Having the right HR documents in place is essential for employers like you wanting to protect their businesses, but how much should you expect to pay for these to be drafted? It’s not always easy to find these prices online, so here we explore the different pieces of HR documentation available, the cost, and what impacts the pricing.

Contracts of Employment

First, it’s a legal obligation for employers to issue employees with a Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment within two months of them starting. It must set out the most important terms of employment, such as rate of pay, hours of work, holiday entitlement, sick pay provision and provisions relating to a notice of termination. It makes sense to wrap this into an employment contract.

How much do Employment Contracts cost?

To draft a straightforward employment contract, most solicitors and employment lawyers will charge a fixed fee of no more than £500.

What affects the cost of an Employment Contract?

Who you choose to prepare your contracts for you impacts their cost. The price of drafting contracts will also vary depending on the type of contract you’re looking for.

You might want a basic contract covering all the legally required particulars of employment, or additional protection during and after employment. Look for fixed prices to avoid a pricey hourly rate.

Using a solicitor to draft contracts of employment will typically cost £500 – £1,000.

Having an employment lawyer draft a basic contract normally costs around £500, for a freelance contract you’ll pay £750 and for a Director’s service agreement for Companies House directors you’re looking at around £950.

Using an HR Consultant – Some consultants will produce employment contracts and HR documents as a one-off service for a flat fee, while others provide this service in a retained package of HR support with a monthly fee – be sure to check the term this commits you to.

At The HR Consultants, we offer a choice of three fixed-price packages of HR documents as a standalone service – see what’s included and prices

Find out more about HR consultancy for smaller businesses.

What should I expect?

When you’re paying for a qualified professional to prepare a contract of employment for you, you shouldn’t be getting a standard off-the-shelf document. The provider should propose a meeting or call with you so that they understand your business and what you want so that the contract is tailored to the needs of the company. It’s important to spend time on getting this document right, as it will be the key reference point should there be any disputes during the relationship with your employees.

Beyond the legal minimum requirements in an employment contract, we often recommend including some additional clauses e.g. a clause permitting the employer to make deductions from the employee’s pay if any sums are due to the employer and restrictions on the employee’s competitive activities after leaving their employment.

What other HR documents do I need?

Company Policies

We recommend all businesses have a Health & Safety policy in place. For businesses with five or more employees, the law requires this to exist in writing. Documenting company policies makes them official and if a dispute arises, it helps to have these ground rules established.

Depending on what’s important to your business, you might want to have company policies written on Sickness and Absence Management, Disciplinary, Grievance, Equality & Diversity or Social Media Use.

An Employee Handbook

An employee handbook is a great way to share a summary of the policies and procedures in place in your business, and how you work day-to-day, to ensure both you and your employees know the rules that apply.

This gives your people managers a resource to consult in the event of a people issue and ensures your employees are treated fairly and consistently.

How much do Policies and Employee Handbooks cost?

Using a solicitor, policies, procedures and office manuals will generally cost £250 – £500 each.

Employment lawyers charge approx £1000 for a staff handbook.

At The HR Consultants, we include three or more policies and an employee handbook in our packages of HR Documentation.

If you have any questions about how much employment contracts cost or getting your business’ HR documents straight and ready for the new year, get in touch with our friendly HR experts.

All prices stated are plus VAT and are correct at the time of writing 29/11/2022.

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