Contract: templates and forms

The first document a client sees, and the last one they come back to when there is an argument about what was promised. The quotation sets out the scope, the price and the timescale — and also how long it stays valid, without which old prices get produced months later. It states plainly what the price does not include, which heads off the most common falling-out at the start of a job.

The contract between a client and a contractor for a specific piece of work — a repair, a translation, a design, a course, anything given to a person rather than to a company. The weak point of most such contracts is vagueness: without a precise description of the work, a deadline and criteria for acceptance, there is no way to prove what was agreed. Here all three are separate fields rather than free text.

For a household in Italy hiring a domestic helper, carer or nanny on an open-ended contract. It follows the Italian national collective agreement for domestic work (CCNL lavoro domestico) renewed on 28 October 2025: grade, duties, live-in or not, hours, pay, board and lodging, trial, holidays, notice and severance pay (TFR), with the CCNL figures the employer fills in. The hiring must be reported free of charge to INPS by the day before work starts. Domestic workers do not use the online resignation procedure. In Italian.

An open-ended contract of employment (Dienstvertrag) for salaried employees or workers in Austria, in German, carrying every item the Dienstzettel must state under the Austrian Employment Contract Law Adaptation Act (§ 2 AVRAG) as amended on 28 March 2024: seat, job and a short description of the work, collective agreement and pay group, probation month, working time and overtime, pay, leave under the Leave Act (UrlG), notice periods under § 20 AngG and § 1159 ABGB, the termination procedure, the severance fund (Abfertigung neu) and the social insurer.

A Polish mandate contract with an individual: the tasks, period and place, the contractor's independence, an hourly rate no lower than the statutory minimum — 31.40 zł gross in 2026 — confirmation of hours, monthly payment, a statement of social-insurance status, and termination. A mandate contract generally carries social-security contributions, which is what sets it apart from a contract for a specific work.

For an employer in Spain that needs to cover an employee entitled to return to the job (sick leave, unpaid leave, birth leave), make up hours another employee has reduced, or fill a post while the permanent holder is chosen. It makes you state the cause, the specific circumstances and, where it applies, the name of the person replaced (art. 15.3 of the Spanish Workers' Statute). It sets the term, trial period, hours and pay; no severance is due at the end. Signed before work starts. In Spanish.

For an employer and employee in Italy agreeing smart working within an existing job. The written agreement required by articles 18–23 of Italian Law 81/2017 sets the days and places of agile work, equipment provided, disconnection hours, monitoring, disciplinary conduct, the risk notice, duration and withdrawal on thirty days' notice (ninety for a disabled worker). A private employer then reports it online to the Ministry of Labour, free of charge, within five days of the start. In Italian.

For an employer and employee in Italy who want confidential information protected after the job ends, when the duty of loyalty under art. 2105 of the Italian Civil Code lapses. The agreement defines the confidential information, how long the duty lasts after the job ends, the exceptions (public information, legal duties, whistleblowing reports) and the return of documents. It is not a non-compete clause: it does not restrict future work and sets no penalty. In Italian.

A permanent employment contract for full- or part-time work in Germany, in German, with every essential term the German Evidence Act (Nachweisgesetz, NachwG) requires: start, job, place of work, probation, hours and breaks, overtime, pay and when it is due, the minimum wage, leave, notice periods under § 622 of the German Civil Code (BGB), the written form of a dismissal and the deadline to sue, collective agreements, training and pension. Its time limit for claims leaves the minimum wage untouched and asks only for text form.

An amendment to an employment contract that sets up regular telework for an employee in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte, under the collective agreement, the company's telework charter or a simple agreement between the parties (article L. 1222-9 of the French Labour Code): days, place, hours when the employee can be reached, equipment, costs, the right to disconnect, reversibility and equal rights. An employee can propose it to the employer with a request. Signed in two originals. In French.

A Greek employment contract with an end date, carrying the same essential terms as the open-ended one and what sets it apart: the term, the objective reason for the fixed term and the end without notice. The reason matters: successive fixed-term contracts without an objective reason that run past three years in total are presumed to meet permanent needs and become open-ended (Presidential Decree 81/2003). The ERGANI II steps for hiring are included.

A confidentiality agreement signed by an employer and an employee in mainland France or an overseas department other than Mayotte, on hiring or during the contract: it defines confidential information, forbids disclosing or using it outside work, during the contract and for a chosen period after it ends, and provides for documents to be returned. It also protects trade secrets (articles L. 151-1 et seq. of the French Commercial Code). It contains no non-compete clause and preserves the rights of whistleblowers and staff representatives. Signed in two originals. In French.

The addendum with a non-compete clause that applies after the employment contract ends, with every element without which the clause has no effect (art. 21 of the Romanian Labour Code): the activities barred, the third parties, the area, the length — 2 years at most — and the monthly indemnity of at least 50% of the average gross pay of the last 6 months.

The addendum by which an employee in Romania undertakes not to disclose information learned during the contract, while it lasts and after it ends (art. 26 of the Labour Code): what is confidential, how long the duty lasts after leaving, and what cannot be forbidden — public information and reports protected by law. A breach gives rise to damages.

A Romanian fixed-term employment contract on the same framework model, with what sets it apart: the end date, the reason for the fixed term — one of the closed list of cases in art. 83 of the Labour Code — and the shorter probation art. 85 allows. It cannot run for more than 36 months, and the same parties may sign at most three such contracts in succession.

For a business or professional engaging a self-employed person in Spain (design, programming, translation, training, consulting): a Spanish civil contract with the scope, the professional's independence over hours, place and means, the fee in words and figures, invoicing and the payment term under Spain's Law 3/2004, confidentiality, a statement that the professional is not economically dependent on the client (TRADE) and the attempt to negotiate before court (Organic Law 1/2025). In Spanish.

For a family or person in Spain hiring a household employee on an open-ended contract: cleaning, cooking, childcare or care of an older person, living in or out. It sets out the tasks, the trial period, the hours and rest of Spanish Royal Decree 1620/2011, pay by the month or by the hour, pay in kind, the extra payments, holidays and the termination rules as they stand since Royal Decree-Law 16/2022. Both sides sign it before work starts. In Spanish.

For an employer in Spain that wants to set down in writing what information an employee must keep secret, during the contract and afterwards. It defines confidential information, what is excluded, permitted use, the return of documents and equipment at the end and the period after termination, in line with the duty of good faith in the Spanish Workers' Statute and Spanish Law 1/2019 on Trade Secrets. It is not a non-compete clause: it does not stop the employee working for another business later. Both sides sign it. In Spanish.

For a business or individual giving an assignment to a self-employed worker in Italy, with or without a VAT number: an Italian contract covering scope, the worker's freedom to organise time and place, duration, fee, payment within 60 days at most, withdrawal on fair notice and changes only in writing, as the Italian Self-Employment Act (Law 81/2017) requires. For a worker without a VAT number it refers to the occasional-work receipt and withholding tax. Withdrawal is specifically approved (art. 1341 of the Civil Code). Signed in two copies or digitally.

For a business or professional hiring an employee in Italy on an open-ended contract, full-time or part-time. It sets out the national collective agreement (CCNL) applied, grade, duties, place of work, trial period (six months at most), hours, pay, holidays, notice and severance pay (TFR), and contains the written information required by Italian Legislative Decree 152/1997 as amended by the transparency decree. Signed in two copies before work starts. In Italian. Household staff have their own domestic-work contract.

For an employer in Italy hiring on a fixed-term contract, full-time or part-time. The form covers three cases: a contract of up to twelve months with no stated ground, replacing other workers, and technical, organisational or production needs identified by the parties, allowed for contracts signed by 31 December 2026; grounds set by a collective agreement are not included. It states term, duties, the statutory trial-period formula, pay and the right of precedence. The term counts only if written; the copy is due within five working days. In Italian.

A standard full-time fixed-term employment contract (CDD) for mainland France and the overseas departments other than Mayotte, limited to the two commonest grounds: replacing an absent employee or a temporary increase in activity (article L. 1242-2 of the French Labour Code). It contains the particulars of article L. 1242-12 — precise ground, end date, post, probation, pay, collective agreement, supplementary pension and provident bodies — and the 10 % end-of-contract payment. A CDD without a precise and true ground is deemed open-ended. Give it to the employee within two working days of hiring. In French.

A confidentiality agreement for employees in Austria, in German, with the undertaking to keep data secrecy that every employer must obtain from its staff under § 6 of the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG), including the information on transfer instructions and the consequences of a breach. It protects trade secrets under §§ 26a ff of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) by naming categories and secrecy measures, leaves out the employee's own pay and whistleblowing reports, and offers an optional non-compete clause under § 2c AVRAG and § 36 AngG.

A confidentiality agreement with an employee in Germany, in German, that protects trade secrets as one of the reasonable secrecy measures the German Trade Secrets Act (GeschGehG) requires: named kinds of confidential information, duties during the employment, a duty afterwards limited to those secrets and a set period, return of documents, and the statutory exceptions for whistleblowers. It leaves out the catch-all clause on all internal matters that the Federal Labour Court struck down in 2024, and any ban on discussing one's own pay.