondence with the employer or its lawyers.
- Final advice on signing and on any side letters required.
What happens when you sign the standard template without changes.
Employees who sign template contracts without a redline usually find out three things in the months after they start. The discretionary bonus is genuinely discretionary, which means the employer can decline to pay it without giving a reason. The restraint clause covers the geographies and competitors they actually wanted to move into. And the notice clause that the recruiter mentioned in passing is shorter on the employer’s side than on theirs, which means they can be terminated quickly with a small payment in lieu. None of these are illegal. They are the cost of signing the template that suits the employer.
Here is how we get a contract that reflects what was actually agreed.
We work through the contract with you on the first call and identify the clauses that matter: notice, restraint, bonus structure, claw-back, termination triggers, intellectual property, and any equity vesting. We draft a redline and a covering note that frames the changes as standard professional asks rather than confrontational pushback. Most employers accept the changes, or settle on a middle position, because the alternative is losing the hire after they have already made the offer. By the time you sign, the contract reflects the deal you actually agreed to, the restraints are sensible, the bonus has clear triggers, and the notice runs both ways.
Three steps to a contract worth signing.
Review, redline, sign.
1
Contract reviewed.
First phone call: we work through the contract clause by clause and identify the points that need to change.
2
Terms negotiated.
We send the redline and covering note to the employer and run the negotiation through to agreement.
3
Offer signed.
We sign you off on the final version and any side letters that document the agreed terms.
Employment lawyers who negotiate offers and contracts for employees and senior hires.
Signing a contract before you understand what is in it is one of the most expensive habits in working life. We have reviewed and negotiated employment contracts across executive, professional, technical and frontline roles, and the difference between the template version and the negotiated version is usually visible on every page that matters. Our team works through the contract with you, drafts the redline, and runs the negotiation with the employer or its lawyers. You start the new role on a contract that reflects the conversation you actually had.
We understand you want to know the cost, before we get started...
We will map out our process, from beginning to end, so you know what the journey will look like before you get started.
We will provide you with a clear and detailed Work Proposal covering each step along the way.
Our fair fees are all-inclusive. No hidden costs for telephone calls, emails, photocopying, couriers, or coffee.
Read the contract before you sign it.
Related articles
Read more about employment contracts, restraint clauses, and how JFM Law can help.
