The first step in drafting an employment contract is figuring out what type of employee relationship you want - permanent, fixed-term, or on-call work. Your lawyer can help you with this decision and show you the respective advantages and disadvantages for your company.

Your lawyer will then draw up the chosen employment contract. Employment law is a specialty of law. A well-drafted employment contract covers a number of legal issues, such as the salary, bonus, vacation, probationary period, the specifications and confidentiality obligations. Other topics that should be addressed are the intellectual property created by the employee, the termination of the employment relationship and the obligation to give notice as well as the non-solicitation of employees and non-competition with regard to business customers.

You must communicate your rules and procedures to employees. These are usually listed in an employee handbook. An employee handbook describes a company's policies on topics such as internet use, social media use, sexual and racial harassment, workplace bullying, drug use, and more. It's important to have these guidelines and to let your employees know about them - first, to encourage correct behaviour, and second, to defend yourself if one of your employees breaks the law or a policy. You need to prove that your company is not liable because you have policies in place and you have trained your staff accordingly.

Finally, make sure that the employment contract and the employee handbook are coordinated. This is very important. If the two documents do not match, it can lead to confusion and potential legal disputes.