Contracts, Policies & Procedures

We support businesses in developing bespoke, robust and effective employment contracts, HR policies and procedures.

Our specialist employment contract lawyers are experienced in developing contracts of employment, service agreements and the full suite of HR policies.

Contracts and policies form the foundations of an employment relationship. We ensure that they’re effective, practical and help to safeguard and support your strategic objectives.

Well-written HR documentation should reflect your culture and values while providing clarity for all parties to reduce disputes and protect business interests.

Our award-winning team of employment law solicitors is one of the largest in the North. Recognised by The Legal 500 — including as a ‘Top Tier Firm’ and with several ‘Recommended Lawyers’ and ‘Next Generation Partners’ — we can provide strategic, pragmatic and bespoke guidance on every element of your contracts, policies and procedures.

We also provide sensitive, tailored contractual advice to directors, executives and senior professionals to enhance their career opportunities and protect their long-term interests.

Talk to our team by giving us a call on 0333 004 4488, by emailing hello@brabners.com or by completing our contact form below.

Protecting your business from future risk

Having effective contracts, policies and procedures in place shields your business and provides clarity to colleagues on expectations and entitlements.

Off-the-shelf solutions can lack specific protection for employers and may increase the risk of costly, time-consuming legal claims and disputes. We work with businesses to establish tailored provisions that will not only protect but promote their strategic interests.

We can advise you on such specialist clauses and provisions. These can cover all obligations, from commencement to termination of employment, and may relate to:

Probationary periods — define performance expectations and termination rights.
Confidentiality — protecting sensitive business information during and after employment.
Restrictive covenants/post-termination restrictions — block employees from joining rivals or poaching/soliciting clients or employees for a defined time.
Intellectual property (IP) — ensure that inventions created during employment belong to the company.
Employee monitoring — gives flexibility to employers to access work emails or other communications.
Termination — sets clear notice periods, pay in lieu and any obligations and entitlements on dismissal.
Garden leave — safeguards operations from departing employees during notice periods.

Meet the team

Tailored employment contracts that reflect your business

We can help you to correctly define and document all your people relationships and provide you with documents that balance business protection with flexibility.

Our employment law experts create bespoke and accessible contracts tailored to your unique culture. Your employment contracts, policies and procedures are an expression of your business identity — they should look and sound like you too.

From tone of voice to formatting and structure, the documentation we produce is legally robust and reflects your brand guidelines and company personality.

Taking care of complex benefit arrangements

We specialise in handling complex benefit arrangements including long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) and short-term incentive plans (STIPs). We work in partnership with our corporate team to provide recommendations on how these benefits are included in contractual agreements.

When senior employees and executives are appointed or promoted, we’ll help you find the best way to record strategic objectives and employee loans and advise on any clawbacks should the parties part ways.

If you’re contemplating selling your business, we partner with our corporate law colleagues to ensure that employment contracts and other policies and procedures are legally compliant to facilitate a smooth sale and minimal renegotiation of the sale price due to non-compliant documentation discovered during the due diligence process.

Manchester office, a figure walks into a meeting room

We draft and audit your business’ employment-related documentation

We routinely advise on all manner of employment-related documentation, including:

Consultancy agreements.
Director service agreements.
Employment and worker contracts.
Executive incentive arrangements.
HR policies to promote your strategic objectives and transform your business, including:
- Anti-bribery and corruption.
- Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
- Employee wellbeing.
- Modern slavery.
- Prevention of sexual harassment.
- Remote, hybrid and agile working.
- Reproductive health (including IVF and assisted conception, pregnancy loss, stillbirth and neonatal loss, maternity, paternity, adoption and menopause).
- Whistleblowing.
Non-executive director agreements.

Contracts and service agreements outline the terms and conditions of the employee’s relationship with the employer. Legally, they must contain certain minimum information — yet it’s important for them to go beyond this and be tailored to the individual’s role and the business. This may include confidentiality, IP, restrictive covenants and more.

Policies outline expected standards and are usually contained in an employee handbook. They cover everything from health and safety, disciplinary and grievance to hybrid working, holidays and anti-bribery. We can help you to create a strategic, flexible mixture of policies that reflect your business.

Negotiating an executives exit handshake

Expert contractual advice for senior executives

At the start of any new employment relationship, it’s important to fully understand the terms and obligations of a proposed contract. This is particularly true for directors, executives and senior professionals.

We can help you to know where you stand and plan for the future. From negotiating proposed terms of employment to managing post-termination restrictions, we're experts in explaining the potential impact of contractual terms.

Our team advises on the terms, obligations and enforceability of employment contracts and service agreements so that you know what you’re signing up to and understand your options. We can review contracts before you sign to spot potential issues and protect your interests.

We specialise in negotiating executive contracts of employment and director service agreements, with a particular focus on complex benefit arrangements and restrictive covenants to minimise any future issues or restrictions.

Where necessary, in conjunction with our litigation colleagues we can defend alleged claims of breached post-termination restrictive covenants threatened and pursued by ex-employers.

Contractual review services that our employment team offers include:

Negotiating new employment contracts or director services agreements.
Providing advice in relation to restrictive covenants.
Business immigration and Visa advice.

Find out more about our Brabners Personal suite of services.

Discover Brabners Personal

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Brabners is a purpose-led independent law firm.

Our independence allows us to be objective, principled and provide a service with heart and character.

We’re on a mission to make the difference for our clients, people and communities. Proudly anchored in the North since 1815, we serve all of England and Wales.