Employment Contract Review: Australian Employers’ Service Choice

Compare Sprintlaw and Workplace Wizards

For an Australian employer’s employment contract review, compare Sprintlaw’s fixed-fee quote with Workplace Wizards’ fixed-fee or hourly model against the work required.[3][4]

Sprintlaw

• Review scope: Advertises tailored contract review, award alignment, master templates, schedules, policy bundles and targeted restraint advice.[3]
• Pricing model: Offers a fixed-fee quote and a free, no-obligation initial chat; the review price is quote-required.[3]
• Disclosed service coverage: Its page is Australia-focused rather than a city, state or territory service list; confirm coverage for your employment jurisdiction.[3]

Workplace Wizards

• Review scope: Offers compliance review, amendment negotiation, advice on proposed changes, contract drafting and termination-clause review.[4]
• Pricing model: Generally uses fixed fees for simple contracts and hourly rates for complex contracts; amounts are quote-required.[4]
• Disclosed service coverage: Ask Workplace Wizards to confirm coverage for your employment jurisdiction.[4]

If you need template development and award alignment, ask Sprintlaw to scope that work.[3] If you need review plus negotiation of amendments, ask Workplace Wizards to scope those tasks.[4] Advertised services are not a basis for ranking legal quality: request a written scope before choosing.

Check whether the government tool fits the hire

The government Employment Contract Tool is a preparation option for small-business employers hiring full-time, part-time or casual employees—but only where they are award-covered, under the Fair Work system and paid an hourly or weekly wage.[2]

Do not use the tool for these categories:[2]

• Salary arrangements.
• Employees covered by an enterprise agreement.
• Apprentices and trainees.
• Piece workers.
• Independent contractors.
• Workers in the separate WA state industrial relations system.

For salary arrangements, business.gov.au calls for financial and legal advice because detailed requirements apply.[2] If system or award coverage is uncertain, ask the reviewer to resolve it before using the tool.

Send a complete reviewer brief

Send the draft with context about the role and how the work will happen. These suggested bundles organise the handover; they are not legal requirements.

• Role and employer details: Include employer and employee details, job title, employment type and proposed employment dates—the core particulars identified by business.gov.au.[2] Add the duties and label any unconfirmed award classification.
• Remuneration and working arrangements: Include hours, pay, allowances, leave and notice proposals.[2] Sprintlaw also recommends identifying commissions and mapping expected positions over the next 6–12 months.[3]
• Documents and actual practices: Sprintlaw recommends supplying existing contracts and policies, even if outdated, together with roster patterns, overtime approvals and relevant arrangements such as mobile-phone use.[3] Label documents as existing or proposed.
• Business concerns: Explain what particular clauses should address. Sprintlaw suggests identifying concerns such as last-minute roster changes, client-poaching risks and inconsistent overtime requests.[3]

Add a list of unresolved questions and requested outputs, such as advice on open issues, proposed amendments and a clean draft for approval.

Confirm the system and applicable instrument

Ask for written confirmation of the employment system, applicable award or enterprise/industrial agreement, and role classification—not simply amended wording. Sprintlaw identifies classification as a key driver of minimum pay and entitlements.[3]

Ask the reviewer to establish coverage rather than relying on a WA workplace address. Business.gov.au distinguishes Fair Work employment from the separate WA state system.[2]

• Fair Work system: The contract must meet minimum entitlements under the National Employment Standards (NES) and any relevant award or agreement.[2]
• WA state system: Terms cannot fall below the relevant WA award, industrial agreement, Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 or other relevant laws. Requiring or agreeing with an employee to accept below-award or below-minimum wages is unlawful.[1]

Check proposed pay, hours and leave

Ask the reviewer to compare proposed terms with minimum entitlements using expected working patterns—not a historical payroll audit. More generous terms may be offered.[2]

Sprintlaw’s review guidance provides useful questions to include in the brief:

• Pay: Does the classification fit the role, and does proposed pay account for overtime, penalties, allowances and loadings, including under an all-in or above-award arrangement?[3]
• Set-off: If proposed, how should the clause be drafted and the arrangement compared with award entitlements? Sprintlaw recommends both drafting and comparison; the clause alone is not the check.[3]
• Hours: Do the terms address ordinary hours, breaks, overtime authorisation, roster or location changes, and applicable award notice and consultation processes?[3]
• Leave: Sprintlaw recommends checking annual, personal/carer’s, compassionate and unpaid leave against the NES, plus public-holiday work and substitution arrangements.[3] For a WA state-system role, ask for the corresponding check against the relevant WA award and state employment laws.[1]

Flag protective clauses and older wording

Flag confidentiality and intellectual property terms alongside restraints, termination, notice, incentives and any casual or fixed-term structure relevant to the hire. These feature in Sprintlaw’s checklist.[3] Workplace Wizards also advertises termination and restrictive-clause review.[4]

Separate confidentiality from pay secrecy. Sprintlaw warns that pay-secrecy, sexual-harassment and fixed-term reforms may make older templates non-compliant, and notes fixed-term roles require a Fixed Term Contract Information Statement.[3] Ask the reviewer to remove any pay-secrecy term and check fixed-term limits for the proposed arrangement.

Explain what each restraint should protect. Describe the client, information or workforce risk, then request advice on duration, scope, geography and jurisdiction. Sprintlaw warns that overbroad restraints may be unenforceable.[3] Do not treat familiar wording as an enforceability guarantee.

Check incorporated policies too: Sprintlaw recommends confirming each exists, is current and matches workplace practice.[3]

What to confirm with each provider

Ask Sprintlaw and Workplace Wizards to confirm exact prices, engagement and cancellation terms, turnaround times and inclusions by fee tier.[3][4] Request written confirmation of:

• The quote, pricing basis and additional charges.
• Capability to advise on your employment jurisdiction.
• Whether advice, amended wording and a signing-ready copy are included.
• The revision allowance and turnaround.
• Engagement and cancellation terms.

Keep advice, approvals and the signing copy distinct

As a suggested document-control practice, keep separately labelled files for the original draft, reviewer comments or redline, an approvals-and-open-questions log, and the clean signing copy. This is not a statutory procedure or an advertised provider inclusion.

Before issuing the clean copy, reconcile it with approved amendments, check schedules and policy references, and ask the reviewer to resolve outstanding legal questions. Record who can approve later departures from the template; Sprintlaw recommends manager handover and guidance on when sign-off is needed before changing terms.[3]

Do not assume signing is when the contract begins: WA guidance says acceptance of a verbal or written offer may create a contract, and business.gov.au also recognises verbal contracts.[1][2]

References

1. Employment contracts (wa.gov.au)
2. Create an employment contract | business.gov.au (business.gov.au)
3. Do You Need A Lawyer to Review Employment | Sprintlaw Australia (sprintlaw.com.au)
4. Employment Contract Review | Workplace Wizards (workplacewizards.com.au)